Chorus
E la ba! E la ba!
Hey over there! Hey over there!E la ba, chèri!
Hey over there, dear lady!Komon sa va?
How’s it goin’?1
Mo chè kouzen, mo chè kouzin,
My dear cousin (male), my dear cousin (female),mo lenme la kizin!
I love good cooking!Mo manje plen, mo bwa diven,
I eat a lot, I drink wine,e sa pa kout ariyen.
and it costs me nothing.2
Ye tchwe kochon, ye tchwe lapen,
They kill a pig, they kill a rabbit,e mo manje plen.
and I eat a lot.Ye fe gonmbo, mo manje tro,
They make gumbo, I eat too much,e sa fe mon malad.
and that makes me sick.
There are or were many more verses. One I have heard begins “Mo cher cousin, ma chère cousine, ye reste a la rue Dauphine;” I have heard verses that talk about a boucherie, killing pigs and making sausages.
The point to be made today, however, is that I am fascinated by the repetition of a certain melody in songs here, and in Cuba, and in Trinidad; it appears that Eh là-bas is one of the oldest instances of it. George Buck says this was originally a Cajun song but that does not entirely answer the question about the origin of the melodies.
If you map Eh là-bas onto Rum and Coca-Cola, for instance, you see it is the same tune:
Mo chè kouzen, mo chè kouzin,
When the Yankees came to Trinidadmo lenme la kizin!
The young girls there were more than glad
…and so on. And the same melody introduces Son de la loma as well.
Here is Paul Barbarin, singing Eh là-bas in a very French way with other lyrics.
Here is Son de la loma as played at the Dope Lounge Gekijyomae in Ikebukuro, Tokyo.
Axé.
coldhearted scientist وداد 
This, eh la-bas is great. It reminds me of ladino and similar–a completely different way of spelling words that are (mostly) the same, and mostly pronounced in the same way. I know it is old news, but it just tickles my linguistic funny bone.
I don’t know anything about the Caribbean or Gulf though, so I can only guess on the songs and how they ended up where they did, like they did. Regional trade? It wouldn’t surprise me if there was west African or native influence, either.
I like this very much though. From the begining to the end! Listen –
It’s sleepy time down south
Steamboats on the river a coming or a going
Splashing the night away
Hear those banjos ringing, the people are singing
They dance til the break of day, hey
Dear old southland with his dreamy songs
Takes me back there where I belong
How I’d love to be in my mammy’s arms
When it’s sleepy time way down south……
C’est si bon,
people say that in France….
lalalalala…
@ Redactora – well, ladino is I guess a kind of Creole!
On the Gulf and Africa, I’m having this interesting conversation here: http://guanaguanaresingsat.blogspot.com/2008/07/about.html
@ Carlos – well, yes, Satchmo’s a pro.
On Eh la ba, I’ve decided it invokes Legba (O Legba) and so I am making it one of this blog’s main songs.
(So we have – Eh la bas and Voi che sapete as songs, and Leadbelly and Woody as artists… and the Wild Tchoupitoulas …I should really make a list.)
Ughhh,
Back home and I forgot to move the clock forward. One hour less to sleep!
You’re right, though – I also need to sleep more! 🙂