An Introduction to America’s Music

CHAPTER 21 | CAJUN AND ZYDECO MUSIC 523

songwriter: Al Rapone

date: 1990

performers: Queen Ida and the Bon Temps

Zydeco Band; instrumentation: vocals,

accordion, electric guitar, electric bass,

drums, frottoir

genre: zydeco

meter: duple

form: combination of binary dance tune and

verse-and-chorus song

timing section comments

0:00 binary

tune

aa After fi ve pickup notes in the accordion, the full band enters with a strong

duple beat.

0:16 b The second half of the dance tune is played only once here.

0:24 verse 1 Queen Ida’s gravelly vocal is heard clearly over the band. The high guitar chords

and frottoir add upper-register brightness to the ensemble sound.

0:40 chorus Other band members add their voices.

0:48 binary

tune

aa As before.

1:04 b' b' b The second half of the tune is played three times, the fi rst two times in a variant

form.

1:28 verse 2 The added reverb on Queen Ida’s vocal helps it stand out in the texture.

1:44 chorus As before.

1:53 binary

tune

aa As before.

2:09 bb The original version of the second half is now played twice: the only time the

tune is played in “standard” aabb form.

2:25 chorus As before.

2:34 binary

tune

b'' b'' Two new variants on the tune’s second half. Emphatic close on two loud chords.

WHAT TO LISTEN FOR

• heavy dance rhythm, reinforced by electric
  instruments and drums


• instruments typical of zydeco: accordion,
  frottoir


• alternation of instrumental dance tune and
  verse-and-chorus song in Creole

CD 4.10 Listening Guide 21.3 “Ful il sa” QUEEN IDA

Listen & Refl ect

1. What elements of this music—song structure, instrumental techniques and textures, vocal
   style, and so on—resemble their counterparts in any of the traditional or popular songs
   studied up to now? For example, compare the variants of the binary dance tune with the
   performance of “Money Musk” (LG 2.2), or the use of solo and combined voices with
   the nineteenth-century songs in chapter 6.

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