What's in a Song? A Cajun Classic

LIANE HANSEN, host:

From NPR News, this is WEEKEND EDITION. I'm Liane Hansen.

As Valentine's Day approaches, greeting card aisles are blossoming with red hearts and romantic sentiments. The smell of freshly cut flowers is sweetening the winter air. And in this week's What's in a Song, our occasional series from the Western Folklife Center about the story of one song, the fragrance of roses stirs up dark emotions for a legendary Louisiana Cajun singer.

(Soundbite of song, "Quand Les Fleurs Fleurissent")

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Mr. MICHAEL DOUCET (Cajun Singer): Hello, I'm Michael Doucet from the group BeauSoleil from Lafayette Parish, Louisiana.

(Soundbite of song, "Quand Les Fleurs Fleurissent")

Mr. DOUCET: This song is called "Quand Les Fleurs Fleurissent." It basically means when the flowers bloom or project their scent. A rose, you know, when it's dying, that's when it smells the best.

(Soundbite of song, "Quand Les Fleurs Fleurissent")

Mr. DOUCET: My dear one, Don't cry for me. In this moment with this rope around my neck, my life is wasted. I completely screwed it up. But my heart only beats for you and I don't deserve your love, so please don't cry for me. Good-bye.

(Soundbite of song, "Quand Les Fleurs Fleurissent")

Mr. DOUCET: There's an old "Twilight Zone" feature I saw as a kid. It was called "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge." And what I can remember about it, it was like a Confederate colonel surrounded by four Union officers and they were basically going to hang him from the bridge. So they put the noose around his neck. So you know, what if you had 10 seconds, you know, before you knew you were going to die, what would you be thinking?

(Soundbite of song, "Quand Les Fleurs Fleurissent")

Mr. DOUCET: My loved one, catch all those tears. They're filling up below your beautiful blue eyes and water the ground around the Cherokee roses. In Louisiana, the Cherokee roses grow wild. And when you pass by them, think of me.

(Soundbite of song, "Quand Les Fleurs Fleurissent")

Mr. DOUCET: It's a romantic death song, you know. And it's something about love and death. I mean, the more I think about death, the more I think about living. So the more you get into the closeness of death, the more you enjoy life. So it's the kind of a thing, don't let that moment go.

For me, singing in French in the continental United States has been tough. But at the same time, it's been very rewarding because this is American music. So for me, it's like how can I communicate these sentiments just by music and by the French language? You follow the heart and it tells you what to do.

HANSEN: What's in a Song is produced by Hal Cannon and Taki Telonidis of the Western Folklife Center. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.