#north american french

[anakinsafterlife]

Music and Arts for Interview with the Vampire and other French-Enjoyers

I am so genuinely excited to find out that Zachary Richard, the Francophone folk singer from Louisiana, has released a novel! The story addresses the concerns of the American Francophonie with the story of a family wracked by politics and violence in the wakr of the American Civil War.

Friends, this the is the first American novel to be published in French since 1894! Although there is still a Francophone community in Louisiana to this day, they have been dealing with forced Anglicization for well over a hundred years, including the forced Anglophone education of Francophone children.

Zachary Richard remains an outlier in an largely English American cultural landscape. He wrote and recorded the majority of his songs in French and is popular in the international Francophone musical community.

I have been meaning to talk about Richard for a very long time, particular in the context of Interview with the Vampire. There are a good many cultural references in Interview, but unfortunately it seems that the show-runners are not really too informed about historical French arts because there aren't many references to French music or playwriting. Lestat would be more likely to act Moliere than Shakespeare. Louis would be somewhere in between, probably listening to and speaking both French and English songs. Unfortunately, I'm not too familiar with Black Creole musicians, of which there were/are indeed plenty in Louisiana. I've been meaning to educate myself in that area and post a selection along with my favourite tracks from Richard, but life has been very pressing indeed these last few years, so that never happened.

Here, then, are a few of my favourite songs from Zachary Richard and a few brief recordings from Black Zydeco artists, as well as the blurb from Richard's novel.

I didn't include translations, because that would make this long post long indeed, but Richard's lyrics are readily available in any search engine.

The novel:

Summary:

In the disarray that fell on southern Louisiana following the Civil War, André Boudreaux, seventeen years old, discovered life with his grandfather Drozin. This southern veteran, who became a rich man thanks to the arrival of the railway, tries to regain his prestige and his political power. But the sordid murder of André's uncle, the turbulent elections of 1882 and the political aims of his daughter-in-law will turn his world upside down. Les Rafales du carême is the first French-language novel published by a Louisiana author since 1894.

The music:

Dans les grands chemins. (On the big roads). A song about personal history and being drawn away from your place of origin to explore the wider world.

Au bord de Lac Bijou (On the shore of Lac Bijou). One of his bigger songs and very basic of me, but it's beautiful.

Le Ballade de Jean Batailleur. Again, one of his big ones, but it's a ballad about an orphan who grows up to be a criminal and dies alone. Depressing but gorgeous.

And this one gives me chills every time. It's a live rendition of Richard's song "La Promesse Cassee," performed with Celine Dion. This is hands down Dion's best performance ever, imho. Her voice is so nuanced and her expression so powerful, without ever once over-singing. The song's content probably has a lot to do with that. Richard wrote it in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, when New Orleans was so utterly devastated, and the US federal government promised aid, which, after days of waiting, never came. "The Broken Promise" is a scathing and haunting commentary on that betrayal.

"Laisse le vent souffler" (Let the wind blow) addresses the same issue, but years later. The singer tells the story of the police arriving to evacuate the community as another hurricaine approaches. He refuses to leave because he has already survived other storms and he has seen how the police have failed to support a scattered community in the past.

Can't believe I almost forgot this one:

Reveille--A powerful song addresses the expulsion of the Acadians, the forced removal (by British/English Canadian forces) of the Acadian French from the Canadian east coast and northern USA east coast. Many of the Acadians were shipped further south or "back" to Europe, where most had never been. Plagued by attendant atrocities of starvation, drowning and disease, thousands of Acadians were killed. Those who survived the journey down the American coast eventually became known by the shortened name of "Cajuns."

There are also a few extra things here from Richard's YouTube, where he highlights other Louisiana French singers and musicians. I've only included a couple, but people writing for Interview might want to explore his page more, since there's some Black Zydeco (Louisiana folk and French) musicians there.

J'ai une chanson dans mon coeur:

I couldn't find anything out about this. A young, Black American girl sings this song in an American school. I think, and hope, that she's another member of the French Louisianian musical community. Very sweet.

Zachary Richard talking about his influences and earlier Zydeco music in Louisiana.

[apollolewis]

My family: makes fun on the French Also my family: Everyone but my dad is North American French

[lilysfroggies]

Anniversary of the Marquis de Lafayette’s Death

Rest in Peace 💐

[usafphantom2]

F100 vs Mirage III

Artist: Daniel Bechennec

#F100 #MirageIII #fighteraircraft #theaviationart #theaviationartofficial #Paintings #Artwork #Airplane #Planes #warbird #carrierplanes #militaryhistory #fighteraircraft #aviationpic #airforce #flight #plane #military #aircraft #jet

@TheAviationArt via X

[midwestaesthetics]

French Quarter, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA...

[chicinsilk]

"Bagatelle"

Karl Lagerfeld for Jean Patou Haute Couture Collection Fall/Winter 1958-59.

(top) Eva Marie Saint in the "Bagatelle" cocktail dress in Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest.

(below) A model wearing the “Bagatelle” cocktail dress. Photo Georges Saad.

Karl Lagerfeld pour Jean Patou Collection Haute Couture Automne/Hiver 1958-59.

(top) Eva Marie Saint dans la robe de cocktail "Bagatelle" dans La mort aux trousses de AlfredHitchcock.

Un modèle portant la robe de cocktail "Bagatelle". Photo Georges Saad.

[tenofmuses]

I started reading Llewellyn’s Complete Book of North American Folk Magic today, and usually these books on “North American” magic don’t have anything at all about Canada, and if they do, it’s one or two mentions of like “hey yeah, Canada is in North America and they’ve got witchcraft too!” But they rarely have any substantial info. Which is a bit frustrating as a Canadian witch, but I’ve learned to deal with it and work with the limited info I can find.

Anyways, this book opens with a chapter on French Canadian magic (Sorcellerie). The two authors—creators of the Courir le loup-garou blog about French Canadian magic, which is a wonderful and bilingual resource—describe a brief history of French Canadian people and the context behind the historical folk traditions they were a part of. And then they get into a discussion of what some of those traditions and practices were, what their uses were, and so forth.

I wasn’t expecting to read anything about my Acadian ancestors’ traditions in this book, and reading it made me a bit emotional because it’s just so rare to come across this information, let alone in an accessible book like this. The Acadian side of my family have become very disconnected from our culture over the last fifty-so years, largely the result of a lot of complicated historical stuff that went on. The last two generations (me and my mum’s generation) don’t even speak French. Nowadays, being bilingual is a massive source of pride in Canada, but knowing French wasn’t always a positive, so it wasn’t passed down for that reason.

Over the last year or so, my practice has shifted a bit from largely eclectic and neo-pagan to a calling to explore the traditions of my ancestors, many of whom are Acadian. But with that has come a difficult realization: since I don’t know French, a lot of the existing sources on sorcellerie aren’t accessible to me. Which is fair enough, and one of the reasons I’m trying to learn the language, but sad when taken in context with the gradual loss of culture in my family.

All of this to say that while I’ve only read the first section of the book (the essay on Sorcellerie) and have no idea how the rest of the book is, reading this chapter about the traditions of my Acadian ancestors was very beautiful and healing, and if you’re trying to reconnect to those traditions like I am, I really recommend reading this essay. I’ve learned a lot and have a few jumping off points now for further research, which is always so exciting!

[cosmogyros]

I've gotten really into French-Canadian music in the past year or so. I've probably posted about this song before – it's one of my favorite songs about America ever written.

The original lyrics are of course much better than my attempt at a translation. But for what it's worth, I've done my best to put it into English, because I think this song deserves a wider audience.

America Crying

Another day, I’m up with the sun Bags under my eyes from my four hours of sleep I take a couple drags on a cig, got my vitamins Then chug a dishwater coffee to pep me up

I take the Florida Turnpike Tomorrow night I’ll be back in Montmagny, Quebec Being a trucker ain’t exactly the rock-star life But you get to see a lot of the country

Most of all, it makes you realize that behind the beautiful scenery There’s a lot of inequality and faces lined with pain

And I keep asking myself: In the midst of all this hypocrisy How do all these people manage to still believe in life? It’s so sad that, sometimes, when I get back home As I’m parking my old truck I see all of America crying in my rear-view mirror

In the back of my trailer, I’m hauling all the excesses of my era Frozen over-abundance, injected, plastic-wrapped Our good intentions fail and fade We stuff ourselves on carelessness While at the bottoms of these containers, the surplus rots away

And I keep asking myself: What will our children do When there’s nothing left but ruin and hunger? It’s so sad that, sometimes, when I get back home As I’m parking my old truck I see all of America crying in my rear-view mirror

On Interstate 95, dreams go up in smoke A car in flames on an off-ramp – a fatal accident And stuck in this traffic jam, there’s no respect for death Everyone is leaning on their horns, in such a rush to get nowhere

And I keep asking myself: Where are all these people going? So many cars everywhere, the world has gone crazy It’s so sad that, sometimes, when I get back home As I’m parking my old truck I see all of America crying in my rear-view mirror

Another highway truck stop – I pull off to grab some junk food I must admit the “soup du jour” ain’t made with much love anymore Chain-store service has killed off human warmth On the TV, another sicko has just gone on a shooting spree

And I keep asking myself: How do these poor people manage To go their whole lives without love? It’s so sad that, sometimes, when I get back home As I’m parking my old truck I see all of America crying in my rear-view mirror

But I’m not exempt from all this, either When I’m driving alone at night Sometimes I wonder what on earth I’m doing Out here in the middle of nowhere I think of all the moments I’ve missed out on With Mimi and our two girls And I get this fucked-up feeling Of being a stranger in my own family

And I keep asking myself: Why the hell do I work so much? Far away from the ones I love All this just to “play the game”? It’s so sad that, sometimes, when I’m far away from home Sitting in my old truck I feel all of America crying Somewhere deep in my heart

[bmpmp3]

for the past couple years ive been slowly. slowly learning beginners japanese and its very fun and im enjoying it a lot but also it has made me painfully aware in ways i wasnt before of how much my specific vaguely ontario accent makes me make out sloppy style with my vowels. i am going at those vowel's tonsils. i am doing things to diphthongs you wouldnt even believe.

[turtleislandhistory]

October 1, 1800

Spain and France sign the Third Treaty of San Ildefonso, by which Spain agreed to trade Louisiana to France in exchange for territories in Tuscany, Italy.

[pantspissedinreverse]

oh my fuckin god theres infighting on my goddamn 4v4 pass time team what the fuck do you mean you just learned about the official a few hours ago I PINGED ABOUT IT ON THE 8TH STOP ARGUING YOU GODDAMN MAN CHILDREN OR IM GONNA FUCKING KILL THIS TEAM RIGHT NOW

[kazhanko-art]

if you’re ever wondering how to name things in your world building, remember that the oldest province in Canada (in terms of European settlement) is literally New Found Land with spaces removed

[axolotlelle]

not enough people know about the croziflette... the best thing to come out of the alps

[apollolewis]

Here’s a fun reminder, Jean-Baptiste is an actual French first/given name. There are people who instead of just being named Jean after John the Baptist are given the full title. And I 100% wouldn’t be surprised if I have some Jean-Baptiste in my family tree.