Saturday, August 13, 2011

Angelique-O: Another Haitian Folk Song


"Angelique-O" is a Haitian folk dating back to the American occupation (1915-1934). Apparently it refers to the wife of the American commander during the Occupation who was sent back to the United States. The song had multiple meanings though. To Haitians of both the bourgeoisie and the popular classes, it was a nationalist song demanding Americans leave the country. It's message of freedom is still heard 'round the world today.

I was first exposed to the song through Harry Belafonte's Caribbean music LPs. I initially believed it to be a calypso or Jamaican folk song but something told me it might have a Haitian origin. The name Angelique is French, which would be odd in Jamaica or another anglophone Caribbean island. I eventually found a Haitian rendition of the song (with original Creole lyrics) sung by Puerto-Rican singer Lolita Cuevas and Haitian guitarist Frantz Casseus. This arrangement is Casseus's and all the songs on this LP of Haitian folk songs are arranged as slow meringues and lullabies. I unfortunately could not provide the entire song...
http://www.folkways.si.edu/listen2.aspx?type=preview&trackid=21594

Here is Harry Belafonte's rendition of the song with English lyrics that introduced the song to me. The lyrics here are less explicitly anti-colonial but rather refer to a woman who can't cook and doesn't know how to run a household so she is sent back to live with her mother.

Here is another version of the song with English lyrics by an American group



Meringues and Folk Ballads of Haiti - Meringues and Folk Ballads of Haiti (Various Artists)
check this for a more folksy version of this Haitian standard

Here is Issa El Saieh's jazz-influenced band's interpretation of this song http://www.belmizik.net/Music-Library/I/Issa-El-Saieh/La-Belle-Epoque-Volume-2/Angelique-O.html

EDIT (6/15/2013): My previous interpretation of the song as referring to an American army officer and a local Haitian woman is not what this song is about. I don't recall where exactly that idea entered my head, perhaps Harry Belafonte, but it's not what the song is about.

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    1. Well, thank you for telling me that. I should've asked my mom or other relatives for the song's translation instead of relying on Harry Belafonte and the internet. I have been publicly depantsed.

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