Lyr ADD: Ya Ya (Lee Dorsey)

Subject: Lyric req: Sitting in a la-la
From: wiwwa
Date: 07 May 99 - 03:23 PM

There's a song out there with a line like "Sitting in a la-la, Waiting for my ya-ya". Any idea who sings it, the name of the song and what the lyrics are? Much appreciated!

Subject: RE: Lyric req: Sitting in a la-la
From:
Date: 08 May 99 - 03:22 AM

Well helloa wiwwa,

Great song from the 60's by Lee Dorsey,if no one comes up with the lyrics I'll see what I can do.

Uhh huh huh.

Ritchie

Subject: RE: Lyric req: Sitting in a la-la
From: JOField
Date: 08 May 99 - 05:53 AM

Sittin' here la-la waitin' for my ya-ya

Huhmmmm, huhmmm. (2X)

It may sound funny, but I don't believe she's comin' home.

Baby hurry, don't make me worry,

Huhmmm, huhmmm. (2X)

You know that I love you, oh how I love you,

Hummm.

_________________________________________

There may be another verse, but as you can see, they're not too, uh, complex. The line-repeats (2X) mean the two preceeding lines, not just the 'huhmmms'.

Lee Dorsey was one of the New Orleans greats: 'Sittin' In A Coal Mine', 'Get Out of My Life Woman', etc.

James.

Subject: RE: Lyric req: Sitting in a la-la
From: JOField
Date: 08 May 99 - 06:01 AM

Make that 'Workin' In a Coal Mine'. Also, how could I forget the great progression of 'Holy Cow'?

Subject: RE: Lyric req: Sitting in a la-la
From: dwditty
Date: 08 May 99 - 07:20 AM

"Sittin' in the La-La" was also covered by Joey Dee and the Starlighters on the "Live at the Peppermint Lounge" albumn.

Subject: Lyr Add: YA YA (Lee Dorsey)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 05 May 09 - 08:14 PM

There are only two verses, repeated 3 times. The song title and attribution come from Allmusic.com:


YA YA
Lee Dorsey/Morris Levy/Clarence Lewis/Morgan Robinson
As recorded by Lee Dorsey, 1961.

Sittin' in la-la, waitin' for my ya-ya, ah-uh, ah-uh.
Sittin' in la-la, waitin' for my ya-ya, ah-uh, ah-uh.
It may sound funny but I don't believe she's comin', ah-uh, ah-uh.

Baby, hurry. Don't make me worry, ah-uh, ah-uh.
Yeah, baby, hurry. Don't make me worry, ah-uh, ah-uh.
You know that I love you, oh, how I love you, ah-uh, ah-uh.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Ya Ya (Lee Dorsey)
From: Azizi
Date: 05 May 09 - 08:20 PM

Here's a link to that song compliments of YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NcwD7kh28M0&feature=related

Lee Dorsey-Ya Ya

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Ya Ya (Lee Dorsey)
From: Barry Finn
Date: 06 May 09 - 03:10 AM

I remember seeing Joey Dee and the Starlighters doing this & the "Peppermint Twist" but it's so far back I can't remember when, it was in the 60's but I can remember where. Cape Cod, in South Yarmouth I hink the place is a church now. Can't remember the name of the place either. Not the Melody Tent

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Ya Ya (Lee Dorsey)
From: NormanD
Date: 06 May 09 - 08:46 AM

There was an early-60s cover version by Petula Clark, which was a bit of a hit in the UK, at least on the radio. It was sung in French (she was also big in the French market) and called, I think, "Le Ya Ya Twist". That kind of chirpy, bright, melodic, happy and air-heady French music of that era is known as Le YeYe, probably named after the girly chorus line.

Lee Dorsey never thought Ya Ya would be a hit for him, and he felt a bit disconcerted about it. He reckoned that the words sounded like he was sitting there, on his arse.....

There's a great version by Goran Bregovic from the soundtrack of the film "Underground". Thumping Balkan brass.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Ya Ya (Lee Dorsey)
From: Azizi
Date: 06 May 09 - 09:06 AM

He reckoned that the words sounded like he was sitting there, on his arse...

Well, I always figured the singer in that Ya Ya song was sitting on the toilet while he was waiting for his girlfriend's arrival. It's all about euphemisms don't ya know...

And that"Ya Ya" song reminds me of the words to "Slop Jar Blues': I've heard a version of that song by a jazz singer/musician Donald Byrd. Here's a link to a YouTube recording of that song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xgqzitv_xy4
"slop jar blues, donald byrd, album:black byrd 1972"


**
Here's a post from an archived Mudcat thread that mentions that song:

Subject: RE: Favorite Blues Songs
From: Arkabutla Rick - PM
Date: 07 Apr 98 - 09:18 AM

Favorite Blues Song? Easy question.One we can all relate to. "Slop Jar Blues" by Coon Elder Sittin on the slop jar, waitin for my bowels to move Sittin on the slop jar, waitin for my bowels to move I ain't constipated I got the slop jar blues.

thread.cfm?threadid=3748

Fwiw, Donald Byrd's version of that song doesn't include the line "I ain't constipated I got the slop jar blues."

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Ya Ya (Lee Dorsey)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 06 May 09 - 10:50 AM

Toilet? Now, that never occurred to me. I always thought "La-La" was a car. That's where guys frequently sit and wait for girls, isn't it? You've arranged a date and then you pull up in front of the girl's house and wait for her to come out to meet you, that is, if you're too shy to go inside and meet her parents, or if you're in a hurry to get away from there. Some people name their cars, don't they? (I never did.) So I suppose there could be a car named "La-La."

I never heard of anyone calling his girlfriend "my ya-ya" though.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Ya Ya (Lee Dorsey)
From: GUEST,punkfolkrocker
Date: 06 May 09 - 11:42 AM

one of my all time favourite songs..

just love the raw minimalist simplicity of the lyrics..

can mean just about anything 'suggestive' with the right leery intonation..

the Goran and Petula versions are highlights of my vast music collection..

First heard Goran's 'Balkan' version not long after it had been released
pumping loud over the sound system
of a small dingy underground drinking den in Bratislava..
The entire soundtrack CD was being played on repeat rotation well into the early hours

had a great special night getting well pissed with some very rough looking ex pat Yugoslavs..
we could muster just enough english and german between us
to ensure we bonded as new 'best mates for life' for that one night only..
one of the best 'sessions' of my life..

guess it must have been their CD....

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Ya Ya (Lee Dorsey)
From: Azizi
Date: 06 May 09 - 12:58 PM

Okay. I guess a car could be named "Ya Ya".

But that wouldn't explain Norman's comment "Lee Dorsey never thought Ya Ya would be a hit for him, and he felt a bit disconcerted about it. He reckoned that the words sounded like he was sitting there, on his arse....."

-snip-

Fwiw, Zydeco music used to be called "la la" music. A Brief History of Cajun, Creole, and Zydeco music. And Dorsey was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, ground central for Cajun, Creole and Zydeco music. But he moved to Portland, Oregon when he was age ten. But still, he could very well have been familiar with the term "la la music".

Here's an interesting excerpt from Kee Dorsey's Wikipedia page:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Dorsey

"Dorsey met songwriter/producer Allen Toussaint at a party in the early 1960s, and was signed to the Fury record label. The song that launched his career was inspired by a group of children chanting nursery rhymes[1]".
-snip-

The source for that information was this sentence from http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:difwxqe5ldhe~T1 (Dorsey's biography on allmusic.com)

"Dorsey's nonsense ditty "Ya Ya" -- reportedly inspired by a children's rhyme -- became his first national hit that year [1961], reaching the pop Top Ten and hitting number one on the R&B charts."


-snip-

I wonder which children's rhyme that article is referring to. Also, I'm not sure why there's a distinction between Creole music and Zydeco music. I guess I have to read the article more thoroughly.

Could it be that if Dorsey was embarrassed by the Ya Ya song, it was because it was based on a children's rhyme whose key words "ya ya" and "la la" may not have any meaning whatsoever?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Ya Ya (Lee Dorsey)
From: NormanD
Date: 06 May 09 - 03:32 PM

I'm gonna have to find what Lee Dorsey said. I think I read it in John Broven's classic book on the history of NO R&B, "Walkin To New Orleans". trouble is, I loaned it out years back and never seen it since.

If anyone lives in London, and is free, single & disengaged tomorrow evening, then come along to:

Chilli Fried North at Darbucka,
182 St John Street,
London, EC1V 4JZ
8.00pm - 12.00
FREE

The club organiser has set up a DJ relay. Participants have the chance of 15 minutes of dance floor fame by playing whatever music they like in that quarter of an hour. No winners, just whoever gets people dancing.

I'm telling you this 'cos I've got myself down for a slot. Have been agonising for weeks about what to play and I decided - before I read this thread - that Goran Bregovic's "Ya Ya" was one of my four or five tunes.

Now it definitely will be played!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Ya Ya (Lee Dorsey)
From: NormanD
Date: 06 May 09 - 03:43 PM

Oops! Can't you tell I'm not the organiser.

Forgot to say that the DJ Relay is Thursday, May 7th.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Ya Ya (Lee Dorsey)
From: GUEST,mangostill
Date: 03 Jun 09 - 11:22 PM

It's from a nursery rhyme. A "yaya" is a maid for a young child. The kid is sitting on the pot waiting for the maid to come help him clean up.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Ya Ya (Lee Dorsey)
From: Azizi
Date: 03 Jun 09 - 11:32 PM

GUEST,mangostill, if you know the title and words to that particular nursery rhyme and which country it is from, would you please share it?

Thanks.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Ya Ya (Lee Dorsey)
From: GUEST,E.Kador
Date: 14 Jan 11 - 03:48 PM

I am from New Orleans and remembered when this song came out. We always thought ya ya was his girlfriend/.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Ya Ya (Lee Dorsey)
From: meself
Date: 14 Jan 11 - 05:22 PM

For the historical record, here's Mitsou and Le Ya Ya.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Ya Ya (Lee Dorsey)
From: GUEST
Date: 02 Dec 16 - 12:47 PM

Sittin on the slop jar
Waiting on my bowels to moooove
I gotta doo doo
I gotta doo do
I picked up my hat
Started walking toward the door
My bowel started shiftin
And I shit on the floor!
Oops! I done door dooed
Oops! I done dojo doors!
Oops! I done dojo dooed on the flo!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Ya Ya (Lee Dorsey)
From: GUEST,Ottomatic Slim
Date: 15 Jul 17 - 04:07 PM

Written by Lee Dorsey, performed by Ike and Tina Turner as well as Rod Piazza.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Ya Ya (Lee Dorsey)
From: GUEST
Date: 23 Sep 22 - 11:50 AM

In other words... NO ONE KNOWS! Make up the meaning as you see fit!