CZTERY REFY - Parlez Nous a Boire

Parlez Nous a Boire

Words & music traditional

S'it a ti maris, avec une jolie fille,
Te tands de grand danger, mon cher,
lls vont a la voler.

O, parlez - nous a boire... S'it a ti maris, avec une vilaine fille,
Te tands de grand danger, faudra,
Que tu fais ta vie avec.

S'it a ti maris, avec une fille bien fauvre,
Te tands de grand danger, faudra,
Travailler tout ta vie.

O, parlez - nous a boire... S'it a ti maris, avec une fille qui a de quoi,
Te tands de grand danger, faudra,
Attraper des grandes rapproches.

Parlez - moi, mon grand bon - a - rien,
Tu ta gaspiller mon bien!
Parlez - moi, mon grand bon - a - rien,
Tu ta gaspiller mon bien!

Free English translation:

Let's talk of drinking, not of marriage,
Always regretting those pretty days gone by.
If you marry a pretty girl,
They all want to steal her away from you.
If you marry an ugly girl,
You've got to live with her your whole life long.
If you marry a poor girl,
You'll spend all your life working.
But if you marry a rich girl,
Nobody respects you.
"Tell me about it, you big good - for nothing;
You've used up (wasted) all my wealth!
TelI me about it, you big good - for nothing;
You've used up all my wealth!"

"Parlez Nous a Boire" - I learned this old Cajun drinking song from Bruce Daigrepont, a Cajun singer, songwriter and accordion player in Louisiana. On the surface, the song is about drinking and marriage more in favor of the former than latter. According to Bruce, the message of the song is implied indirectly, as in many Cajun songs: enjoy singing and drinking with your friends and don't rush into marriage, because whoever you marry, you won't be as independent and carefree as when you were single. I believe it is the voice of the nagging wife we hear in the final verse - we can imagine that she, too, regrets her "pretty days gone by" before she married!