GOING BACK TO NEW ORLEANS
Written by Joe Liggins
As sung by Joe Liggins & The Honeydrippers on "Joe Liggins & The Honeydrippers" (1990)

Goin' back home, tee-na-nay, to the land of the beautiful queens.
I'm goin' back home to my baby; I'm goin' back to New Orleans.
Want to see nannan(?), my parrain(?), Suzanne and my ma and pa.
Gonna plant my feet on Rampart Street and be there for the Mardi Gras.

I been to Cuba, South American way.
I been to Europe; Mexico is okay.
Over in France, the chicks are really fine.
I get my thrill below the Mason-Dixon Line.

Goin' back home, tee-na-nay; never, never more will I roam.
Gonna get my fill of gumbo filé 'cause New Orleans is my home.

Goin' back home, tee-na-nay, to the land of the beautiful queens.
I'm goin' back home to my baby; I'm goin' back to New Orleans.
Gonna get me crawfish, jambalay', red beans and some fine pralines.
Gonna get some lovin' that will satisfy, back home in New Orleans.


[Also recorded by Deacon John Moore; The J Street Jumpers; Kenny Sara & The Sounds of New Orleans; King Pleasure and the Biscuit Boys; Poncho Sanchez; Stella & Karin Klingenstierna; The Travellers. I have verified that all these perform the same song by actually listening to samples; there are other songs with the same title.

[There's that phrase tee-na-nay again. I have spelled it phonetically, according to how it sounds on the recording. The fact that it is dropped into the middle of a sentence seems to indicate it has a meaning, and it is not just a meaningless refrain like oobie-doobie-doo. Yet I have no idea what the meaning is. It sounds vaguely French, but I can't find it in any dictionary or other helpful text.

[Parrain is French for godfather; marraine is the equivalent: godmother—but I don't think that's what he's singing in line 3. That's what I would sing, though, if I couldn't come up with something better.]