Lyr Req: Here Dey Come (Wild Tchoupitoulas)

Subject: Lyr Req: Here Dey Come- Wild Tchoupitouslas
From: GUEST,zydeco girl
Date: 23 May 06 - 08:49 AM

I'm in a Zydeco band here in Canada (Loco Zydeco) and although we mainly do original zydeco music we do honour traditional Zydeco and would like to cover the Wild Tchoupitouslas song 'Here Dey Come' which appears to be a chant yelled out by the Wild Indians during Mardi Gras parades. We have a copy of the CD but can't make out the lyrics. If anyone knows them, would you please let me know? Thanks. My email address at work is [e-mail]

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Here Dey Come- Wild Tchoupitouslas
From: Peace
Date: 23 May 06 - 10:15 AM

Wild Tchoupitoulas

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Here Dey Come- Wild Tchoupitouslas
From: M.Ted
Date: 23 May 06 - 10:45 AM

The lyrics to all of the songs (such as the are) were on the vinyl album cover--I'm surprised that they aren't printed somewhere or other in the CD package. most of the songs had pretty much the same words as Iko, Iko, with "Me Wild Tchoupitoulas gonna stomp some romp" and such things thrown in--

I remember about this much of "Here Dey Come"--

We wake up in the morning to the ding dong ding(Injuns, here dey come)
Hey, Mardi Gras Morning just to do our thing (Injuns, here dey come)
Injuns, Injuns, Injuns, Injuns

But then, with lyrics like that, how much more does one need?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Here Dey Come- Wild Tchoupitouslas
From: Dead Horse
Date: 23 May 06 - 04:16 PM

Quite a few daiquiris I should think!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Here Dey Come- Wild Tchoupitouslas
From: M.Ted
Date: 23 May 06 - 10:36 PM

Bourbon, Beer in large, colored plastic cups, and the aptly named Hurricane are more the ticket, I think--

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Here Dey Come- Wild Tchoupitouslas
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 23 May 06 - 11:01 PM

The group formed in 1967. I believe Rpderick Sylvas is the current Big Chief. Don't know if they performed this year.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Here Dey Come- Wild Tchoupitouslas
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 23 May 06 - 11:02 PM

! Roderick.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Here Dey Come- Wild Tchoupitouslas
From: GUEST,DonMeixner
Date: 24 May 06 - 09:02 PM

Zydeco Girl,

My brother says he knows these lyrics. Now if he will send them to me I'll post them for you.

Don

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Here Dey Come- Wild Tchoupitouslas
From: Azizi
Date: 24 May 06 - 09:34 PM

Hello, Zydeco girl!

Glad to see you posting here. Hopefully, Don's brother will send those lyrics to him so he can post them.

Also, I'll copy your initial post on this thread and pm {private message} it to Poppagator. He's [still] a resident of New Orleans and a great source for information about Zydeco music.

And now that you've found this site, I encourage you and the other members of Loco Zydeco to join Mudcat.

Membership is free and easy, and we need more folk interested in Zydeco music to spice up this community.

Share, learn, enjoy!

Azizi

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Here Dey Come- Wild Tchoupitouslas
From: Azizi
Date: 24 May 06 - 10:52 PM

It occurred to me that I have a Mardi Gras Indian CD with the song "Indian Here We Come". That CD is "Flaming Arrows-Here Comes The Indians Now" [MG 2036; 1997; Mardi Gras Records, Inc.

My bet would be that the Wild Tchoupitoulas'"Here Dey Come" is basically the same song as "Indians Here We Come", in its use of floating verses that are the joint heritage of all Mardi Gras Indian 'nations'.

These two lined rhyming verses are performed in a call & response format, that is a signature pattern of African & African Diaspora vocal & instrumental music. Some of the references in those braggadocious floating verses can be best understood if you are familiar with Mardi Gras Indian traditions.

Here's my attempt to transcribe some of the verses sung {or, perhaps more accurately,chanted} by the soloist in that Flaming Arrows CD. In no way is this the entire song as I couldn't understand all of the soloist's words.

INDIANS HERE WE COME {partial transcription}
-Flaming Arrows

[Group responses written in brackets] {?} notes words or lines that I'm uncertain about

Injuns!
[Yo!] {?}
Injuns gonna holla way down town
[Yo!] {?}
Said spy gonna holler {?} took a crown
[Yo!] {?}
Hurrah that mornin for the sun don't shine.
[Yo!]
God damn that Injun in the bottom line.
[Yo!] {?}
Oh I say Injun here we come
[Injuns here we come]
Hurrah that mornin what they say
[Injun here we come]
On {?} Mardi Gras mornin drink tiger ray
[Injuns here we come]
Tell em no where to run and no where to hide
[Injun here we come]
When it come now {?} {to?} Injun {don't care if}? I die
[Injuns here we come]
I was once a boy and twice a child
[Injuns here we come]
Sat I swam the ocean with the crocodile
[Injuns here we come] 5x
Say I walk through water swim through mud
And I don't fear nothin ...???
?????
?????
?????
I'm a downtown Injun everywhere I go
[Injuns here we come]
And on Mardi Gras mornin I work ah show
[Injuns here we come]
Say down town killa way {?}
[Injun here we come]
Say on Mardi Gras mornin comin atta {?} way
[Injuns here we come]
????
????
Said the prettiest thing I ever seen
[Injuns here we come]
Was ah straight legged chief and ah bowlegged queen
[Injuns here we come]
????
????
Injuns here we come] 5x
Say we goin down to Eagle and Pine
[Injuns here we come]
See two or three number make them change their mind
[Injuns here we come]
Tell them I'm not worried I'm not scared
[Injuns here we come]
Say the Indians are rulers in the holiday
[Injuns here we come]
Say Mardi Gras mornin before the sun come up
[Injuns here we come]
Take a drink of fire water from ah silver cup
[Injuns here we come]
Say late that evenin when the sun goes down
[Injuns here we come]
Say the world gonna holla ?????   
[Injuns here we come] 5x
????
????
etc etc etc

-snip-

Btw, this Flaming Arrows selection has a wonderfully jazzy background to the chant. I'm sure this isn't traditional, but it definitely works- for me anyway.

Also, one other comment-these verses were likely not fixed in order, though the some of the specific lines probably became fixed over time.

Again, this transcription is likely full of errors. But it's a start.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Here Dey Come- Wild Tchoupitouslas
From: Zydeco Girl
Date: 26 May 06 - 08:25 AM

Thanks to everyone for supplying the lyrics and for providing me with so much more information. This was my first time doing a 'thread' and I must say it's been a great experience!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Here Dey Come- Wild Tchoupitouslas
From: Azizi
Date: 26 May 06 - 01:32 PM

Welcome to Mudcat, Zydeco Girl!

I'm glad you decided to join.

Please tell us more about you and your band.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Here Dey Come- Wild Tchoupitouslas
From: Azizi
Date: 26 May 06 - 08:53 PM

Here's some information about The Wild Tchoupitoulas

"The Wild Tchoupitoulas are a legend in the history
of New Orleans music and defined what we now identify as the "New Orleans sound." To my knowledge they only recorded one complete
album...but what an album it was! The Wild Tchoupitoulas,
recorded in 1976 and produced by the legendary Allen Toussaint, marked the first time that the Neville Brothers recorded together. Decked out in full Mardi Gras Indian regalia, the Wild Tchoupitoulas paved the way for the acceptance of a diverse group of musicians that even includes Robert Palmer"

The Wild Tchoupitoulas

Here's another online write-up about this group:

"This tribe marked a milestone for New Orleans music when it became one of the first Mardi Gras Indian tribes to record their particular call and response songs for a major record label . The tribe was founded in 1967, but the beginning as a musical group formed by it's leader and then, Big Chief Jolly, was one of first to promote the calls or "chants" of the tribes. The success of the song "Iko Iko", by the Dixie Cups in 1971 caused a mad rush by a small group of promoters to find out where the song originated. The tribe caught the eye of those local promoters and were recorded in the 1980's with the New Orleans Project . The group went through it's gambit of semi gospel style of the popular call-and-response chants that have become funky mantras. Covering the traditional numbers they go way, way back."

Big Chief: Roderick Sylvas
Big Queen: Jaime Sylvas/ Keionna Harris
Wild Man: John Elison
Flag Boy: Robert Harris
Spy Boy: Justin Harris
Gang Flag: Eddie Williams

Marches:
Super Sunday
St Joseph's Day
Mardi Gras Day

They Mask with pride......They walk with Spirit

Mardi Gras Digest

****

I'm trying to find out what "toupitoulas" means.

Does anyone know? And if so, how 'bout sharin that info.

Thanks.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Here Dey Come- Wild Tchoupitouslas
From: Azizi
Date: 26 May 06 - 09:13 PM

Well, they say that Google is a great friend.

:o)

Here's what I found out by using that search engine just for "Tchoupitoulas" -correctly spelled:

"Tchoupitoulas Plantation"

Site of plantation acquired in 1808 by Joseph Soniat du Fossat. Visited by Governor William C. C. Claiborne and, legend says, privateer Jean Lafitte. Chapitoulas Indians, whose name means river people, lived in this area.

Located in Harahan, District 2, Hwy 48, Jefferson Parish.

Historical Markers of Louisiana

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Here Dey Come- Wild Tchoupitouslas
From: M.Ted
Date: 26 May 06 - 11:20 PM

If you want to see the W.Tchoup's, check Les Blank's wonderful documentary, "Always for Pleasure"--

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Here Dey Come (Wild Tchoupitoulas)
From: PoppaGator
Date: 01 Jun 06 - 11:24 AM

Tchoupitoulas Street is parallel to, and immediately adjacent to, the Mississippi River, running right along the river uptown from Canal Street all the way to Audubon Park, lined with wharves, warehouses, and other waterfront features. The name is of Native-American origin, as noted above, and the spelling comes from French settlers (which is why it seems so foreign to us Englilsh-speakers). The current-day tribe is probably named primarily for the members' neighborhood, but the street-name's associatin with a long-forgotten original native tribe was also undoubtedly a factor in choosing a name for the gang.

Incidentally, the world-famous Tipitina's nightclub is located at the corner of Napoleon Ave and Tchoupitoulas St.

The late George Landry, aka Chief Jolly, was an uncle of the Neville Brothers on their mother's side, and was Big Chief and lead singer at the time the record was made. He died not long after making that earth-shaking recording; the Nevilles continued to appear with the surviving tribe members for a few years, and at least one of the brothers (Cyril) actively participated, sewing up a suit for himself each year, but they seem to have drifted apart. I don't know if the current tribe includes any Neville relatives any longer.

I'm sure I could understand and transcribe the lyrics upon listening ~ I've heard it many times, and I'm familiar enough with the material and the local accents, etc., to know what they're saying. However, I'm away from home at the moment and don't have access to the CD. I don't think I have a copy at home right now, either ~ it was probably among many albums lost in the flood.

As far as I can rememeber, the lyrics Azizi provided above are mostly different from what Jolly and the WT sing on the record, which isn't surprising. Injun chants are basically improvisational, and while a given chief and his tribe will probably use many of the same stock phrases over and over again (in different order each time out, of course), another outfit will use an entirely different set of words to the same traditional song.

I'm gonna ask my brother to look in on this thread ~ he might be able to provide a good response sooner than I can. One or the other of us will come up with something for you, but it might take a while, so click "Add to Tracer" if you want to keep track of this thread for later developments.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Here Dey Come (Wild Tchoupitoulas)
From: PoppaGator
Date: 02 Jun 06 - 01:14 PM

"This tribe marked a milestone for New Orleans music when it became one of the first Mardi Gras Indian tribes to record their particular call and response songs for a major record label."

Before that great Wild Tchoupitoulas album, the Wild Magnolias ~ featuring their own Big Chief Bo Dollis along with Big Chief Monk Boudreaux of a rival tribe, the White Eagles if I'm not mistaken ~ had already recorded at least one album and maybe two. If you like any one of these records, you'd probably enjoy all of them. Bo and Monk are remarkable singers, and the Magnolias always have an all-star band behind them.