Indian Red
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- This article refers to the traditional New Orleans song; for the color see Chestnut (color).
Indian Red is traditionally sung at the beginning and at the end of gatherings of Mardi Gras Indians in New Orleans. It is a traditional chant that may have been first recorded by Sugar Boy Crawford in the 1950s. It has since been recorded many times by, among others, Dr. John and Wild Tchoupitoulas.
[edit] Lyrics
- Madi cu defio, en dans dey, end dans day[1]
- Madi cu defio, en dans dey, end dans day
- We are the Indians, Indians, Indians of the nation
- The wild, wild creation
- We won't bow down
- Down on the ground
- Oh how I love to hear him call Indian Red
- I've got a Big Chief, Big Chief, Big Chief of the Nation
- The wild, wild creation
- He won't bow down
- Down on the ground
- Oh how I love to hear him call Indian Red
[edit] Notes
- ^ A corruption of a phrase from an old Creole song, "M'alle couri dans deser." Wilson, Traditional Louisiana French Folk Music, 59; Mrs. Augustine Moore, interview by author, 1980. As cited in "The Use of Louisiana Creole in Southern Literature" by Sybil Rein, Creole: The Hisotry and Legacy of Lousiana's Free People of Color ed. Sybil Rein. Lousiana State University Press: 2000. ISBN 0-8071-2532-6 pg 124
