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
- 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.
172028_21_514-530_r2_mr.indd 523 23/01/13 11:18 AM