Insight on "Coucou" by Django and Josette Dayde

Michael S Harrington

Hi Djangobooks-

I came across this song the other day on a CD in the car, and fell in love with the melody as well as Josette Dayde's singing. Although I really enjoy listening to this tune, I have no idea what it is talking about! Can anyone here on the forum shed some light on the song's title as well as what it's about? Thanks-

Michael

wim

Yep!! We studied this tune in Django club a few weeks ago. The lyrics are pretty inane, so even with my limited French I could understand most of it.

First and foremost, "Coucou" is a very casual way of saying hello. It's like a cutesy way that you might use when talking to a baby or something. You could also use it in a flirtatious way.

In the A section, she is singing like: Hello to the flowers in bloom, oh I'm so happy it's the springtime, the sun is shining, blah blah ... and then there is the B part which starts "que faites-vous, que faites-vous encore à sommeiller", that's saying something like what are you doing still in bed in bed, it's time to get up. You get the picture...? She's a bright and bubbly morning person.

There is one part that I could not understand though, when the vocals returns for the second chorus it sounds like "cadillaaaaa, cadillaaaaa......" I don't know this word or even if it means anything other than just musical sounds like "la la laaaa". Hopefully a real french speaker can help here ...

François RAVEZ

Hi,

As a french, I can hear what I wrote Ta di ya and that you would possibly transcribe as something likeTah dee yah.

Here are the exact words sang by Josette Daydé

Coucou, les rosiers fleurissent
Coucou, les rameaux verdissent
Coucou, voici le printemps.

Coucou, le beau soleil brille
Coucou, et les yeux des filles
Coucou, en font tout autant.

Que faites-vous, que faites-vous encore à sommeiller.
Eveillez-vous, éveillez-vous, le monde est transformé.

Coucou, ouvrez-moi bien vite
Coucou, mon cœur vous invite
Coucou, il faut nous aimer.

Ta di ya, Ta di ya, coucou, bonjour mon amour.
Ta di ya, di ya, di ya
Ta di ya, Ta di ya, coucou, veut dire bonjour.

Que faites-vous, que faites-vous encore à sommeiller.
Eveillez-vous, éveillez-vous, le monde est transformé.

Coucou, ouvrez-moi bien vite
Coucou, mon cœur vous invite
Coucou, il faut nous aimer.

Best

François RAVEZ

François RAVEZ

It is just an onomatopeia like 'tra la la' or 'la di da' or tra déri dera' without any meaning.

PapsPier

And it is not Cou-cou but Coucou, one word

PapsPier

And here you can find the transcription of the solo of Django and the solo of Rostaing, as well as the lyrics Coucou

François RAVEZ

It is not impossible that 'Ta di ya' is an attempt to imitate Cab Calloway's own zah zuh zaz and other onomatopeia the zazous were found of.

Michael S Harrington

Wow... this is seriously great stuff, guys. THANKS! Exactly what I was looking for.

Paps- thanks for the link. The grilles are great. Unfortunately I couldn't open the transcription when downloading. (Probably a user error on my part) However I may transcribe this one myself and post it if others are having the same issue.

Thanks again for the insight, everyone!

- Michael

klaatu

Michael, the file containing the transcription has a .tg suffix, which means it was created by a tablature tool called TuxGuitar. It's available on Cnet.com.

PapsPier

Yep exactly Klaatu. I plan to add a pdf of the tab later (now I am still transcribing more recordings)

klaatu

Wim Glenn wrote: »

First and foremost, "Coucou" is a very casual way of saying hello. It's like a cutesy way that you might use when talking to a baby or something. You could also use it in a flirtatious way.

A friend who is a native French speaker uses "Coucou" with his small children as we would say "Peek-a-boo."