The tablature for this week is for D. L. Menard's famous song, "La Porte d'en Arrière."
D. L. Menard is known as the "Cajun Hank Williams" because of the country artist's influence upon his music. "La Porte d'en Arrière" has become Menard's trademark song.
If you've been living under a rock and have never heard Menard perform, you should be sure to tune in to the "Rendezvous des Cajuns" radio show on KRVS. Usually, around the holiday season, the show features a tribute to Hank Williams, and D. L. Menard is always a part of the show.
This particular arrangement comes courtesy of Big Nick (aka Tom Nickel) of Big Nick and the Cydecos. In addition to being a Cajun and Zydeco enthusiast, Big Nick has spent considerable time creating a set of online Box Lessons for beginning accordionists. Nick goes through the basics of the instrument, playing in octaves, and triplets/ornaments. He also goes through a number of Cajun and Zydeco standards, piece by piece, so that you can quickly add them to your repertoire.
Here is the tune (Note: The last two lines differ a bit from Big Nick's version). Numbers in red should be played singly, and numbers in black should be played in octaves. The "fractions" are blends (some people refer to them as chords), and the two numbers listed should be played together. For instance, a 6/7' should be played by pulling buttons 6 and 7 simultaneously:
| 5 | 7 | 7' | |||||||||
| 6/7' | 6/7' | 5' | 5 | 7 | 7' | 6/7' | 6/7' | 5 | 5 | 5' | 6 |
| 6/7' | 6/7' | 5' | 5 | 7 | 7' | 6/7' | 6/7' | 5 | 5 | 5' | 6 |
| 6 | 6 | 5' | 5 | 6 | 6 | 5 | |||||
| 6/7' | 6/7' | 5' | 5 | 7 | 7' | 6/7' | 6/7' | 5 | 5 | 5' | 6 |
| 5' | 6' | 7 | 7' | 6' | 5/7' | ||||||
| 5' | 6' | 7 | 7' | 6' | 5' | 5 | 5 | 7 | 7' | 7 | 5 |
The lyrics of D. L. Menard's classic go as follows:
Moi et ma belle on avait été au bal
On a passé dans tout les honky tonks
S'en a revenu lendemain matin
Le jour était apres s'casser
J'ai passé dedans la porte d'en arrière.
L'apres midi mois j'étais au village
Et j'm'ai saoulé que j'pouvais plus marcher
Ils m'ont ramené back à la maison
Il y avait de la compagnie, c'était du monde étranger
J'ai passé dedans la porte d'en arrière.
Mon vieux père un soir quand j'arrivais
Il a essayé dechanger mon idée
J'ai pas écouté, moi j'avais trop la tête dur
"Un jour à venir, mon neg', tu va avoir du regret
T'as passé dedans la porte d'en arrière."
J'ai eu un tas d'amis quand j'avais de l'argent
Asteur j'ai plus d'argent, mais ils voulont plus me voir
J'etais dans le village, et moi j'mai mis dans tracas
La loi m'a ramassé, moi j'suis parti dans la prison,
On va passé dedans la porte d'en arrière.
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The picture of D. L. Menard is courtesy of David Simpson's "Cajun, Creole, and Zydeco Musician" Site.
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