This song is supposed to be the unofficial song for Mardi Gras. Really nothing is official about Mardi Gras. Since this is the Carnival Season here in Louisiana, I dug this one up to share with you people.
And to celebrate Otto's relocation to Texas, here's one for him! This tune is the Texas National Anthem you know....
Have been listening to much New Orleans music with the other half of late, and what strikes us most is how few areas there are that you can hear a few bars of something and instantly know it originates from such and such a place. Your part of the world is one of them. Those Cajun-y, Zydeco-y, French, louche piano-ed rambling-but-controlled noises being present across genres. Distinctive. Marvellous. So they've chosen a song, which while harmless enough has none of that sound. Presumably a committee got involved somewhere along the line... Anyway. Clifton Chenier. Ignore the headband. He's very good.
La strada nel bosco sung by Gino Bechi (Available on Spotify) Before you all start sending in your most evocative tune, let me tell you about mine, a song entitled “La Strada nel Bosco”. In December ’44 I was at Rieti, in Central Italy, being re-trained by the Royal Armoured Corps. Evening entertainment was at a premium and the local fleapit cinema used to do a roaring trade despite the fact that most of the films were Italian speaking and therefore not readily understood by the mainly British audience. One night I saw a film that included a haunting song entitled “Strada nel Bosco” and, for whatever reason, the tune stuck in my head for the next sixty odd years. In October 2006 I came across an Italian website (and that’s another story) called “a Trieste” A British soldier remembers Trieste in 1946 - A Trieste once I’d settled in and persuaded Peter G to also join, I started to try and trace the tune. I have to thank Peter for finally finding me the definitive version and now, through the wonder of the internet and my new toy, the I-Pod Touch, I can listen once again to this haunting tune that conjures up for me the all the magic of being a callow youth in wartime Italy. So that's my tune ...... what’s yours, and why? Ron
I should have mentioned that this song was first selected by the Krewe of Rex, the most prestigious of the old line krewes long ago, and not for Mardi Gras in general. You are right, it's sound has no correlation with anything identified with the sounds of Mardi Gras, New Orleans Jazz, or South Louisiana Cajun/Zydeco music. Not sure why they picked it, but they did. I really didn't care for it at all when I first heard it, but after awhile it sort of grew on me. It's not for everyone, that's for sure. Maybe it was the tune, the way it was sung, or the meanings, or that by tradition it's the theme song of the most prestigious krewe's song that endeared me to it, or it to me. I kind of like it, regardless of it's less than wide appreciation in general. Here's a few that really gets the Carnival on. Ain't No Place To Pee On Mardi Gras Day - By Benny Grunch And my all time fav! The Second Line
Although this is not a Mardi Gras song, everyone in New Orleans knows it by heart. Now that Mardi Gras is finally over....