Edited by Azizi Powell
This pancocojams post showcases a YouTube example of and lyrics for the New Orleans Mardi Gras Indian song "Meet De Boys On De Battlefront".
General comments about Mardi Gras Indians are also included in this post.
The content of this post is presented for folkloric, cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to the composers & performers of this song, and thanks to Mardi Gras Indians for their cultural legacy. Thanks also to the publishers of these examples on YouTube and thanks to all those who are quoted in this post.
-snip-
Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2014/03/meet-de-boys-on-de-battlefront-mardi.html for the pancocojams post "Wild Tchoupitoulas - Meet De Boys On De Battlefront (Mardi Gras Indian song examples, information, & lyrics)"
****
GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT MARDI GRAS INDIANS
From http://www.mardigrasneworleans.com/mardigrasindians.html
"Mardi Gras is full of secrets, and the Mardi Gras Indians are as much a part of that secrecy as any other carnival organization. Their parade dates, times and routes are never published in advance, although they do tend to gather in the same areas every year.
The Mardi Gras Indians are comprised, in large part, of the African-American communities of New Orleans's inner city. While these Indians have paraded for well over a century, their parade is perhaps the least recognized Mardi Gras tradition....
Few in the ghetto felt they could ever participate in the typical New Orleans parade. Historically, slavery and racism were at the root of this cultural separation. The black neighborhoods in New Orleans gradually developed their own style of celebrating Mardi Gras. Their krewes are named for imaginary Indian tribes according to the streets of their ward or gang....
Today when two Mardi Gras Indian tribes pass one another, you will see a living theater of art and culture. Each tribe's style and dress is on display in a friendly but competitive manner. They compare one another's art and craftsmanship.
The Big Chiefs of two different tribes start with a song/chant, ceremonial dance, and threatening challenge to "Humba". The Big Chief's demand that the other Chief bows and pays respect. The retort is a whoop and equally impressive song and war dance with the reply, "Me no Humba, YOU Humba!"
"You know when you've won, you see it in their eyes." - Larry Bannock
Although there was a history of violence, many now choose to keep this celebration friendly. Each Big Chief will eventually stand back and, with a theatrical display of self-confidence, acknowledge the artistry and craftsmanship of the other chief's suit.
Before the progression can continue, the two Big Chiefs will often comment privately to one another, "Looking good, baby, looking good!"...
The good news is Mardi Gras day is no longer a day to "settle scores" among the Mardi Gras Indians. Now that the tradition and practice for the Indians to compare their tribal song, dance and dress with other tribes as they meet that day, violence is a thing of the past. The Mardi Gras Indian has invested thousands of hours and dollars in the creation of his suit, and will not run the risk of ruining it in a fight. This tradition, rich with folk art and history, is now appreciated by museums and historical societies around the world. It is a remarkable and welcome change from the past."...
****
From Google book excerpt: "Time Passages: Collective Memory and American Popular Culture" by George Lipsitz
p. 245
..."Language, costumes, and music combine to shape the fused art of the Mardi Gras Indian pageantry, but it is largely through dancing that each of these separate forms become part of a larger totality. Indians who chant “two way pockaway” (“get out of the way”) will dance differently from those chanting “handa wanda” (“we’re not looking for trouble”). Dancing offers an opportunity to display the beauty of one’s costume; conversely, costume design anticipates the movement of street dancing. Musical selections not only have their own lyrics, melodies, and rhythms, but they also have specific dance steps that accentuate their other meanings.
In recent years, dancing has taken one even greater importance among Mardi Gras Indians as a symbolic form of combat. At one time the tribes carried real hatchets and spears and used the aggressive festivity of carnival as a cover for gang warfare. After a day of drinking and marching they would meet to settle grudges and rivalries on the “battlefield”-an empty lot at the intersection of Claiborne and Poydras streets. But when urban renewal destroyed the basis for neighborhood competitions, and when police vigilance
p. 246
made violent acts on carnival day more difficult, a new spirit began to emerge. Aesthetic rivalries took the place of street fighting, and dancing became a key way of demonstrating one’s superiority over others. When Indians challenge each other in the streets, they draw an imaginary line between them and compete by dancing as close as possible without crossing. Their dance enacts a mock fight replete with attacks on territory and each other’s bodies. The dancers capable of giving the appearance of fighting without resorting to actual combat win the highest esteem from their tribe and from spectators.
The transformation of actual violence into symbolic aesthetic competition has many precedents and parallels in Afro-American communities all across the nation, but it has a special history in New Orleans."..
****
LYRICS- MEET DE BOYS ON THE BATTLEFRONT
(Bo Dollis & The Wild Magnolias)
Meet De Boys On The Battlefront x3
where the Wild Tchoupitoulas gonna stomp some rump
/(Chorus)/
Well the prettiest little thing that I ever see
is the mardi gras indians down in new orleans
he sewed all night and he sewed all day
Mardi Gras morning went all the way
/(Chorus)/
Indians coming from all over town
big chief singing "gonna take em down"
jockomo filo ela hey*
indians are rulers on the holiday
/(Chorus)/
Mardi Gras morning won't be long
gonna play indians, gonna carry on
maskers running up and down the avenue
and here come the indians, let em through
/(Chorus)/
I'm an indian ruler from the thirteenth ward
third sifahuna of all before
I walk through fire and I smell through mud
snagged the feathers from an eagle, drink panther's blood
/(Chorus)/
While the itty-bitty spy got a heart of steel
if his shank won't get you, his hatchet will
gelo me hacko noona no**
he shoot the gun in the jailhouse door
/(Chorus)/
I'll bring my gang all over town
and drink fire water till the sun go down
when we get back home we gonna kneel and pray
we had some fun on the holiday
/(Chorus)/
Source: http://www.metrolyrics.com/meet-the-boys-on-the-battlefront-lyrics-the-wild-magnolias.html
-snip-
*This Mardi Gras saying is usually given as "jockomo fe na nay".
**The end of this Mardi Gras saying is usually given as "hoo na nay"
****
SHOWCASE VIDEO: Bo Dollis & The Wild Magnolias - Meet De Boys on the Battlefront
Nakano Mamoru Published on Jan 21, 2015
Bo Dollis & The Wild Magnolias - Meet De Boys on the Battlefront
(Mardi Gras In New Orleans)
****
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.
Showing posts with label New Orleans Mardi Gras Indians. Show all posts
Showing posts with label New Orleans Mardi Gras Indians. Show all posts
Friday, March 10, 2017
Mardi Gras Indians' History & Culture (Book excerpt from "Time Passages: Collective Memory and American Popular Culture" by George Lipsitz
Edited by Azizi Powell
This pancocojams post provides an excerpt about Mardi Gras Indians' history and culture from George Lipsitz's 1990 book Time Passages: Collective Memory and American Popular Culture (University of Minnesota Press).
These excerpted pages are prefaced by a brief quote from another online article about New Orleans second line parading traditions- Second Lines, Minstrelsy, and the Contested Landscapes of New Orleans Afro-Creole Festivals by Helen A. Regis.
This excerpt provides information about the history of the New Orleans Mardi Gras Indians as well as information and information and comments about studies about Mardi Gras Indian.
The content of this post is provided for historical, folkloric, and cultural purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to Mardi Gras Indians past and present. Thanks also to George Lipsitz and thanks to Helen A. Regis, and all others who are quoted in this post.
****
PREFACE:
From http://www.academicroom.com/article/second-lines-minstrelsy-and-contested-landscapes-new-orleans-afro-creole-festivals "Second Lines In New Orleans" by Helen A. Regis (pages 494, 495)
"Illuminating comparisons to New Orleans popular performance traditions can be found in the Caribbean, in West Africa, and throughout the African Diaspora. Readings in the field of African performance [a number of researchers are cited] have stimulated many of the interpretations forwarded here. But the search for transoceanic connections becomes problematic when it threatens to erase local political, economic, and religious structures, or when it privileges the archaeology of the past as a source of semantic criticism over the lived presence of living cultural practitioners. The meaning of the New Orleans second line must be grasped through in-depth ethnographic research, and, though its place in Afro-diasporic culture should be examined and analyzed, this must not obscure the lived experience of participants who sponsor these events at great personal cost and with great devotion to promulgating the values that sustain the tradition. Too often in "textual" analysis of diasporic performance [a research example is cited] the experiences of participants is erased, their performances treated as formalized stage plays, and their own agency silenced under the critic's rhetorical flourish. By failing to examine local realities as they impinge on the lived experiences of participants such "textual" analysis of performance traditions also erase the agency of living, breathing human beings who "work it" in the streets."
****
BOOK EXCERPT: "TIME PASSAGES: COLLECTIVE MEMORY AND AMERICAN POPULAR CULTURE" BY GEORGE LIPSITZ
[Note: These pages from Google Books are presented as is, excerpt for citation numbers for notes.]
http://books.google.com/books?id=dAIDvUmJ5X4C&pg=PA245&lpg=PA245&dq=corinne+died+on+the+battlefield+lyrics&source=bl&ots=Wq38PPfuuF&sig=BT5prOYTXzpZtls8lmG_f2wFIkI&hl=en&sa=X&ei=MTMvU8SaKcqD0AGVxYG4Aw&ved=0CDUQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=corinne%20died%20on%20the%20battlefield%20lyrics&f=false
page 236
"The Mardi Gras Indian narrative does not take the form of pure narrative-of a sequence of events taking place over time in a cause-and-effect relationship-but its central occurring theme is a story of heroic warriors resisting domination. The Indians tell about past Mardi Gras days when challenges from other groups forced them to bring to the surface the bravery and solidarity they must repress in everyday life. Song lyrics, chants, and costumes celebrate brave tribes who “won’t kneel, won’t bow, and don’t know how.” This Indian imagery draws on many sources. In slavery times, Indian communities offered blacks a potential alternative to a society in which to be black was to be a slave and to be free was to be white. In New Orleans, black slaves mingled with Indians in local markets, and interactions between Native American Indians and blacks gave many
p. 237
Louisiana blacks a historical claim to a joint Indian and Afro-American heritage. In addition, more than twenty spiritualist churches in New Orleans venerate the Native American Indian Chief Black Hawk as a martyr, in keeping with the teaching of Leith Anderson, a half Mohawk woman who preached the doctrine of “spirit returning”. But the evidence tying the Mardi Gras Indians to direct Indian ancestry is slight. Mardi Gras “tribes” wear the headdresses of Plains Indians, not of Southeastern Indians, and with the exception of some styles of bead work, few of their practices replicate the crafts of local Native American Indian tribes. South American and Caribbean carnival traditions feature Indians prominently, and some of the New Orleans chants more closely resemble French and Spanish carnival phrases than they do any known Native American Indian tongue. As one Mardi Gras Indian told a researcher
In fact, the touring “Wild West” shows of Buffalo Bill Cody and other late nineteenth-century popular cultural entrepreneurs were probably the real impetus for the creation of these mock Indian tribes. Carnival parades began in New Orleans in 1827, but blacks did not generally dress up as Indians until Becate Baptiste formed the Creole Wild West in the early 1880s. Donning headdresses and face paint enabled Afro-Americans to circumvent the local laws that made it illegal for blacks to wear masks, but the Indian imagery had important symbolic meaning for them as well. One former chief of the Golden Blades tribe suggests that both blood ties and consumer tastes played a role in the formation of an early Indian tribe, telling a reporter “In 1895 Sam Tillman got the idea to mask Injun by seeing a Wild West show that came through N’Awlins. Brother Tillman came from Indians himself, and in 1897 he started the [Yellow] Pocahontas tribe."...
Page 241
...[quoting John] Chernoff “The music [of the Mardi Gras Indians] works more by encouraging social interaction and participation at each performance than by affirming a fixed set of sanctioned concepts or beliefs.”
But it is not merely an abstract philosophy that emerges from the Indian music, the musical forms employed by the tribes reflect concrete social relations. Thus the “call and response” between the leader and the tribe in “Handa Wanda” represent the symbiotic relationship between the leader and the group…
Page 244
...Similarly the 1930 chant by the Wild Squatoolas, “Somebody’s got to sew sew sew,” became transformed in the 1960s by the Wild Magnolias to “Everybody’s got soul, soul, soul”. The imprecision of “Indian talk” might not engender confidence in the idea of language as a central feature of the Mardi Gras Indian ritual. After all, if the origins of words remain obscure, and if words change overtime, how can we be sure that speakers know the significance of what they are saying? It is likely that the tribes and their followers are not exactly aware of the denotative meaning of every word they use. But in another sense the use of this language in collective rituals conveys a greater meaning than can be found in the individual words themselves. Another African example might help illumine the consciousness between this approach to language. Chernoff interviewed a famous Ghanaian musician known as “The Entertainer” about the meaning of his songs:
Just as African audiences value the traditions conveyed by The Entertainer, Mardi Gras Indians and their audiences profit from the cultural legacies of the past, even while adapting them to the present. Mardi Gras traditions are not a matter of establishing precise origins or maintaining authentic folk forms; rather, they seek to unite the presence with the past in a dynamic, yet continuous process. Words and names often play key roles in building that unity. When new tribes form, they often connect themselves to the past by using the name of a disbanded tribe. Yet, they only do so if they can locate the disbanded Indian chief and secure his permission.
Page 245
Song lyrics also connect contemporary herorism to traditional figures. Thus the Wild Tchapatoulas’ “Brother John” pay tribute to John “Scarface” Williams (a rhythm-and-blues singer and Mardi Gras Indian who died from a knifing shortly after carnival in 1972) by comparing him to “Cora” who “died on the battlefield”. An earlier song by Willie Turbington of the Wild Magnolias based on a chant by the Magnolia’s chief Bo Dollis, told the story of a rebellious slave named Cory. In the 1920s jazz musician Danny Barker recorded a song "Corrine Died on the Battlefield," a song which Paul Longpre of the Golden Blaze claims told the story of a woman named Cora Anne who masked as a queen of the Battlefield Hunters, but who died of gunshot wounds incurred when she got caught in the crossfire between the Hunters and the Wild Squatoolas. Cora thus refers to at least four people living more than one hundred years apart, three of them male, and one female. The story touches on the histories of at least five tribes and appeared in four separate songs. There is no one authentic Corey; the purpose of all this borrowing is precisely to fashion a collective narrative embracing a wide range of actual events and individual. No one lyricist or story-teller can control the narrative about Corey; it filters through the community, undergoing significant changes, yet retaining important continuities.
Language, costumes, and music combine to shape the fused art of the Mardi Gras Indian pageantry, but it is largely through dancing that each of these separate forms become part of a larger totality. Indians who chant “two way pockaway” (“get out of the way”) will dance differently from those chanting “handa wanda” (“we’re not looking for trouble”). Dancing offers an opportunity to display the beauty of one’s costume; conversely, costume design anticipates the movement of street dancing. Musical selections not only have their own lyrics, melodies, and rhythms, but they also have specific dance steps that accentuate their other meanings.
In recent years, dancing has taken one even greater importance among Mardi Gras Indians as a symbolic form of combat. At one time the tribes carried real hatchets and spears and used the aggressive festivity of carnival as a cover for gang warfare. After a day of drinking and marching they would meet to settle grudges and rivalries on the “battlefield”-an empty lot at the intersection of Claiborne and Poydras streets. But when urban renewal destroyed the basis for neighborhood competitions, and when police vigilance
p. 246
made violent acts on carnival day more difficult, a new spirit began to emerge. Aesthetic rivalries took the place of street fighting, and dancing became a key way of demonstrating one’s superiority over others. When Indians challenge each other in the streets, they draw an imaginary line between them and compete by dancing as close as possible without crossing. Their dance enacts a mock fight replete with attacks on territory and each other’s bodies. The dancers capable of giving the appearance of fighting without resorting to actual combat win the highest esteem from their tribe and from spectators.
The transformation of actual violence into symbolic aesthetic competition has many precedents and parallels in Afro-American communities all across the nation, but it has a special history in New Orleans."...
****
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.
This pancocojams post provides an excerpt about Mardi Gras Indians' history and culture from George Lipsitz's 1990 book Time Passages: Collective Memory and American Popular Culture (University of Minnesota Press).
These excerpted pages are prefaced by a brief quote from another online article about New Orleans second line parading traditions- Second Lines, Minstrelsy, and the Contested Landscapes of New Orleans Afro-Creole Festivals by Helen A. Regis.
This excerpt provides information about the history of the New Orleans Mardi Gras Indians as well as information and information and comments about studies about Mardi Gras Indian.
The content of this post is provided for historical, folkloric, and cultural purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to Mardi Gras Indians past and present. Thanks also to George Lipsitz and thanks to Helen A. Regis, and all others who are quoted in this post.
****
PREFACE:
From http://www.academicroom.com/article/second-lines-minstrelsy-and-contested-landscapes-new-orleans-afro-creole-festivals "Second Lines In New Orleans" by Helen A. Regis (pages 494, 495)
"Illuminating comparisons to New Orleans popular performance traditions can be found in the Caribbean, in West Africa, and throughout the African Diaspora. Readings in the field of African performance [a number of researchers are cited] have stimulated many of the interpretations forwarded here. But the search for transoceanic connections becomes problematic when it threatens to erase local political, economic, and religious structures, or when it privileges the archaeology of the past as a source of semantic criticism over the lived presence of living cultural practitioners. The meaning of the New Orleans second line must be grasped through in-depth ethnographic research, and, though its place in Afro-diasporic culture should be examined and analyzed, this must not obscure the lived experience of participants who sponsor these events at great personal cost and with great devotion to promulgating the values that sustain the tradition. Too often in "textual" analysis of diasporic performance [a research example is cited] the experiences of participants is erased, their performances treated as formalized stage plays, and their own agency silenced under the critic's rhetorical flourish. By failing to examine local realities as they impinge on the lived experiences of participants such "textual" analysis of performance traditions also erase the agency of living, breathing human beings who "work it" in the streets."
****
BOOK EXCERPT: "TIME PASSAGES: COLLECTIVE MEMORY AND AMERICAN POPULAR CULTURE" BY GEORGE LIPSITZ
[Note: These pages from Google Books are presented as is, excerpt for citation numbers for notes.]
http://books.google.com/books?id=dAIDvUmJ5X4C&pg=PA245&lpg=PA245&dq=corinne+died+on+the+battlefield+lyrics&source=bl&ots=Wq38PPfuuF&sig=BT5prOYTXzpZtls8lmG_f2wFIkI&hl=en&sa=X&ei=MTMvU8SaKcqD0AGVxYG4Aw&ved=0CDUQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=corinne%20died%20on%20the%20battlefield%20lyrics&f=false
page 236
"The Mardi Gras Indian narrative does not take the form of pure narrative-of a sequence of events taking place over time in a cause-and-effect relationship-but its central occurring theme is a story of heroic warriors resisting domination. The Indians tell about past Mardi Gras days when challenges from other groups forced them to bring to the surface the bravery and solidarity they must repress in everyday life. Song lyrics, chants, and costumes celebrate brave tribes who “won’t kneel, won’t bow, and don’t know how.” This Indian imagery draws on many sources. In slavery times, Indian communities offered blacks a potential alternative to a society in which to be black was to be a slave and to be free was to be white. In New Orleans, black slaves mingled with Indians in local markets, and interactions between Native American Indians and blacks gave many
p. 237
Louisiana blacks a historical claim to a joint Indian and Afro-American heritage. In addition, more than twenty spiritualist churches in New Orleans venerate the Native American Indian Chief Black Hawk as a martyr, in keeping with the teaching of Leith Anderson, a half Mohawk woman who preached the doctrine of “spirit returning”. But the evidence tying the Mardi Gras Indians to direct Indian ancestry is slight. Mardi Gras “tribes” wear the headdresses of Plains Indians, not of Southeastern Indians, and with the exception of some styles of bead work, few of their practices replicate the crafts of local Native American Indian tribes. South American and Caribbean carnival traditions feature Indians prominently, and some of the New Orleans chants more closely resemble French and Spanish carnival phrases than they do any known Native American Indian tongue. As one Mardi Gras Indian told a researcher
"We’re not real Indians, we just masquerade as Indians really, and we just give our tribe a name, and different positions, and things like that."....
In fact, the touring “Wild West” shows of Buffalo Bill Cody and other late nineteenth-century popular cultural entrepreneurs were probably the real impetus for the creation of these mock Indian tribes. Carnival parades began in New Orleans in 1827, but blacks did not generally dress up as Indians until Becate Baptiste formed the Creole Wild West in the early 1880s. Donning headdresses and face paint enabled Afro-Americans to circumvent the local laws that made it illegal for blacks to wear masks, but the Indian imagery had important symbolic meaning for them as well. One former chief of the Golden Blades tribe suggests that both blood ties and consumer tastes played a role in the formation of an early Indian tribe, telling a reporter “In 1895 Sam Tillman got the idea to mask Injun by seeing a Wild West show that came through N’Awlins. Brother Tillman came from Indians himself, and in 1897 he started the [Yellow] Pocahontas tribe."...
Page 241
...[quoting John] Chernoff “The music [of the Mardi Gras Indians] works more by encouraging social interaction and participation at each performance than by affirming a fixed set of sanctioned concepts or beliefs.”
But it is not merely an abstract philosophy that emerges from the Indian music, the musical forms employed by the tribes reflect concrete social relations. Thus the “call and response” between the leader and the tribe in “Handa Wanda” represent the symbiotic relationship between the leader and the group…
Page 244
...Similarly the 1930 chant by the Wild Squatoolas, “Somebody’s got to sew sew sew,” became transformed in the 1960s by the Wild Magnolias to “Everybody’s got soul, soul, soul”. The imprecision of “Indian talk” might not engender confidence in the idea of language as a central feature of the Mardi Gras Indian ritual. After all, if the origins of words remain obscure, and if words change overtime, how can we be sure that speakers know the significance of what they are saying? It is likely that the tribes and their followers are not exactly aware of the denotative meaning of every word they use. But in another sense the use of this language in collective rituals conveys a greater meaning than can be found in the individual words themselves. Another African example might help illumine the consciousness between this approach to language. Chernoff interviewed a famous Ghanaian musician known as “The Entertainer” about the meaning of his songs:
”When I asked him what the songs he sang were about, he said he really didn’t understand some of them, that he would have to go ask the old men who had given him the proverbs which he had set into music. People from various walks of live told me that “The Entertainer”'s songs were in “deep Dagbani” which they could not “hear”. They did not have to understand the songs to be moved, but nevertheless, they valued the songs’ expressions of their deepest traditional sentiments. What was important to them was that the songs had a depth which they enjoyed trying to interpret even while they acknowledged that the songs were often beyond them. In effect, the music does and does not rely on a specific traditional meaning.”
Just as African audiences value the traditions conveyed by The Entertainer, Mardi Gras Indians and their audiences profit from the cultural legacies of the past, even while adapting them to the present. Mardi Gras traditions are not a matter of establishing precise origins or maintaining authentic folk forms; rather, they seek to unite the presence with the past in a dynamic, yet continuous process. Words and names often play key roles in building that unity. When new tribes form, they often connect themselves to the past by using the name of a disbanded tribe. Yet, they only do so if they can locate the disbanded Indian chief and secure his permission.
Page 245
Song lyrics also connect contemporary herorism to traditional figures. Thus the Wild Tchapatoulas’ “Brother John” pay tribute to John “Scarface” Williams (a rhythm-and-blues singer and Mardi Gras Indian who died from a knifing shortly after carnival in 1972) by comparing him to “Cora” who “died on the battlefield”. An earlier song by Willie Turbington of the Wild Magnolias based on a chant by the Magnolia’s chief Bo Dollis, told the story of a rebellious slave named Cory. In the 1920s jazz musician Danny Barker recorded a song "Corrine Died on the Battlefield," a song which Paul Longpre of the Golden Blaze claims told the story of a woman named Cora Anne who masked as a queen of the Battlefield Hunters, but who died of gunshot wounds incurred when she got caught in the crossfire between the Hunters and the Wild Squatoolas. Cora thus refers to at least four people living more than one hundred years apart, three of them male, and one female. The story touches on the histories of at least five tribes and appeared in four separate songs. There is no one authentic Corey; the purpose of all this borrowing is precisely to fashion a collective narrative embracing a wide range of actual events and individual. No one lyricist or story-teller can control the narrative about Corey; it filters through the community, undergoing significant changes, yet retaining important continuities.
Language, costumes, and music combine to shape the fused art of the Mardi Gras Indian pageantry, but it is largely through dancing that each of these separate forms become part of a larger totality. Indians who chant “two way pockaway” (“get out of the way”) will dance differently from those chanting “handa wanda” (“we’re not looking for trouble”). Dancing offers an opportunity to display the beauty of one’s costume; conversely, costume design anticipates the movement of street dancing. Musical selections not only have their own lyrics, melodies, and rhythms, but they also have specific dance steps that accentuate their other meanings.
In recent years, dancing has taken one even greater importance among Mardi Gras Indians as a symbolic form of combat. At one time the tribes carried real hatchets and spears and used the aggressive festivity of carnival as a cover for gang warfare. After a day of drinking and marching they would meet to settle grudges and rivalries on the “battlefield”-an empty lot at the intersection of Claiborne and Poydras streets. But when urban renewal destroyed the basis for neighborhood competitions, and when police vigilance
p. 246
made violent acts on carnival day more difficult, a new spirit began to emerge. Aesthetic rivalries took the place of street fighting, and dancing became a key way of demonstrating one’s superiority over others. When Indians challenge each other in the streets, they draw an imaginary line between them and compete by dancing as close as possible without crossing. Their dance enacts a mock fight replete with attacks on territory and each other’s bodies. The dancers capable of giving the appearance of fighting without resorting to actual combat win the highest esteem from their tribe and from spectators.
The transformation of actual violence into symbolic aesthetic competition has many precedents and parallels in Afro-American communities all across the nation, but it has a special history in New Orleans."...
****
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.
Monday, March 24, 2014
Danny Barker - My Indian Red (Mardi Gras Indian song example, comments, lyrics)
Edited by Azizi Powell
Latest revision - Oct. 13, 2023
This pancocojams post showcase a 1946-1947 example of the classic Mardi Gras Indian song "My Indian Red" (also known as "Indian Red"). This post also includes information and comments about that song, one bonus example of song lyrics, and one bonus video example of this song.
The content of this post is presented for folkloric, cultural, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to Danny Barker for his musical legacy. Thanks to all the composers & performers of this song, and thanks to Mardi Gras Indians for their cultural legacy. Thanks also to the publishers of these examples on YouTube and thanks to all those who are quoted in this post.
Update Oct. 13, 2023 - Thanks to Anonymous Oct. 13, 2023 for sharing information about the French influence on some of the words for the song "Indian Red".
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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SONG "INDIAN RED"
"Indian Red" can be considered a folk song as there are no known composer for the song. The song praises Mardi Gras Indians and declares that the Indians won't bow down (to any adversaries or in the face of any adverse situations).
The tune, the trempo, and some of the lyrics for this song are relatively fixed. However, other lyrics can be sung for this song as long as those lyrics fit the song's general themes and spirit.
Here's information about the song "Indian Red" from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Red
"Indian Red is traditionally sung at the beginning and at the end of gatherings of Mardi Gras Indians in New Orleans. It is a traditional chant that may have been first recorded by Sugar Boy Crawford in the 1950s. It has since been recorded many times by, among others, Dr. John and Wild Tchoupitoulas."...
-snip-
Click that link for a 1980s example of the lyrics for this song.
Also, note that the "My Indian Red" song that is showcased in this post predates the 1950s Sugar Boy Crawford song that is referenced in the Wikipedia article.
****
SHOWCASED EXAMPLE
erikmek Uploaded on Jan 25, 2011
Danny Barker - My Indian Red from Baby dodds trio - Jazz A´la Creole [album name] 1946-1947
Danny Barker on guitar & vocals, Don Kirkpatrick on piano, Heywood Henry on baritone saxophone, and Freddie Moore.
-snip-
Here are several comments from this sound file's viewer comment thread:
Louis Maistros, 2012
"the first ever recording of this mardi gras classic."
**
chadwick crawford, 2012
"The record is Jazz a la Creole, credited to the Baby Dodds trio, although this is Barker and some other dudes. It's still in print."
**
dthesq, 2012 [In response to the question "Why is it difficult to find the lyrics to Mardi Gras Indian songs on the Internet?]
"Lotsa them are around on the net. It's hard to find exactly what you're looking for cuz everybody sang them differently over the years."
****
LYRICS: MY INDIAN RED
(Danny Barker)
Here comes the Big Chief,
the Big Chief the Yellow Pocahontas,
the pretty Monogram Hunters
and we don't bow down on nobody's ground.
Oh, how we love to hear you call us Indian red.
The Wild Tchoupitoulas, White Eagles,
the pretty 8th Ward Hunters,
the Wild West Shoshoni Hunters
and we don't bow down on nobody's ground.
Oh, how we love to hear you call us Indian red.
Here comes the Spy Boy, the Flag Boy,
but watch that crazy Wild Man,
the wildest in the lowland
and you'll love our Queen,
Queen of New Orleans.
Oh, how we love to hear you call us Indian red.
Source: joshbusby47 in 2013, viewer comments http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqwCriy2Vqo [reformatted for this post]
****
BONUS LYRICS: INDIAN RED
(Mrs. Augustine Moore, 1980)
Madi cu defio, en dans dey, end dans day[1]
Madi cu defio, en dans dey, end dans day
We are the Indians, Indians, Indians of the nation
The wild, wild creation
We won't bow down
Down on the ground
Oh how I love to hear him call Indian Red
I've got a Big Chief,
Big Chief, Big Chief of the Nation
The wild, wild creation
He won't bow down
Down on the ground
Oh how I love to hear him call Indian Red
Note (1)
Madi cu defio, en dans dey, end dans day] (is) "A corruption of a phrase from an old Creole song, "M'alle couri dans deser" (Wilson, Traditional Louisiana French Folk Music, 59; Mrs. Augustine Moore, interview by author, 1980. As cited in "The Use of Louisiana Creole in Southern Literature" by Sybil Rein, Creole: The History and Legacy of Louisiana's Free People of Color ed. Sybil Rein. Louisiana State University Press: 2000. ISBN 0-8071-2532-6 pg 124). "M'alle couri dans deser" is said to mean "I am going into the wilderness" ("Creole Slave Songs." The Century Magazine. Vol XXXI, No 6. April 1886. pg 820)."
-snip-
[Pancocojams Editor's Note, Oct. 13, 2023- I'm sorry. I don't know which online source I quoted above.]
Here's a revision of this portion of the original pancocojams post:
The lyrics "Madi cu defio, en dans dey, end dans day" are given as "Mighty cooty fiyo - hey la hey, hey la hey" in the version of "Indian Red" that is sung by Daniel Lanois: Here's the words to that version from
Latest revision - Oct. 13, 2023
This pancocojams post showcase a 1946-1947 example of the classic Mardi Gras Indian song "My Indian Red" (also known as "Indian Red"). This post also includes information and comments about that song, one bonus example of song lyrics, and one bonus video example of this song.
The content of this post is presented for folkloric, cultural, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to Danny Barker for his musical legacy. Thanks to all the composers & performers of this song, and thanks to Mardi Gras Indians for their cultural legacy. Thanks also to the publishers of these examples on YouTube and thanks to all those who are quoted in this post.
Update Oct. 13, 2023 - Thanks to Anonymous Oct. 13, 2023 for sharing information about the French influence on some of the words for the song "Indian Red".
****
INFORMATION ABOUT THE SONG "INDIAN RED"
"Indian Red" can be considered a folk song as there are no known composer for the song. The song praises Mardi Gras Indians and declares that the Indians won't bow down (to any adversaries or in the face of any adverse situations).
The tune, the trempo, and some of the lyrics for this song are relatively fixed. However, other lyrics can be sung for this song as long as those lyrics fit the song's general themes and spirit.
Here's information about the song "Indian Red" from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Red
"Indian Red is traditionally sung at the beginning and at the end of gatherings of Mardi Gras Indians in New Orleans. It is a traditional chant that may have been first recorded by Sugar Boy Crawford in the 1950s. It has since been recorded many times by, among others, Dr. John and Wild Tchoupitoulas."...
-snip-
Click that link for a 1980s example of the lyrics for this song.
Also, note that the "My Indian Red" song that is showcased in this post predates the 1950s Sugar Boy Crawford song that is referenced in the Wikipedia article.
****
SHOWCASED EXAMPLE
erikmek Uploaded on Jan 25, 2011
Danny Barker - My Indian Red from Baby dodds trio - Jazz A´la Creole [album name] 1946-1947
Danny Barker on guitar & vocals, Don Kirkpatrick on piano, Heywood Henry on baritone saxophone, and Freddie Moore.
-snip-
Here are several comments from this sound file's viewer comment thread:
Louis Maistros, 2012
"the first ever recording of this mardi gras classic."
**
chadwick crawford, 2012
"The record is Jazz a la Creole, credited to the Baby Dodds trio, although this is Barker and some other dudes. It's still in print."
**
dthesq, 2012 [In response to the question "Why is it difficult to find the lyrics to Mardi Gras Indian songs on the Internet?]
"Lotsa them are around on the net. It's hard to find exactly what you're looking for cuz everybody sang them differently over the years."
****
LYRICS: MY INDIAN RED
(Danny Barker)
Here comes the Big Chief,
the Big Chief the Yellow Pocahontas,
the pretty Monogram Hunters
and we don't bow down on nobody's ground.
Oh, how we love to hear you call us Indian red.
The Wild Tchoupitoulas, White Eagles,
the pretty 8th Ward Hunters,
the Wild West Shoshoni Hunters
and we don't bow down on nobody's ground.
Oh, how we love to hear you call us Indian red.
Here comes the Spy Boy, the Flag Boy,
but watch that crazy Wild Man,
the wildest in the lowland
and you'll love our Queen,
Queen of New Orleans.
Oh, how we love to hear you call us Indian red.
Source: joshbusby47 in 2013, viewer comments http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqwCriy2Vqo [reformatted for this post]
****
BONUS LYRICS: INDIAN RED
(Mrs. Augustine Moore, 1980)
Madi cu defio, en dans dey, end dans day[1]
Madi cu defio, en dans dey, end dans day
We are the Indians, Indians, Indians of the nation
The wild, wild creation
We won't bow down
Down on the ground
Oh how I love to hear him call Indian Red
I've got a Big Chief,
Big Chief, Big Chief of the Nation
The wild, wild creation
He won't bow down
Down on the ground
Oh how I love to hear him call Indian Red
Note (1)
Madi cu defio, en dans dey, end dans day] (is) "A corruption of a phrase from an old Creole song, "M'alle couri dans deser" (Wilson, Traditional Louisiana French Folk Music, 59; Mrs. Augustine Moore, interview by author, 1980. As cited in "The Use of Louisiana Creole in Southern Literature" by Sybil Rein, Creole: The History and Legacy of Louisiana's Free People of Color ed. Sybil Rein. Louisiana State University Press: 2000. ISBN 0-8071-2532-6 pg 124). "M'alle couri dans deser" is said to mean "I am going into the wilderness" ("Creole Slave Songs." The Century Magazine. Vol XXXI, No 6. April 1886. pg 820)."
-snip-
[Pancocojams Editor's Note, Oct. 13, 2023- I'm sorry. I don't know which online source I quoted above.]
Here's a revision of this portion of the original pancocojams post:
The lyrics "Madi cu defio, en dans dey, end dans day" are given as "Mighty cooty fiyo - hey la hey, hey la hey" in the version of "Indian Red" that is sung by Daniel Lanois: Here's the words to that version from
http://www.lyricsmania.com/indian_red_lyrics_daniel_lanois.html
**
The word "fiyo" is usually interpreted as "fire" in Mardi Gras Indian songs.
****
BONUS VIDEO: Mardi Gras Indians Singing Indian Red during the annual St. Joseph Night Celebration
onenawlins, Published on May 16, 2013
http://www.onenawlins.com For more history on this wonderful and unique culture please visit and support my website. Merchandise and apparel coming 6-2013!!!
MardiGras Indians Singing Indian Red during the annual St. Joseph Night Celebration on Tuesday March 19, 2013. The Mardi Gras Indians named themselves after native Indians to pay them respect for their assistance in escaping the tyranny of slavery. It was often local Indians who accepted slaves into their society when they made a break for freedom around early to mid 1800s. They have never forgotten this support. The chants that you hear are usually stories of the struggles in the neighborhood, violence, poverty, celebration of life or death etc,,. These chants and calls are passed down from generation to generation.
****
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Visitors comments are welcome.
Indian Red Lyrics
Daniel Lanois, For The Beauty Of Wynona
Mighty cooty fiyo - hey la hey, hey la hey
I've got a Big Chief, Big Chief, Big Chief of the Nation
Wild, wild creation
He won't bow down, down on the ground
Oh how I love to hear him call Indian Red
When I throw my net in the river
I will take only what I need
Just enough for me and my lover
I will take only what I need
Sing:
Mighty cooty fiyo - hey la hey, hey la hey
Mighty cooty fiyo - hey la hey, hey la hey
Mighty cooty fiyo - hey la hey, hey la hey
Mighty cooty fiyo - hey la hey, hey la hey
Songwriters: GEORGE LANDRY
Publisher: Lyrics © GULF COAST MUSIC LLC, Universal Music
Publishing Group
**
The word "fiyo" is usually interpreted as "fire" in Mardi Gras Indian songs.
****
BONUS VIDEO: Mardi Gras Indians Singing Indian Red during the annual St. Joseph Night Celebration
onenawlins, Published on May 16, 2013
http://www.onenawlins.com For more history on this wonderful and unique culture please visit and support my website. Merchandise and apparel coming 6-2013!!!
MardiGras Indians Singing Indian Red during the annual St. Joseph Night Celebration on Tuesday March 19, 2013. The Mardi Gras Indians named themselves after native Indians to pay them respect for their assistance in escaping the tyranny of slavery. It was often local Indians who accepted slaves into their society when they made a break for freedom around early to mid 1800s. They have never forgotten this support. The chants that you hear are usually stories of the struggles in the neighborhood, violence, poverty, celebration of life or death etc,,. These chants and calls are passed down from generation to generation.
****
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Visitors comments are welcome.
The Wild Magnolias - Corey Died On The Battlefield (example & lyrics)
Edited by Azizi Powell
This pancocojams post presents a sound file and my transcription of the 1970s The Wild Magnolias' version of the song "Corey Died On The Battlefield". This post also presents information about the Mardi Gras Indians, information about The Wild Magnolias & their album, as well as information & comments about the "Corey Died On The Battlefield" song.
The content of this post is presented for cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to the composers & performers of this song. Thanks also to the publisher of this record on YouTube and thanks to all those who are quoted in this post.
****
GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT MARDI GRAS INDIANS
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mardi_Gras_Indians
"Mardi Gras Indians are African-American Carnival revelers in New Orleans, Louisiana who dress up for Mardi Gras in suits influenced by Native American ceremonial apparel.
Collectively, their organizations are called "tribes" , Mardi Gras Indian tribes also parade on the Sunday nearest to Saint Joseph's Day on March 19th ("Super Sunday") and sometimes also at the annual New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.
There are about 38 tribes. They range in size from a half dozen to several dozen members. The tribes are largely independent, but a pair of umbrella organizations loosely coordinate the Uptown Indians and the Downtown Indians".
****
From http://www.mardigrasdigest.com/Sec_mgind/history.htm "A Short History Of Mardi Gras Indians" by Willie W. Clark Jr. (11-16-1999)
"The Black Mardi Gras Indians of New Orleans are a unique sub-culture of a highly diverse and complex group of the local population . The tradition of these masking Indians, dates back to the 1700's. The scholars that claim to know the origins of the Mardi Gras Indians (a two hundred year old tradition) sometimes conflict on the precise history. As a result of this lack of a solid path in the knowledge of Indian history, many theories abound, but this much is for certain, the Indians have preserved some of their culture and history in the guise of tradition, and that tradition at the time of Mardi Gras, is now an integral part of New Orleans. In the heart of New Orleans since the 1780's and perhaps earlier, this ancient colorful and artistic culture has been practiced. A culture, that be it known, exhibits all of that tradition, with some of the positive heritage, and is quite a unique history."...
****
INFORMATION ABOUT THE WILD MAGNOLIA'S ALBUM "THEY CALL US WILD"
From http://www.dustedmagazine.com/reviews/3667
"...One of the many peculiarities of New Orleans is that this tribe of Mardi Gras Indians [The Wild Magnolias] are black, working class, and play music far funkier than any Native American rhythms. The tribe has a long proud history, having been established in 1889 (seriously). (By comparison, the WildTchoupitoulas - who recorded in the '70s with such luminaries as Allen Toussaint , The Neville Brothers and The Meters - are novices, having been formed in 1967.) The origins of the Indian costumes lie in Native Americans' and blacks’ shared experience of slavery, and the resulting common cause between the two cultures.
During Mardi Gras, up to 20 neighborhood tribes of Indians take to the street, vying for attention and bragging rights. In the past, violent clashes between tribes were not uncommon, some even leading to fatalities; nowadays, rivalries are expressed more through costumes, music and dances. However, vestiges of that history are still to be found in songs such as “Meet The Boys (On The Battlefront)” - with its lyrics, “Meet the boys on the battlefront / the Wild Magnolias gonna bust a rump!” – and “Corey Died On The Battlefield.”...
Although not recorded until the 1970s, this music was a key ingredient of the distinctive New Orleans sound for decades before..."
****
INFORMATION ABOUT THE SONG "COREY DIED ON THE BATTLEFIELD"
From Time Passages: Collective Memory and American Popular Culture By George Lipsitz
Page 245 [Google Books]
“Song lyrics also connect contemporary herorism to traditional figures. Thus the Wild Tchapatoulas’ *“Brother John” pay tribute to John “Scarface” Williams (a rhythm-and-blues singer and Mardi Gras Indian who died from a knifing shortly after carnival in 1972) by comparing him to “Cora” who “died on the battlefield”. An earlier song by Willie Turbington of the Wild Magnolias based on a chant by the Magnolia’s chief Bo Dollis, told the story of a rebellious slave named Cory. In the 1920s jazz musician Danny Barker recorded a song "Corrine Died on the Battlefield," a song which Paul Longpre of the Golden Blaze claims told the story of a woman named Cora Anne who masked as a queen of the Battlefield Hunters, but who died of gunshot wounds incurred when she got caught in the crossfire between the Hunters and the Wild Squatoolas. Cora thus refers to at least four people living more than one hundred years apart, three of them male, and one female. The story touches on the histories of at least five tribes and appeared in four separate songs. There is no one authentic Corey; the purpose of all this borrowing is precisely to fashion a collective narrative embracing a wide range of actual events and individual. No one lyricist or story-teller can control the narrative about Corey; it filters through the community, undergoing significant changes, yet retaining important continuities.”
-snip-
"Corey Died On The Battlefield" is a standard Mardi Gras Indian song. Willie W. Clark Jr., the author who is quoted above mentions the song being recorded by The Wild Tcpatoulas and Google search also indicates that another Mardi Gras Indian group "Flaming Arrows" recorded a version of "Corey Died On The Battlefield", and this song may have also been recorded by other Mardi Gras Indian groups. However, I've not been able to find any Mardi Gras Indian sound file of this song but the one which was recorded by The Wild Magnolias.
"Brother John" ("Brother John Is Gone" is another song that was composed about the stabbing of John "Scarface" Williams, once a vocalist for Huey "Piano" Smith in the 1950’s, and a Mardi Gras Indian in the 1960s. That song was composed by Cyril Neville and sung by the Neville Brothers (The Neville Brothers are closely connected to the Mardi Gras Indians as their uncle Bo Dollis was the founder and Big Chief of the Wild Tchapatoulas nation. Here's the verse of that "Brother John" song that mentions "Cora Died On The Battlefield":
"Oh, Cora he died on the battlefield (Brother John is gone)
And the rest of his gang they won't bow they won't kneel
He sang "Mighty goody fiyo* on Mardi Gras Day"
And whoever wasn't ready better get out of 'de way."
-snip-
*"fiyo" = fire
Click this link to a page of my cocojams.com cultural website http://www.cocojams.com/content/mardi-gras-indian-songs-chants for a sound file and lyrics to "Brother John Is Gone" and more Mardi Gras Indians songs.
****
SHOWCASE EXAMPLE: Wild Magnolias - Corey Died On The Battlefield
john malkovitch, Uploaded on Feb 1, 2009
New Orleans Funk Top, Talk Box not a Vocoder :)
-snip-
A "talk box" sounds to me like what is currently called "autotunes". Here are two comments from this sound file's viewer comment thread http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mM3nbgxHqPE about this musical feature:
phillydisco, 2009
"I just noticed in your comment that you said it was vocoder, which I believe is incorrect. The vocoder was a synthesizer with microphone that you talked into and the musical notes were played out of the keyboard. With a talk box, the effect was achieve with a small hose connected to an amplifier speaker for a guitar or in this song's case, clavinet. The other end was up against the microphone, and the player put his mouth over it, making words out of his mouth as he played the instrument."
**
phillydisco, 2009
"This track features some of the best talk box ever used. Forget Peter Frampton! These guys were using it on their clavinets and guitars! And putting wah effect on the bass was an awesome touch."
****
LYRICS: COREY DIED ON THE BATTLEFIELD
(as recorded by the Wild Magnolias, 1974)
Corey died on the battlefield (3x) [voice box recording]
[singing]
Well here’s a very sad tale bout this cat they call Corey Brown
People would stand from the street to the tent
to hear Corey get on down
He offered new life by an out of sight power
To everyone who did what he said
But by some trick of fate
Some people who knew only hate
He throw a knife
And took for the night
Corey died on the battlefield (3x)
A lot of folks know this story
And they won’t forget about his dream
Because love is the key
For both you and me
His dream will live endlessly
Corey died on the battlefield (5x)
[voice box recording]
Corey died on the battlefield
Corey died
Corey died on the battlefield
Corey died
Corey died on the battlefield
[instrumental]
[Spoken]
Corey
Was a brother
Who was aware
of his inner man
And at the direction
of the Cosmic
He lived
to reach the Promised Land
Corey died
on the battlefield
In search of his destiny
And it’s no different
for you or me
You must die
for what you believe
[Singing begins again]
mmm mmm mmm mmm
mmm mmm mmm mmm
[voice box recording]
Corey died on the battlefield
Corey died
Corey died on the battlefield
Corey died
Corey died on the battlefield
-snip-
Transcription by Azizi Powell from The Wild Magnolias' record. I'm not certain about all of these words. Additions and corrections are welcome.
****
ADDED March 10, 2017
From Google Book "Time Passages: Collective Memory And American Popular Culture" by George Lipsitz,
Page 245
"Song lyrics also connect contemporary herorism to traditional figures. Thus the Wild Tchapatoulas’ “Brother John” pay tribute to John “Scarface” Williams (a rhythm-and-blues singer and Mardi Gras Indian who died from a knifing shortly after carnival in 1972) by comparing him to “Cora” who “died on the battlefield”. An earlier song by Willie Turbington of the Wild Magnolias based on a chant by the Magnolia’s chief Bo Dollis, told the story of a rebellious slave named Cory. In the 1920s jazz musician Danny Barker recorded a song "Corrine Died on the Battlefield," a song which Paul Longpre of the Golden Blaze claims told the story of a woman named Cora Anne who masked as a queen of the Battlefield Hunters, but who died of gunshot wounds incurred when she got caught in the crossfire between the Hunters and the Wild Squatoolas. Cora thus refers to at least four people living more than one hundred years apart, three of them male, and one female. The story touches on the histories of at least five tribes and appeared in four separate songs. There is no one authentic Corey; the purpose of all this borrowing is precisely to fashion a collective narrative embracing a wide range of actual events and individual. No one lyricist or story-teller can control the narrative about Corey; it filters through the community, undergoing significant changes, yet retaining important continuities."
-snip-
This excerpt is included in this pancocojams post http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2017/03/mardi-gras-indians-history-culture-book.html "Mardi Gras Indians' History & Culture (Book excerpt from "Time Passages: Collective Memory and American Popular Culture" by George Lipsitz
****
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.
This pancocojams post presents a sound file and my transcription of the 1970s The Wild Magnolias' version of the song "Corey Died On The Battlefield". This post also presents information about the Mardi Gras Indians, information about The Wild Magnolias & their album, as well as information & comments about the "Corey Died On The Battlefield" song.
The content of this post is presented for cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to the composers & performers of this song. Thanks also to the publisher of this record on YouTube and thanks to all those who are quoted in this post.
****
GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT MARDI GRAS INDIANS
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mardi_Gras_Indians
"Mardi Gras Indians are African-American Carnival revelers in New Orleans, Louisiana who dress up for Mardi Gras in suits influenced by Native American ceremonial apparel.
Collectively, their organizations are called "tribes" , Mardi Gras Indian tribes also parade on the Sunday nearest to Saint Joseph's Day on March 19th ("Super Sunday") and sometimes also at the annual New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.
There are about 38 tribes. They range in size from a half dozen to several dozen members. The tribes are largely independent, but a pair of umbrella organizations loosely coordinate the Uptown Indians and the Downtown Indians".
****
From http://www.mardigrasdigest.com/Sec_mgind/history.htm "A Short History Of Mardi Gras Indians" by Willie W. Clark Jr. (11-16-1999)
"The Black Mardi Gras Indians of New Orleans are a unique sub-culture of a highly diverse and complex group of the local population . The tradition of these masking Indians, dates back to the 1700's. The scholars that claim to know the origins of the Mardi Gras Indians (a two hundred year old tradition) sometimes conflict on the precise history. As a result of this lack of a solid path in the knowledge of Indian history, many theories abound, but this much is for certain, the Indians have preserved some of their culture and history in the guise of tradition, and that tradition at the time of Mardi Gras, is now an integral part of New Orleans. In the heart of New Orleans since the 1780's and perhaps earlier, this ancient colorful and artistic culture has been practiced. A culture, that be it known, exhibits all of that tradition, with some of the positive heritage, and is quite a unique history."...
****
INFORMATION ABOUT THE WILD MAGNOLIA'S ALBUM "THEY CALL US WILD"
From http://www.dustedmagazine.com/reviews/3667
"...One of the many peculiarities of New Orleans is that this tribe of Mardi Gras Indians [The Wild Magnolias] are black, working class, and play music far funkier than any Native American rhythms. The tribe has a long proud history, having been established in 1889 (seriously). (By comparison, the WildTchoupitoulas - who recorded in the '70s with such luminaries as Allen Toussaint , The Neville Brothers and The Meters - are novices, having been formed in 1967.) The origins of the Indian costumes lie in Native Americans' and blacks’ shared experience of slavery, and the resulting common cause between the two cultures.
During Mardi Gras, up to 20 neighborhood tribes of Indians take to the street, vying for attention and bragging rights. In the past, violent clashes between tribes were not uncommon, some even leading to fatalities; nowadays, rivalries are expressed more through costumes, music and dances. However, vestiges of that history are still to be found in songs such as “Meet The Boys (On The Battlefront)” - with its lyrics, “Meet the boys on the battlefront / the Wild Magnolias gonna bust a rump!” – and “Corey Died On The Battlefield.”...
Although not recorded until the 1970s, this music was a key ingredient of the distinctive New Orleans sound for decades before..."
****
INFORMATION ABOUT THE SONG "COREY DIED ON THE BATTLEFIELD"
From Time Passages: Collective Memory and American Popular Culture By George Lipsitz
Page 245 [Google Books]
“Song lyrics also connect contemporary herorism to traditional figures. Thus the Wild Tchapatoulas’ *“Brother John” pay tribute to John “Scarface” Williams (a rhythm-and-blues singer and Mardi Gras Indian who died from a knifing shortly after carnival in 1972) by comparing him to “Cora” who “died on the battlefield”. An earlier song by Willie Turbington of the Wild Magnolias based on a chant by the Magnolia’s chief Bo Dollis, told the story of a rebellious slave named Cory. In the 1920s jazz musician Danny Barker recorded a song "Corrine Died on the Battlefield," a song which Paul Longpre of the Golden Blaze claims told the story of a woman named Cora Anne who masked as a queen of the Battlefield Hunters, but who died of gunshot wounds incurred when she got caught in the crossfire between the Hunters and the Wild Squatoolas. Cora thus refers to at least four people living more than one hundred years apart, three of them male, and one female. The story touches on the histories of at least five tribes and appeared in four separate songs. There is no one authentic Corey; the purpose of all this borrowing is precisely to fashion a collective narrative embracing a wide range of actual events and individual. No one lyricist or story-teller can control the narrative about Corey; it filters through the community, undergoing significant changes, yet retaining important continuities.”
-snip-
"Corey Died On The Battlefield" is a standard Mardi Gras Indian song. Willie W. Clark Jr., the author who is quoted above mentions the song being recorded by The Wild Tcpatoulas and Google search also indicates that another Mardi Gras Indian group "Flaming Arrows" recorded a version of "Corey Died On The Battlefield", and this song may have also been recorded by other Mardi Gras Indian groups. However, I've not been able to find any Mardi Gras Indian sound file of this song but the one which was recorded by The Wild Magnolias.
"Brother John" ("Brother John Is Gone" is another song that was composed about the stabbing of John "Scarface" Williams, once a vocalist for Huey "Piano" Smith in the 1950’s, and a Mardi Gras Indian in the 1960s. That song was composed by Cyril Neville and sung by the Neville Brothers (The Neville Brothers are closely connected to the Mardi Gras Indians as their uncle Bo Dollis was the founder and Big Chief of the Wild Tchapatoulas nation. Here's the verse of that "Brother John" song that mentions "Cora Died On The Battlefield":
"Oh, Cora he died on the battlefield (Brother John is gone)
And the rest of his gang they won't bow they won't kneel
He sang "Mighty goody fiyo* on Mardi Gras Day"
And whoever wasn't ready better get out of 'de way."
-snip-
*"fiyo" = fire
Click this link to a page of my cocojams.com cultural website http://www.cocojams.com/content/mardi-gras-indian-songs-chants for a sound file and lyrics to "Brother John Is Gone" and more Mardi Gras Indians songs.
****
SHOWCASE EXAMPLE: Wild Magnolias - Corey Died On The Battlefield
john malkovitch, Uploaded on Feb 1, 2009
New Orleans Funk Top, Talk Box not a Vocoder :)
-snip-
A "talk box" sounds to me like what is currently called "autotunes". Here are two comments from this sound file's viewer comment thread http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mM3nbgxHqPE about this musical feature:
phillydisco, 2009
"I just noticed in your comment that you said it was vocoder, which I believe is incorrect. The vocoder was a synthesizer with microphone that you talked into and the musical notes were played out of the keyboard. With a talk box, the effect was achieve with a small hose connected to an amplifier speaker for a guitar or in this song's case, clavinet. The other end was up against the microphone, and the player put his mouth over it, making words out of his mouth as he played the instrument."
**
phillydisco, 2009
"This track features some of the best talk box ever used. Forget Peter Frampton! These guys were using it on their clavinets and guitars! And putting wah effect on the bass was an awesome touch."
****
LYRICS: COREY DIED ON THE BATTLEFIELD
(as recorded by the Wild Magnolias, 1974)
Corey died on the battlefield (3x) [voice box recording]
[singing]
Well here’s a very sad tale bout this cat they call Corey Brown
People would stand from the street to the tent
to hear Corey get on down
He offered new life by an out of sight power
To everyone who did what he said
But by some trick of fate
Some people who knew only hate
He throw a knife
And took for the night
Corey died on the battlefield (3x)
A lot of folks know this story
And they won’t forget about his dream
Because love is the key
For both you and me
His dream will live endlessly
Corey died on the battlefield (5x)
[voice box recording]
Corey died on the battlefield
Corey died
Corey died on the battlefield
Corey died
Corey died on the battlefield
[instrumental]
[Spoken]
Corey
Was a brother
Who was aware
of his inner man
And at the direction
of the Cosmic
He lived
to reach the Promised Land
Corey died
on the battlefield
In search of his destiny
And it’s no different
for you or me
You must die
for what you believe
[Singing begins again]
mmm mmm mmm mmm
mmm mmm mmm mmm
[voice box recording]
Corey died on the battlefield
Corey died
Corey died on the battlefield
Corey died
Corey died on the battlefield
-snip-
Transcription by Azizi Powell from The Wild Magnolias' record. I'm not certain about all of these words. Additions and corrections are welcome.
****
ADDED March 10, 2017
From Google Book "Time Passages: Collective Memory And American Popular Culture" by George Lipsitz,
Page 245
"Song lyrics also connect contemporary herorism to traditional figures. Thus the Wild Tchapatoulas’ “Brother John” pay tribute to John “Scarface” Williams (a rhythm-and-blues singer and Mardi Gras Indian who died from a knifing shortly after carnival in 1972) by comparing him to “Cora” who “died on the battlefield”. An earlier song by Willie Turbington of the Wild Magnolias based on a chant by the Magnolia’s chief Bo Dollis, told the story of a rebellious slave named Cory. In the 1920s jazz musician Danny Barker recorded a song "Corrine Died on the Battlefield," a song which Paul Longpre of the Golden Blaze claims told the story of a woman named Cora Anne who masked as a queen of the Battlefield Hunters, but who died of gunshot wounds incurred when she got caught in the crossfire between the Hunters and the Wild Squatoolas. Cora thus refers to at least four people living more than one hundred years apart, three of them male, and one female. The story touches on the histories of at least five tribes and appeared in four separate songs. There is no one authentic Corey; the purpose of all this borrowing is precisely to fashion a collective narrative embracing a wide range of actual events and individual. No one lyricist or story-teller can control the narrative about Corey; it filters through the community, undergoing significant changes, yet retaining important continuities."
-snip-
This excerpt is included in this pancocojams post http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2017/03/mardi-gras-indians-history-culture-book.html "Mardi Gras Indians' History & Culture (Book excerpt from "Time Passages: Collective Memory and American Popular Culture" by George Lipsitz
****
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.
Sunday, March 23, 2014
Wild Tchoupitoulas - Meet De Boys On De Battlefront (Mardi Gras Indian song examples, information, & lyrics)
Edited by Azizi Powell
(Revised March 19, 2017)
This pancocojams post showcases two YouTube examples and lyrics for the New Orleans Mardi Gras Indian song "Meet De Boys On De Battlefront" as recorded by the Wild Tchoupitoulas.
General comments about Mardi Gras Indians and selected comments from the discussion threads for these showcases videos are also included in this post.
The content of this post is presented for folkloric, cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to the composers & performers of this song, and thanks to Mardi Gras Indians for their cultural legacy. Thanks also to the publishers of these examples on YouTube and thanks to all those who are quoted in this post.
Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2017/03/bo-dollis-wild-magnolias-meet-de-boys.html for another pancocojams post about this song.
****
GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT MARDI GRAS INDIANS
From http://www.mardigrasneworleans.com/mardigrasindians.html
"Mardi Gras is full of secrets, and the Mardi Gras Indians are as much a part of that secrecy as any other carnival organization. Their parade dates, times and routes are never published in advance, although they do tend to gather in the same areas every year.
The Mardi Gras Indians are comprised, in large part, of the African-American communities of New Orleans's inner city. While these Indians have paraded for well over a century, their parade is perhaps the least recognized Mardi Gras tradition....
Few in the ghetto felt they could ever participate in the typical New Orleans parade. Historically, slavery and racism were at the root of this cultural separation. The black neighborhoods in New Orleans gradually developed their own style of celebrating Mardi Gras. Their krewes are named for imaginary Indian tribes according to the streets of their ward or gang....
Today when two Mardi Gras Indian tribes pass one another, you will see a living theater of art and culture. Each tribe's style and dress is on display in a friendly but competitive manner. They compare one another's art and craftsmanship.
The Big Chiefs of two different tribes start with a song/chant, ceremonial dance, and threatening challenge to "Humba". The Big Chief's demand that the other Chief bows and pays respect. The retort is a whoop and equally impressive song and war dance with the reply, "Me no Humba, YOU Humba!"
"You know when you've won, you see it in their eyes." - Larry Bannock
Although there was a history of violence, many now choose to keep this celebration friendly. Each Big Chief will eventually stand back and, with a theatrical display of self-confidence, acknowledge the artistry and craftsmanship of the other chief's suit.
Before the progression can continue, the two Big Chiefs will often comment privately to one another, "Looking good, baby, looking good!"...
The good news is Mardi Gras day is no longer a day to "settle scores" among the Mardi Gras Indians. Now that the tradition and practice for the Indians to compare their tribal song, dance and dress with other tribes as they meet that day, violence is a thing of the past. The Mardi Gras Indian has invested thousands of hours and dollars in the creation of his suit, and will not run the risk of ruining it in a fight. This tradition, rich with folk art and history, is now appreciated by museums and historical societies around the world. It is a remarkable and welcome change from the past."...
****
From Google book excerpt: "Time Passages: Collective Memory and American Popular Culture" by George Lipsitz
p. 245
..."Language, costumes, and music combine to shape the fused art of the Mardi Gras Indian pageantry, but it is largely through dancing that each of these separate forms become part of a larger totality. Indians who chant “two way pockaway” (“get out of the way”) will dance differently from those chanting “handa wanda” (“we’re not looking for trouble”). Dancing offers an opportunity to display the beauty of one’s costume; conversely, costume design anticipates the movement of street dancing. Musical selections not only have their own lyrics, melodies, and rhythms, but they also have specific dance steps that accentuate their other meanings.
In recent years, dancing has taken one even greater importance among Mardi Gras Indians as a symbolic form of combat. At one time the tribes carried real hatchets and spears and used the aggressive festivity of carnival as a cover for gang warfare. After a day of drinking and marching they would meet to settle grudges and rivalries on the “battlefield”-an empty lot at the intersection of Claiborne and Poydras streets. But when urban renewal destroyed the basis for neighborhood competitions, and when police vigilance
p. 246
made violent acts on carnival day more difficult, a new spirit began to emerge. Aesthetic rivalries took the place of street fighting, and dancing became a key way of demonstrating one’s superiority over others. When Indians challenge each other in the streets, they draw an imaginary line between them and compete by dancing as close as possible without crossing. Their dance enacts a mock fight replete with attacks on territory and each other’s bodies. The dancers capable of giving the appearance of fighting without resorting to actual combat win the highest esteem from their tribe and from spectators.
The transformation of actual violence into symbolic aesthetic competition has many precedents and parallels in Afro-American communities all across the nation, but it has a special history in New Orleans."..
****
OVERVIEW OF THE SONG "MEET DE BOYS ON THE BATTLEFRONT"
The song "Meet De Boys On The Battlefront" has become one of the signature songs that is associated with New Orleans, Louisiana Mardi Gras Indians. Here's information about the 1976 album in which this song was first featured:
ttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wild_Tchoupitoulas_(album)
"The Wild Tchoupitoulas is a 1976 album by the New Orleans Mardi Gras Indian "tribe" The Wild Tchoupitoulas.
The album features "call-and-response" style chants typical of Mardi Gras Indians. Vocals were provided by George Landry, as "Big Chief Jolly", as well as other members of his Mardi Gras tribe. Instrumentation was provided in part by members of the New Orleans band The Meters. The album also notably features Landry's nephews, the Neville Brothers, providing harmonies and some of the instrumentation. While not a commercial success, the effort was well received critically and the experience recording it encouraged the four Neville brothers to perform together for the first time as a group.[4][5][6] In 2012 the album was added to the U.S. Library of Congress' National Registry, a designation of "cultural, artistic and historic importance to the nation’s aural legacy."[1]
-snip-
Here's another quote about that album from the summary statement of a video for another song that is included in that album http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkLmx2Gxpcg "Wild Tchoupitoulas - Big Chief Got A Golden Crown"
"One of my all time favorite albums, the Wild Tchoupitoulas was founded by George Landry aka Big Chief Jolly. Released in 1976, it was also the start of the formation of Landry's nephews, the Neville Brothers, Art, Charles, Aaron & Cyril, respectively. The instrumentation was provided mainly by the Meters, Art & Cyril Neville, Leo Nocentelli, George Porter Jr., & Joseph "Zigaboo" Modeliste. The album was also produced in large part by Allen Toussaint. This is an essential part of the rich musical New Orleans heritage, and I ask if you enjoy this music, pick up the album & pass the word to keep this joyful music alive."
****
VIDEO EXAMPLES WITH LYRICS
These examples are presented in chronological order based on their posting dates with the oldest dated examples given first.
Example #1: Wild Tchoupitoulas - Meet De Boys On De Battlefront
Jared Lorio, Uploaded on Jan 30, 2010
-snip-
"Meet De Boys On De Battlefront" is a song that is included in the album Wild Tchoupitoulas.
LYRICS: MEET DE BOYS ON DE BATTLEFRONT
(as sung by The Wild Tchopatoulas & Neville Brothers, 1976 recording)
Chorus
Meet de boys on de Battlefront.
Meet de boys on de Battlefront.
Meet de boys on de Battlefront.
Well, The Wild Tchopatoulas gonna stomp some rump!
(repeat)
Well the greatest thing that I ever see
Is the Mardi Gras Indian down in New Orleans
Well he sewed all night and he sewed all day
On Mardi Gras morning went all the way
Chorus
Injuns comin from all over town
Big Chief singin, gonna take them down
Jakimo fino a la kay*
Injuns are rulers on the holiday.
Chorus
Mardi gras comin' and it won't be long,
Gonna play Indian, gonna carry on.
Maskers runnin up and down the avenue.
Here come the Indians, let ‘em through!
Chorus
I'm a Wild Tchopatoulas from the 13th ward,
A blood shiffa-hoona and I won’t be barred
I walked through fire and I swam through mud
Snatched a feather from an eagle, drank panther blood!
Chorus
Now de iddy bitty spy gotta heart of steel
Shank won’t get you then his hatchet will
Quende may hacko may hoona no **
He shoot de gun in de jailhouse door!
Chorus
I bring my gang all over town
Drink fire water till the sun goes down.
Get back home we’re gonna kneel and pray
We had some fun on a holiday.
Chorus
(repeat several times)
-snip-
Transcription by Azizi Powell from the recording. Additions and corrections are welcome.
*This phrase is usually given as "jockomo fi na nay"
** The end of this phrase is usually given as "Hoo nah nay".
****
Example #2: Wild Tchoupitoulas - The Wild Tchopatoulas, The Nevile Brothers, and Deacon John*
Steven Sacrob , Uploaded on Jan 21, 2012
Stomp some romp
-snip-
*The singers & musicians were identified at 1:26 in this video.
Here are the lyrics for this rendition from the sub-titles given in the video.
Chorus
Meet de boys on de Battlefront.
Meet de boys on de Battlefront.
Meet de boys on de Battlefront.
Yeah, the Wild Tchopatoulas gonna stomp some rump!
(repeat)
Mardi gras comin' and it won't be long,
Gonna play Indian, gonna carry on.
Maskers runnin up and down the avenue.
Here come the Indians, let ‘em through!
Chorus
(Repeat verse given above)
Chorus
I'm a Wild Tchopatoulas from the 13th ward,
A blood shiffa-hoona and I won’t be barred
I walked through fire and I swam through mud
Snatched a feather from an eagle, drank panther blood
Chorus
Now de iddy bitty spy gotta heart of steel
Shank won’t get you then his hatchet will
Quende may hacko may hoona no
He shoot de gun in de jailhouse door!
Chorus
I bring my gang all over town
Drink fire water till the sun goes down.
Get back home we’re gonna kneel and pray
We had some fun on a holiday.
Chorus
(repeat several times)
-snip-
Here are three comments from this video's viewer comment thread http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=498LZARXzN0
ChynaRider, 2011
"This is the Neville Brothers pretty early on. They recorded this song, "Meet De Boys On The Battlefront", as 'The Wild Tchoupitoulas'. This particular video, or parts from it, was used in a PBS special on music and culture. David Carradine narrated. This is a great old Mardi Gras song and they have pretty much the definitive version. Great video document here."
**
Steven Sacrob, 2011
"This particular clip is from a documentary film called "Always for Pleasure"
**
Bradley Horowitz, 2013
"I learned on the way into work today that filmmaker and Berkeley resident Les Blank died yesterday. From Wikipedia:
"Most of his films focused on American traditional music forms, including (among others) blues, Appalachian, Cajun, Creole, Tex-Mex, polka, tamburitza, and Hawaiian musics. Many of these films represent the only filmed documents of musicians who are now deceased."
My favorite was a 1978 film called Always For Pleasure, which documented the phenomenon of the "Mardi Gras Indians", and in particular the Wild Tchoupitoulas tribe.
****
THE MEANING OF CERTAIN WORDS AND PHRASES IN THE SONG
This text analysis provides information and my opinions about the meanings of certain words and phrases that are found in The Wild Tchopatoulas/The Neville Brothers version of "Meet De Boys On De Battlefront" (both lyrics given above). Additions and corrections are welcome.
Battlefront - the neighborhood streets on which the Mardi Gras Indians parade
**
Big Chief Jolly - George Landry aka "Big Chief Jolly", the Neville Brother's uncle, was the founder and big chief of the Mardi Gras Indian group The Wild Tchapatoulas. Big Chief Jolly is the lead singer in the "Meet De Boys On De Battlefield" video that is given above as Example #2.
**
(a) blood shiffa-hoona - probably means a Mardi Gras Indian by blood
**
maskers - members of Mardi Gras Nations who masquerade as Indians during Mardi Gras and at other times such as "Super Sunday" (usually around March 19th every year) (same as "gonna play Indian")
**
fire water - drinking alcohol
**
iddy bitty spy - little (in stature) spy boy (a position in the Mardi Gras Indian hierarchy whose task was to scout and report the positions of other Mardi Gras Indian groups.)
**
(The) prettiest - the persons who are considered to have the best outfits
**
stomp some romp - get into physical battles (beat up on people's butts), as physical fighting is no longer a part of the meetings between two Mardi Gras Indian nations, "stomp some romp" can be said to mean "excel in the battle" between which Mardi Gras Indian nation's outfits looks the best.
**
(the) the 13th ward - a neighborhood in New Orleans, Louisiana
**
"went all the way"; won't be barred - the Mardi Gras Indian won't be blocked from traveling down the street (by Indians from other "nations").
**
"jacimo fin a la kay", "Quende may hacko may hoona no" - are examples of the made up but fairly fixed Mardi Gras Indian language. The meanings of these words & sayings and other "Mardi Gras Indian words and phrases such as "iko iko", "tu way pocka way", "oona nay" and "jacamo finane" are widely debated.
-snip-
The lines "I walked through fire and I swam through mud/Snatched a feather from an eagle, drank panther blood!" are examples of the self braggadocio, exaggerated "lies" ("tall tales", "stories") that Southern African Americans told which are the focus of books such as Zora Neale Hurston's 1930s book Mules And Men.
Also, the reason why the maskers kneel and pray when they came home after being on the battlefront because they survived that day's encounters with rival Indians.
****
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.
(Revised March 19, 2017)
This pancocojams post showcases two YouTube examples and lyrics for the New Orleans Mardi Gras Indian song "Meet De Boys On De Battlefront" as recorded by the Wild Tchoupitoulas.
General comments about Mardi Gras Indians and selected comments from the discussion threads for these showcases videos are also included in this post.
The content of this post is presented for folkloric, cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to the composers & performers of this song, and thanks to Mardi Gras Indians for their cultural legacy. Thanks also to the publishers of these examples on YouTube and thanks to all those who are quoted in this post.
Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2017/03/bo-dollis-wild-magnolias-meet-de-boys.html for another pancocojams post about this song.
****
GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT MARDI GRAS INDIANS
From http://www.mardigrasneworleans.com/mardigrasindians.html
"Mardi Gras is full of secrets, and the Mardi Gras Indians are as much a part of that secrecy as any other carnival organization. Their parade dates, times and routes are never published in advance, although they do tend to gather in the same areas every year.
The Mardi Gras Indians are comprised, in large part, of the African-American communities of New Orleans's inner city. While these Indians have paraded for well over a century, their parade is perhaps the least recognized Mardi Gras tradition....
Few in the ghetto felt they could ever participate in the typical New Orleans parade. Historically, slavery and racism were at the root of this cultural separation. The black neighborhoods in New Orleans gradually developed their own style of celebrating Mardi Gras. Their krewes are named for imaginary Indian tribes according to the streets of their ward or gang....
Today when two Mardi Gras Indian tribes pass one another, you will see a living theater of art and culture. Each tribe's style and dress is on display in a friendly but competitive manner. They compare one another's art and craftsmanship.
The Big Chiefs of two different tribes start with a song/chant, ceremonial dance, and threatening challenge to "Humba". The Big Chief's demand that the other Chief bows and pays respect. The retort is a whoop and equally impressive song and war dance with the reply, "Me no Humba, YOU Humba!"
"You know when you've won, you see it in their eyes." - Larry Bannock
Although there was a history of violence, many now choose to keep this celebration friendly. Each Big Chief will eventually stand back and, with a theatrical display of self-confidence, acknowledge the artistry and craftsmanship of the other chief's suit.
Before the progression can continue, the two Big Chiefs will often comment privately to one another, "Looking good, baby, looking good!"...
The good news is Mardi Gras day is no longer a day to "settle scores" among the Mardi Gras Indians. Now that the tradition and practice for the Indians to compare their tribal song, dance and dress with other tribes as they meet that day, violence is a thing of the past. The Mardi Gras Indian has invested thousands of hours and dollars in the creation of his suit, and will not run the risk of ruining it in a fight. This tradition, rich with folk art and history, is now appreciated by museums and historical societies around the world. It is a remarkable and welcome change from the past."...
****
From Google book excerpt: "Time Passages: Collective Memory and American Popular Culture" by George Lipsitz
p. 245
..."Language, costumes, and music combine to shape the fused art of the Mardi Gras Indian pageantry, but it is largely through dancing that each of these separate forms become part of a larger totality. Indians who chant “two way pockaway” (“get out of the way”) will dance differently from those chanting “handa wanda” (“we’re not looking for trouble”). Dancing offers an opportunity to display the beauty of one’s costume; conversely, costume design anticipates the movement of street dancing. Musical selections not only have their own lyrics, melodies, and rhythms, but they also have specific dance steps that accentuate their other meanings.
In recent years, dancing has taken one even greater importance among Mardi Gras Indians as a symbolic form of combat. At one time the tribes carried real hatchets and spears and used the aggressive festivity of carnival as a cover for gang warfare. After a day of drinking and marching they would meet to settle grudges and rivalries on the “battlefield”-an empty lot at the intersection of Claiborne and Poydras streets. But when urban renewal destroyed the basis for neighborhood competitions, and when police vigilance
p. 246
made violent acts on carnival day more difficult, a new spirit began to emerge. Aesthetic rivalries took the place of street fighting, and dancing became a key way of demonstrating one’s superiority over others. When Indians challenge each other in the streets, they draw an imaginary line between them and compete by dancing as close as possible without crossing. Their dance enacts a mock fight replete with attacks on territory and each other’s bodies. The dancers capable of giving the appearance of fighting without resorting to actual combat win the highest esteem from their tribe and from spectators.
The transformation of actual violence into symbolic aesthetic competition has many precedents and parallels in Afro-American communities all across the nation, but it has a special history in New Orleans."..
****
OVERVIEW OF THE SONG "MEET DE BOYS ON THE BATTLEFRONT"
The song "Meet De Boys On The Battlefront" has become one of the signature songs that is associated with New Orleans, Louisiana Mardi Gras Indians. Here's information about the 1976 album in which this song was first featured:
ttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wild_Tchoupitoulas_(album)
"The Wild Tchoupitoulas is a 1976 album by the New Orleans Mardi Gras Indian "tribe" The Wild Tchoupitoulas.
The album features "call-and-response" style chants typical of Mardi Gras Indians. Vocals were provided by George Landry, as "Big Chief Jolly", as well as other members of his Mardi Gras tribe. Instrumentation was provided in part by members of the New Orleans band The Meters. The album also notably features Landry's nephews, the Neville Brothers, providing harmonies and some of the instrumentation. While not a commercial success, the effort was well received critically and the experience recording it encouraged the four Neville brothers to perform together for the first time as a group.[4][5][6] In 2012 the album was added to the U.S. Library of Congress' National Registry, a designation of "cultural, artistic and historic importance to the nation’s aural legacy."[1]
-snip-
Here's another quote about that album from the summary statement of a video for another song that is included in that album http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkLmx2Gxpcg "Wild Tchoupitoulas - Big Chief Got A Golden Crown"
"One of my all time favorite albums, the Wild Tchoupitoulas was founded by George Landry aka Big Chief Jolly. Released in 1976, it was also the start of the formation of Landry's nephews, the Neville Brothers, Art, Charles, Aaron & Cyril, respectively. The instrumentation was provided mainly by the Meters, Art & Cyril Neville, Leo Nocentelli, George Porter Jr., & Joseph "Zigaboo" Modeliste. The album was also produced in large part by Allen Toussaint. This is an essential part of the rich musical New Orleans heritage, and I ask if you enjoy this music, pick up the album & pass the word to keep this joyful music alive."
****
VIDEO EXAMPLES WITH LYRICS
These examples are presented in chronological order based on their posting dates with the oldest dated examples given first.
Example #1: Wild Tchoupitoulas - Meet De Boys On De Battlefront
Jared Lorio, Uploaded on Jan 30, 2010
-snip-
"Meet De Boys On De Battlefront" is a song that is included in the album Wild Tchoupitoulas.
LYRICS: MEET DE BOYS ON DE BATTLEFRONT
(as sung by The Wild Tchopatoulas & Neville Brothers, 1976 recording)
Chorus
Meet de boys on de Battlefront.
Meet de boys on de Battlefront.
Meet de boys on de Battlefront.
Well, The Wild Tchopatoulas gonna stomp some rump!
(repeat)
Well the greatest thing that I ever see
Is the Mardi Gras Indian down in New Orleans
Well he sewed all night and he sewed all day
On Mardi Gras morning went all the way
Chorus
Injuns comin from all over town
Big Chief singin, gonna take them down
Jakimo fino a la kay*
Injuns are rulers on the holiday.
Chorus
Mardi gras comin' and it won't be long,
Gonna play Indian, gonna carry on.
Maskers runnin up and down the avenue.
Here come the Indians, let ‘em through!
Chorus
I'm a Wild Tchopatoulas from the 13th ward,
A blood shiffa-hoona and I won’t be barred
I walked through fire and I swam through mud
Snatched a feather from an eagle, drank panther blood!
Chorus
Now de iddy bitty spy gotta heart of steel
Shank won’t get you then his hatchet will
Quende may hacko may hoona no **
He shoot de gun in de jailhouse door!
Chorus
I bring my gang all over town
Drink fire water till the sun goes down.
Get back home we’re gonna kneel and pray
We had some fun on a holiday.
Chorus
(repeat several times)
-snip-
Transcription by Azizi Powell from the recording. Additions and corrections are welcome.
*This phrase is usually given as "jockomo fi na nay"
** The end of this phrase is usually given as "Hoo nah nay".
****
Example #2: Wild Tchoupitoulas - The Wild Tchopatoulas, The Nevile Brothers, and Deacon John*
Steven Sacrob , Uploaded on Jan 21, 2012
Stomp some romp
-snip-
*The singers & musicians were identified at 1:26 in this video.
Here are the lyrics for this rendition from the sub-titles given in the video.
Chorus
Meet de boys on de Battlefront.
Meet de boys on de Battlefront.
Meet de boys on de Battlefront.
Yeah, the Wild Tchopatoulas gonna stomp some rump!
(repeat)
Mardi gras comin' and it won't be long,
Gonna play Indian, gonna carry on.
Maskers runnin up and down the avenue.
Here come the Indians, let ‘em through!
Chorus
(Repeat verse given above)
Chorus
I'm a Wild Tchopatoulas from the 13th ward,
A blood shiffa-hoona and I won’t be barred
I walked through fire and I swam through mud
Snatched a feather from an eagle, drank panther blood
Chorus
Now de iddy bitty spy gotta heart of steel
Shank won’t get you then his hatchet will
Quende may hacko may hoona no
He shoot de gun in de jailhouse door!
Chorus
I bring my gang all over town
Drink fire water till the sun goes down.
Get back home we’re gonna kneel and pray
We had some fun on a holiday.
Chorus
(repeat several times)
-snip-
Here are three comments from this video's viewer comment thread http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=498LZARXzN0
ChynaRider, 2011
"This is the Neville Brothers pretty early on. They recorded this song, "Meet De Boys On The Battlefront", as 'The Wild Tchoupitoulas'. This particular video, or parts from it, was used in a PBS special on music and culture. David Carradine narrated. This is a great old Mardi Gras song and they have pretty much the definitive version. Great video document here."
**
Steven Sacrob, 2011
"This particular clip is from a documentary film called "Always for Pleasure"
**
Bradley Horowitz, 2013
"I learned on the way into work today that filmmaker and Berkeley resident Les Blank died yesterday. From Wikipedia:
"Most of his films focused on American traditional music forms, including (among others) blues, Appalachian, Cajun, Creole, Tex-Mex, polka, tamburitza, and Hawaiian musics. Many of these films represent the only filmed documents of musicians who are now deceased."
My favorite was a 1978 film called Always For Pleasure, which documented the phenomenon of the "Mardi Gras Indians", and in particular the Wild Tchoupitoulas tribe.
****
THE MEANING OF CERTAIN WORDS AND PHRASES IN THE SONG
This text analysis provides information and my opinions about the meanings of certain words and phrases that are found in The Wild Tchopatoulas/The Neville Brothers version of "Meet De Boys On De Battlefront" (both lyrics given above). Additions and corrections are welcome.
Battlefront - the neighborhood streets on which the Mardi Gras Indians parade
**
Big Chief Jolly - George Landry aka "Big Chief Jolly", the Neville Brother's uncle, was the founder and big chief of the Mardi Gras Indian group The Wild Tchapatoulas. Big Chief Jolly is the lead singer in the "Meet De Boys On De Battlefield" video that is given above as Example #2.
**
(a) blood shiffa-hoona - probably means a Mardi Gras Indian by blood
**
maskers - members of Mardi Gras Nations who masquerade as Indians during Mardi Gras and at other times such as "Super Sunday" (usually around March 19th every year) (same as "gonna play Indian")
**
fire water - drinking alcohol
**
iddy bitty spy - little (in stature) spy boy (a position in the Mardi Gras Indian hierarchy whose task was to scout and report the positions of other Mardi Gras Indian groups.)
**
(The) prettiest - the persons who are considered to have the best outfits
**
stomp some romp - get into physical battles (beat up on people's butts), as physical fighting is no longer a part of the meetings between two Mardi Gras Indian nations, "stomp some romp" can be said to mean "excel in the battle" between which Mardi Gras Indian nation's outfits looks the best.
**
(the) the 13th ward - a neighborhood in New Orleans, Louisiana
**
"went all the way"; won't be barred - the Mardi Gras Indian won't be blocked from traveling down the street (by Indians from other "nations").
**
"jacimo fin a la kay", "Quende may hacko may hoona no" - are examples of the made up but fairly fixed Mardi Gras Indian language. The meanings of these words & sayings and other "Mardi Gras Indian words and phrases such as "iko iko", "tu way pocka way", "oona nay" and "jacamo finane" are widely debated.
-snip-
The lines "I walked through fire and I swam through mud/Snatched a feather from an eagle, drank panther blood!" are examples of the self braggadocio, exaggerated "lies" ("tall tales", "stories") that Southern African Americans told which are the focus of books such as Zora Neale Hurston's 1930s book Mules And Men.
Also, the reason why the maskers kneel and pray when they came home after being on the battlefront because they survived that day's encounters with rival Indians.
****
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.
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