Prendre un verre de bière, mon minou (AU1998-1074-003)

Dublin Core

Title

Prendre un verre de bière, mon minou (AU1998-1074-003)

Description

Excerpt from interview of Alberta Gagné (TC1998-1074-003) by Martha Pellerin. Part of a project (VFC1998-0007) on Franco-American song in New England funded by the Vermont Folklife Center and undertaken by Pellerin. Interview is one in a series of six conducted between 1995-01-09 and 1995-12-06 as an effort to document the French language song repertoire of Gagné.

“Prendre un verre de bière, mon minou” (“Have a Glass of Beer, Sweetie”). The earliest known appearance of this Québécois original song is a ca. 1949 recording with this title, on the Starr/Compo label (issue # 16875, side A), performed by the Pierre Girard Trio (Pierre Girard, violin, George Houde, guitar, and possibly Roméo Perusse on vocals). This song is most closely associated with La famille Soucy (Isidore Soucy and his family orchestra), who recorded a 78rpm recording of this song in 1950 for the RCA Victor/Bluebird label (matrix number #55-5363A). Fernando Soucy is generally credited as the composer of this song, although the provenance and date of the Pierre Girard trio recording remain to be resolved.

Abstract

life is awful, full of regrets, to make it happy, we have to drink a little; drunk last night, drunk the night before, drunk again tonight, and drunk all the time; my wife got angry and beat me; when I awoke, I said to her;
I heard tell, don’t know if it is true, that a man who drinks beer does not need a cup.
Refrain:
Have a glass of beer, my sweetie
Have a glass of beer “right through”.
You have some beer,
And you don’t give me any,
I treat you so nicely,
I sing you beautiful songs,
Give me some, already.

Source

VFC1998-0007 Martha Pellerin Collection. TC1998-1074 interview with Alberta Gagné. Vermont Folklife Center Archive, Vermont Folklife Center, Middlebury, Vermont, United States of America.

Date

1995-11-10

Rights

Copyright (c) Vermont Folklife Center

Relation

Full Interview: vfc1998-0005_tc1998-1074

Language

fra

Identifier

vfc1998-0007_tc1998-1074-001a-003

Song Item Type Metadata

Supplied Title

Prend t’un verre de bière mon minou

Standard Title

Prendre un verre de bière, mon minou

First Line

La vie est affreuse et rempli de chagrin

Transcription

(BEGIN SINGING)

 

La vie est affreuse et remplie de chagrins,

Pour la rendre heureuse, il faut boire un p'tit brin. [repeat verse]

 

[Refrain]  :

            Prendre un verre de bière, mon minou,

Prendre un verre de bière right through.

Tu prends d'la bière,

Pis tu m'en donn’s pas,

J'te fais des bell’s façons,

J'te chante des bell’s chansons,

Donnes-moi z-en donc.

 

Saoul hier à soir-e, saoul le soir avant

Saoul encore à soir-e et saoul tout l'temps. [repeat verse]

            Refrain

  

Ma femme s’est fâchée pis elle m'a battu,

Quand je m'suis réveillé, j'lui ai répondu. [repeat verse]

            Refrain

 

J'ai entendu dire, j'sais pas si c'est vrai,

Qu'un homme qui prend d'1a bière n'a pas besoin d’gob’let.

            Refrain


(END SINGING)

Translation

Refrain:
Have a glass of beer, my sweetie
Have a glass of beer “right through”.
You have some beer,
And you don’t give me any,
I treat you so nicely,
I sing you beautiful songs,
Give me some, already.

strophic; two-line stanzas, four verses with a refrain

Interviewer

Pellerin, Martha

Original Format

sound cassette (analog)

Files

vfc1998-0007_tc1998-1074-001a_003.mp3

Citation

“Prendre un verre de bière, mon minou (AU1998-1074-003),” Vermont Folklife Center Digital Collections, accessed December 27, 2024, https://vtfolklifearchive.org/collections/items/show/333.

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