Edited by Azizi Powell
This post provides information about Zydeco music and showcases one example of the Creole song "Fais Do Do Bebe" and one example of the Cajun song "Fais Do Do, Colas Mon P'tit Frère".
Information about the meanings of the term "fais do do" as the lyrics for the song "Fais Do Do Colas Mon P'tit Frère" also included in this post.
The content of this post is presented for historical, cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic reasons.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to Andrew Carrière and thanks to the producers of the animated example. Thanks also the publishers of these examples on YouTube and all those who are quoted in this post.
Note: This is one of several pancocojams posts that focus on the Louisiana Creole & Cajun use of the French word (English translation "baby"). My guess is that the word "bébé" and its use as a Creole/Cajun nickname at least partially influenced the creation of the contemporary African American Vernacular English word "bae" (pronounced "bay") which means "baby"/"babe". Read more of my comments and others comments about the word "bae" in http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2015/04/what-english-word-bae-really-means.html.
Other pancocojams posts that feature songs that include the word "bébé" can be found by clicking that tag below.
****
INFORMATION ABOUT LOUISIANA CREOLE MUSIC
From http://home.comcast.net/~cajunzydeco/zydemagic/whatiszydecomusic.htm "WHAT IS ZYDECO MUSIC" by Gary Hayman, International Zydeco Dance Instructor
..."Briefly, people surmise that the [Zydeco] dance originated in the country (prairie) areas of South Louisiana (Acadiana -- a group of 22 Parishes) by the Creole population of the time. I would put the date of the dance in the 1930s when the Zydeco music came into its own -- before that it perhaps went through stages such as church Juré (hand clapping, body striking and foot stomping -- non instrumental [not allowed in churches at that time]), la la music, zarico, to Zydeco -- along with the music.
Creole music was very similar to Cajun music but after WWII, Creole music began to take on different influences of other styles of music. While the fiddle (from Cajun style music) is almost always absent, Zydeco is usually played with accordion, electric guitar and bass, drums, and a sometimes even some brass (with larger bands). Perhaps the most distinctive instrument of Zydeco (besides the accordion) is a corrugated metal rubboard (called a 'frottior'). The first nationally recognized Zydeco songs were in the 1950's by Clifton Chenier ("King of Zydeco") and Boozoo Chavis...
The quick definition:
Zydeco is dance music played by Creole French speaking people of African descent who historically lived on the prairies of Southwest Louisiana. At its core it is the sound of an accordion paired with the scrapping of a rubboard. The accordion may be a single row diatonic model (of German origin but also now produced in Italy, Louisiana and other places), a triple row diatonic model, or a standard keyboard accordion.
Is Zydeco music the same as Cajun music?
Cajun and Creole people have lived and worked side by side for generations. They have shared and traded many aspects of their cultures including music. Some Zydeco songs are played by Cajun bands and some Cajun songs are played by Zydeco groups, but they are two different types of music. One major difference is that you'll find accordions, fiddles and steel guitars (rare now) in Cajun groups, but not in Zydeco bands -- where you will find accordions and rubboards."...
****
WHAT DOES "FAIS DO DO BEBE" MEAN?
"Fais Do Do Bebe" is French for "Go To Sleep, Baby".
However, the term "Fais Do Do" has come to refer to Cajun/Creole dance parties.
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fais_do-do
"Fais do-do is a name for a Cajun dance party, originating before World War II. According to Mark Humphrey the parties were named for "the gentle command ('go to sleep') young mothers offered bawling infants."[1] He quotes early Cajun musician Edwin Duhon of the Hackberry Ramblers, "She'd go to the cry room, give the baby a nipple and say, 'Fais do-do.' She'd want the baby to go to sleep fast, 'cause she's worried about her husband dancing with somebody else out there."
'Do-do' itself is a shortening of the French verb dormir (to sleep), used primarily in speaking to small children. The phrase is comparable to the American English "beddy-bye"."...
****
From http://www.louisianafolklife.org/LT/Articles_Essays/lfmfaisdodo.html
"The Folk Etymology of the Fais Do-Do: A Note" by Joshua Clegg Caffery
"By most accounts, the term fais do-do (with do pronounced dough) , in contemporary Louisiana parlance, refers to a public dance of some sort, often one held on a Sunday afternoon, usually involving an accordion and fiddle-led band and lyrics sung in vernacular Louisiana French. Indeed, the fais do-do is one of the first things visitors to French Louisiana learn about, along with a quaint story about how the expression evolved out of the practice of aged relatives lulling babies to sleep in the parc aux petits, a room reserved for sleepy infants in the back of Louisiana dance halls (like a cry room in Catholic church, but meant to isolate the baby from the noise, rather than to isolate the grownups from the babies' noise). I have heard this explanation given countless times, and I admit to even using it myself in the past, for lack of a better one. But where does this explanation come from, and is it correct? It certainly makes for a good story, and it makes sense (in a way), but there other possibilities. In this note, I argue that the familiar sleeping baby definition is most likely a folk etymology, and I offer an alternative hypothesis for consideration....
There is another explanation, however, that has been overlooked. In various folk dancing traditions throughout America and Europe, the contra dance call/step dos-à-dos, from the French meaning "back to back," gave rise to a diversity of vernacular terms. For instance, in Western square dancing, dos-à-dos transmuted into "dosado," and remains a popular dance step and call to this day. In fact, www.dosado.com is the central online hub for contemporary Western square dancing. Similarly, in English, "dos à dos" became "do si do," a familiar call retained in a number of Anglo-American folk songs and dance traditions. In all cases, the call means virtually the same thing: approach your partner and circle around each other, back to back. Contra dance, particularly in the form of quadrille, was as popular in Southern Louisiana as it was in Western, New England, and Appalachian dance traditions, and it antedated the more contemporary Cajun/Creole accordion-driven, two-step and waltz dances more familiar to modern observers (in Louisiana Creole, the word was kadril). Early "Cajun" musicians, such as Dennis McGee, not to mention many early Creole jazz musicians, cut their teeth playing for quadrilles before the more simplified couple dances took over (Daigle 1972; Fiehrer 1991; Szwed and Morton Marks 1988). My alternate theory is that "fais do-do" was a vernacular Louisiana French expression, derived from a call, based on "dos à dos." It would be strange if no vernacular Louisiana version of "dos àdos" existed, to begin with, even though vernacular descendants from the French exist in Western and Appalachian traditions. In other words, "dos à dos" is such a basic and common call in the broader world of vernacular and creolized contra dance that it generated a host of descendants—why not a Louisiana cognate? Furthermore, when seeking to derive an etymology for "fais do-do" as a Louisiana dance event, it simply makes much better sense. If "fais do-do" derived from a dance step/call, as I suggest, to "faire do-do" would have simply meant to "go dancing," and probably even conjured the image of the back to back dance that the name derives from.
There remains much to be said about this topic, and certainly both etymologies could have overlapped."...
****
LYRICS: FAIS DO DO [Colas etc]
(unknown composer)
[French lyrics]
Fais dodo, Colas mon p'tit frère
Fais dodo, t'auras du lolo
Maman est en haut
Qui fait des gâteaux
Papa est en bas
Qui fait du chocolat
Fait dodo Colas mon p'tit frère
Fait dodo, t'auras du lolo.
[English lyrics]
Go to sleep, Colas my little brother
Go to sleep, you will have your milk
Mommy is upstairs
Making some cakes
Daddy is downstairs
Making hot cocoa
Go to sleep, Colas my little brother
Go to sleep, you will have your milk.
From http://www.mamalisa.com/?p=181&t=es&c=22
-snip-
The editor of mamalisa.com notes that "Colas" is short for "Nicolas" in French.
French lyrics for a longer version of this song can found in the Showcase Example given below.
****
SHOWCASE VIDEO: fais do do bebe - Andrew Carriere
Accordion Learner, Uploaded on Jan 24, 2009
Andrew Carriere in the back room at Ashkenaz, Berkeley, CA
-snip-
Information about the Carrières brothers and additional information about Creole fiddle and accordion music can be found in this pancocojams post: http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2015/04/blues-bebe-video-sound-file-comments.html
-snip-
Is "Fais Do Do Bebe" a Zydeco adaptation of the Cajun song "Fais Do Do, Colas Mon P'tit Frère"?
****
SHOWCASE EXAMPLE:
Fais dodo, Colas mon p'tit frère
Comptines et chansons, Uploaded on May 21, 2010
Fais dodo, Colas mon p'tit frère
Fais dodo, t'auras du lolo
Maman est en haut
Qui fait du gâteau
Papa est en bas
Qui fait du chocolat
Fais dodo, Colas mon p'tit frère
Fais dodo, t'auras du lolo
Fais dodo, Colas mon p'tit frère
Fais dodo, t'auras du lolo
Ta sœur est en haut
Qui fait des chapeaux
Ton frère est en bas
Qui fait des nougats
Fais dodo, Colas mon p'tit frère
Fais dodo, t'auras du lolo
Ton cousin Gaston
Fait des gros bonbons
Ta cousine Charlotte
Fait de la compote
Fais dodo, Colas mon p'tit frère
Fais dodo, t'auras du lolo
Fais dodo, Colas mon p'tit frère
Fais dodo, t'auras du lolo
Texte et partition : Comptines.TV
http://comptines.tv/fais_dodo_colas_m...
****
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.
This post provides information about Zydeco music and showcases one example of the Creole song "Fais Do Do Bebe" and one example of the Cajun song "Fais Do Do, Colas Mon P'tit Frère".
Information about the meanings of the term "fais do do" as the lyrics for the song "Fais Do Do Colas Mon P'tit Frère" also included in this post.
The content of this post is presented for historical, cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic reasons.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to Andrew Carrière and thanks to the producers of the animated example. Thanks also the publishers of these examples on YouTube and all those who are quoted in this post.
Note: This is one of several pancocojams posts that focus on the Louisiana Creole & Cajun use of the French word (English translation "baby"). My guess is that the word "bébé" and its use as a Creole/Cajun nickname at least partially influenced the creation of the contemporary African American Vernacular English word "bae" (pronounced "bay") which means "baby"/"babe". Read more of my comments and others comments about the word "bae" in http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2015/04/what-english-word-bae-really-means.html.
Other pancocojams posts that feature songs that include the word "bébé" can be found by clicking that tag below.
****
INFORMATION ABOUT LOUISIANA CREOLE MUSIC
From http://home.comcast.net/~cajunzydeco/zydemagic/whatiszydecomusic.htm "WHAT IS ZYDECO MUSIC" by Gary Hayman, International Zydeco Dance Instructor
..."Briefly, people surmise that the [Zydeco] dance originated in the country (prairie) areas of South Louisiana (Acadiana -- a group of 22 Parishes) by the Creole population of the time. I would put the date of the dance in the 1930s when the Zydeco music came into its own -- before that it perhaps went through stages such as church Juré (hand clapping, body striking and foot stomping -- non instrumental [not allowed in churches at that time]), la la music, zarico, to Zydeco -- along with the music.
Creole music was very similar to Cajun music but after WWII, Creole music began to take on different influences of other styles of music. While the fiddle (from Cajun style music) is almost always absent, Zydeco is usually played with accordion, electric guitar and bass, drums, and a sometimes even some brass (with larger bands). Perhaps the most distinctive instrument of Zydeco (besides the accordion) is a corrugated metal rubboard (called a 'frottior'). The first nationally recognized Zydeco songs were in the 1950's by Clifton Chenier ("King of Zydeco") and Boozoo Chavis...
The quick definition:
Zydeco is dance music played by Creole French speaking people of African descent who historically lived on the prairies of Southwest Louisiana. At its core it is the sound of an accordion paired with the scrapping of a rubboard. The accordion may be a single row diatonic model (of German origin but also now produced in Italy, Louisiana and other places), a triple row diatonic model, or a standard keyboard accordion.
Is Zydeco music the same as Cajun music?
Cajun and Creole people have lived and worked side by side for generations. They have shared and traded many aspects of their cultures including music. Some Zydeco songs are played by Cajun bands and some Cajun songs are played by Zydeco groups, but they are two different types of music. One major difference is that you'll find accordions, fiddles and steel guitars (rare now) in Cajun groups, but not in Zydeco bands -- where you will find accordions and rubboards."...
****
WHAT DOES "FAIS DO DO BEBE" MEAN?
"Fais Do Do Bebe" is French for "Go To Sleep, Baby".
However, the term "Fais Do Do" has come to refer to Cajun/Creole dance parties.
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fais_do-do
"Fais do-do is a name for a Cajun dance party, originating before World War II. According to Mark Humphrey the parties were named for "the gentle command ('go to sleep') young mothers offered bawling infants."[1] He quotes early Cajun musician Edwin Duhon of the Hackberry Ramblers, "She'd go to the cry room, give the baby a nipple and say, 'Fais do-do.' She'd want the baby to go to sleep fast, 'cause she's worried about her husband dancing with somebody else out there."
'Do-do' itself is a shortening of the French verb dormir (to sleep), used primarily in speaking to small children. The phrase is comparable to the American English "beddy-bye"."...
****
From http://www.louisianafolklife.org/LT/Articles_Essays/lfmfaisdodo.html
"The Folk Etymology of the Fais Do-Do: A Note" by Joshua Clegg Caffery
"By most accounts, the term fais do-do (with do pronounced dough) , in contemporary Louisiana parlance, refers to a public dance of some sort, often one held on a Sunday afternoon, usually involving an accordion and fiddle-led band and lyrics sung in vernacular Louisiana French. Indeed, the fais do-do is one of the first things visitors to French Louisiana learn about, along with a quaint story about how the expression evolved out of the practice of aged relatives lulling babies to sleep in the parc aux petits, a room reserved for sleepy infants in the back of Louisiana dance halls (like a cry room in Catholic church, but meant to isolate the baby from the noise, rather than to isolate the grownups from the babies' noise). I have heard this explanation given countless times, and I admit to even using it myself in the past, for lack of a better one. But where does this explanation come from, and is it correct? It certainly makes for a good story, and it makes sense (in a way), but there other possibilities. In this note, I argue that the familiar sleeping baby definition is most likely a folk etymology, and I offer an alternative hypothesis for consideration....
There is another explanation, however, that has been overlooked. In various folk dancing traditions throughout America and Europe, the contra dance call/step dos-à-dos, from the French meaning "back to back," gave rise to a diversity of vernacular terms. For instance, in Western square dancing, dos-à-dos transmuted into "dosado," and remains a popular dance step and call to this day. In fact, www.dosado.com is the central online hub for contemporary Western square dancing. Similarly, in English, "dos à dos" became "do si do," a familiar call retained in a number of Anglo-American folk songs and dance traditions. In all cases, the call means virtually the same thing: approach your partner and circle around each other, back to back. Contra dance, particularly in the form of quadrille, was as popular in Southern Louisiana as it was in Western, New England, and Appalachian dance traditions, and it antedated the more contemporary Cajun/Creole accordion-driven, two-step and waltz dances more familiar to modern observers (in Louisiana Creole, the word was kadril). Early "Cajun" musicians, such as Dennis McGee, not to mention many early Creole jazz musicians, cut their teeth playing for quadrilles before the more simplified couple dances took over (Daigle 1972; Fiehrer 1991; Szwed and Morton Marks 1988). My alternate theory is that "fais do-do" was a vernacular Louisiana French expression, derived from a call, based on "dos à dos." It would be strange if no vernacular Louisiana version of "dos àdos" existed, to begin with, even though vernacular descendants from the French exist in Western and Appalachian traditions. In other words, "dos à dos" is such a basic and common call in the broader world of vernacular and creolized contra dance that it generated a host of descendants—why not a Louisiana cognate? Furthermore, when seeking to derive an etymology for "fais do-do" as a Louisiana dance event, it simply makes much better sense. If "fais do-do" derived from a dance step/call, as I suggest, to "faire do-do" would have simply meant to "go dancing," and probably even conjured the image of the back to back dance that the name derives from.
There remains much to be said about this topic, and certainly both etymologies could have overlapped."...
****
LYRICS: FAIS DO DO [Colas etc]
(unknown composer)
[French lyrics]
Fais dodo, Colas mon p'tit frère
Fais dodo, t'auras du lolo
Maman est en haut
Qui fait des gâteaux
Papa est en bas
Qui fait du chocolat
Fait dodo Colas mon p'tit frère
Fait dodo, t'auras du lolo.
[English lyrics]
Go to sleep, Colas my little brother
Go to sleep, you will have your milk
Mommy is upstairs
Making some cakes
Daddy is downstairs
Making hot cocoa
Go to sleep, Colas my little brother
Go to sleep, you will have your milk.
From http://www.mamalisa.com/?p=181&t=es&c=22
-snip-
The editor of mamalisa.com notes that "Colas" is short for "Nicolas" in French.
French lyrics for a longer version of this song can found in the Showcase Example given below.
****
SHOWCASE VIDEO: fais do do bebe - Andrew Carriere
Accordion Learner, Uploaded on Jan 24, 2009
Andrew Carriere in the back room at Ashkenaz, Berkeley, CA
-snip-
Information about the Carrières brothers and additional information about Creole fiddle and accordion music can be found in this pancocojams post: http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2015/04/blues-bebe-video-sound-file-comments.html
-snip-
Is "Fais Do Do Bebe" a Zydeco adaptation of the Cajun song "Fais Do Do, Colas Mon P'tit Frère"?
****
SHOWCASE EXAMPLE:
Fais dodo, Colas mon p'tit frère
Comptines et chansons, Uploaded on May 21, 2010
Fais dodo, Colas mon p'tit frère
Fais dodo, t'auras du lolo
Maman est en haut
Qui fait du gâteau
Papa est en bas
Qui fait du chocolat
Fais dodo, Colas mon p'tit frère
Fais dodo, t'auras du lolo
Fais dodo, Colas mon p'tit frère
Fais dodo, t'auras du lolo
Ta sœur est en haut
Qui fait des chapeaux
Ton frère est en bas
Qui fait des nougats
Fais dodo, Colas mon p'tit frère
Fais dodo, t'auras du lolo
Ton cousin Gaston
Fait des gros bonbons
Ta cousine Charlotte
Fait de la compote
Fais dodo, Colas mon p'tit frère
Fais dodo, t'auras du lolo
Fais dodo, Colas mon p'tit frère
Fais dodo, t'auras du lolo
Texte et partition : Comptines.TV
http://comptines.tv/fais_dodo_colas_m...
****
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Visitor comments are welcome.
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