Does anybody have the rather short lyrics to the Chris Miller rendition ( I think he may have composed these) of a little song called Ton 'Tit Bec est Doux? I went to his web site but not luck. Great beat and not much singing, but a fun-sounding song. Thanks to all.
JB
Donnes-moi un 'tit bec doux,Chère, donnes-moi un 'tit bec doux
J'Tai fait fachée, t'après m'quereller, Donnes-moi un 'tit bec doux.
J'connais tu m'as 'trappé, Chère, J'connais tu m'as 'trappé
Aprèe guetter la 'tite tète rouge, Donnes-moi un 'tit bec doux.
Tu connais que J't'aime un tas, Chère, Tu connais que j't'aime un tas.
C,est pour ça, que j't'ai marié, t'es la seule que moi j'voulais.
Tu connais que j't'aime un tas Chère, Tu connais que j't'aime un tas,
J't'ai fait fachée, t'après m'quereller, Donnes-moi un 'tit bec doux.
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In cajun they seem to pronounce the word quereller more like q'reller, shorter.
Give me a sweet little kiss, Dear, Give me a sweet little kiss
I made you mad, you're scolding me, Give me a sweet little kiss
I know you caught me , Dear, I know you caught me.
Watching the little redhead, Give me a sweet little kiss
You know I love you a pile ( a lot) Chere, You know I love you a lot
That's why I married you, You're the only one I wanted.
I just read the attribution of the song on Daigle's record. It was written by Joe W. Cormier. I think he may have been a good songwriter, who composed many songs. Does anyone Know? There is another song with an interesting sens of humour called une Mouvche Dans Mon Couche-Couche. Was it his?. Also Les Traces de Mon Boggué (Buggy)
Canadian french drops a lot of vowels too but it's really interesting to see how in another culture one can pronounce the same words with a new twist. Like the word mignon becomes meon in Cajun french, or how moi sounds like mon or mwo.
And it is not the same in all parts of La, some things change quite a bit area to area, even family to family like my mom and dad prove from time to time. In some areas they pronounce "moi" like you do (maybe not quite as much emphasis on the "oi"), in some areas they say "moin". In the Mamou area we pronounce most "t"s like "ts" (tsi va tomber), and "d"s like "dz" (il a la tete dzur). The peculiarities of a spoken language.
That is a strange song attribution. Some of these songs get credited to someone and copyrighted long after they have been traditional for generations.
The melody is very old, older than Cormier. It used to be done by Octa Clark and Ambrose Thibodeaux. And it was an old tune to Thibodeaux, who would be well over 100 years old if he were living.
At most, someone may have written lyrics for it. Clark and Thibodeaux did it without lyrics. To me the credit should at best read Music-Traditional, Lyrics by _______.
Maybe Miller's lyrics differ from Cormier's. I haven't heard Cormier's version.
Mouche dans mon Couche Couche was written by Church Point artist Floyd Sonnier and performed by Reggie Matte.
I believe I made a mistake.
There is the song "'Ton Bec est Doux" and also anither song with a similar title called" Donne-Moi un 'Tit Bec Doux". Neal gave the words to the latter which are the ones I now realize were requested.
As to what hes says about song attributions it seems that lots of old tunes were/are copywritten by artists , producers or even record companies once new words have been added. The Cajun Stripper by Doug Kershaw, for example, I believe is the tune to Bosco Stomp with new words.
Hey, Harlan , in the immortal words of Justin Wilson's Cajun baseball umpire, the two titles were "just too **** close to call". Since my French is less than marginal, can anybody please give me a translation to these little verses? I think it says, Hey girl, your kisses are as sweet as sugar,so give me a little one, or something to that affect. Thanks again, guys.
JB
By the Way, there is an oild song calso called "T'as volé du sucrne", no?
I think there is a tiny possibility there is a secondary meaning to these words.
Like in"La Pistache à Tante Nana"
or do I have a twisted mind?
OH, Belle, you stole some sugar,
You sweetened your mouth (literally, beak)
You stole some sugar,
Your little mouth is sweet.
Oh, Belle, you stole some fat.
You greased your lips,
You greased your lips,
And your sweet face.
Yes, Mr. Botter got the lyrics that are posted a little ways down by emailing me. All the lyrics to any of the songs on our CD are included with the CD as well as translations and background information on each tune...for those who have still not purchased a CD (shame on you...HA!) here is some background on that tune...
Two brothers (My grandfather's age), Reoul and Raul LeBlanc, who lived near where I grew up used to play this song. I never heard any singing for this tune...but every now and then someone, after announcing this song, would sing some kind of little verse semi-privately, as if at one time the tune was sung also. I could never pick up very many words...nothing more than "ton 'tit bec est doux."
Some years later when helping an opera composer do research on Cajun tunes, I came across this title with the words that I would later use. The words AND the tune were notated and the tune is slightly different than the accordion version. I decided to combine the two versions even though I had never heard it done like that before. In addition, the B part of the song is the same melody as "la valse de meche" and a few other tunes...so my recording is something like a patchwork quilt. However, as far as the instrumental part of the tune goes...I played it as close as I could remember to what the LeBLanc brothers played and I feel pretty confident that I remembered it exactly...I wanted to preserve what they did since they never recorded. They are credited on the CD.
Double meanings...yes, I think harlan is correct...there are some older folks who said this was a "nasty" song. Pete Bergeron was commenting a few months ago when talkind to me of how "La Pistache a Tante NaNa" was a nasty song and that was why it sold so many records...(we were talking about the latest "nasty" songs like Butt Thang, Vibrator, Booty Call, etc)
After I put my CD project together and looked back at the songs on it, I guess there are a few that have been be mistaken as "double" or "hidden" meaning and perhaps 'nasty?'...(sorry, not intentional)
Ton 'tit bec est doux,
"My baby's got the Yon-Yon"
and a part of "Tante Adele" that people always ask me about..."
Mais quoi elle est apres faire? 'pres faire téter ces 'tits 'ouain-ouain'"
The April 2011 Dewey Balfa Cajun & Creole Heritage Week
