For many, and so was for me, cajun, and creole, tend to be acquired tastes. Most folks can't understand the lyrics, vocals can be grating, and the accordion is not exactly a smooth instrument. When you can't understand what is being said, you lose a whole layer of attachment to a piece of music.

All these things are counter to the contemporary music scene that most folks are used to. And to contemporary culture. Cajun music is outside of contemporary culture for most folks, and therefore is a "specialty" music.

I didn't really start appreciating the music until I started trying to play it. Ok, first I started dancing too it, then playing it. Even at that, I prefer a more contemporary sound, like Balfa Toujours (but not Beausoleil) to some of the much older stuff. The sound quality is better, for several reasons.

Zydeco, on the other hand, is closer to mainstream music than cajun is. Therefore, people gravitate to it more easily. I'd say though, if the trend to keep blending zydeco with hip-hop, etc, goes on, it might well end up in the trash bin. That, however, is personal opinion, just as are your comments, Jack. Zydeco came about by a blending of the old with the newer R&B sounds. Who knows what will happen.

There's people on the squeezebox discussion list who continually lament the fall in the popularity of the accordion from, say, fifty years ago. However, when you point to something like Zydeco bringing back a popularity for a couple of different types of accordions, they too will say that Zydeco is trash and destined for the trash bin. In this case, what they people are lamenting is the popularity of themselves as accordion musicians, not the instrument itself. But I digress.


I've talked to one musician who is in a popular Louisiana cajun band, and she was in the same boat as me: we both listen to most cajun music to study it. If we want to listen to something for pure enjoyment, we'll more likely put something on that we respond to on a different level.

For people who were born and raised with cajun music, it is what they already know, and so their response can be closer to home.