Dites-moi donc, mademoiselle (AU1998-1075-008)
Dublin Core
Title
Dites-moi donc, mademoiselle (AU1998-1075-008)
Subject
Description
Excerpt from interview of Alberta Gagné (TC1998-1075-008) 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.
“Dites-moi donc, mademoiselle’’ (“Tell me, Miss”) is a version of the late 19th century French music-hall song,“Anatole and Amanda,” which was a hit in Paris’s seedy and thriving café-concert circuit, where the bourgeois mingled with artists, composers, singers, and prostitutes, enjoying songs which were light-hearted, comical, racy or just plain pornographic. “Anatole et Amanda” was the creation of songwriter Jules Jouy (1855-1897) and composer Henri d’Arsay (1857-1914), first published in 1885 (Paris: Maillard). It was popular enough to be mentioned with withering derision by French literary critic Ferdinand Brunetière in a chapter on café-concerts from his three-volume work, Histoire et littérature (Paris: C. Lévy, 1886-93) and also, somewhat more sympathetically, by historian and social commentator Victor du Bled in an article titled “Les cafés-concerts” which was published in the August 1887 edition of the bi-monthly Paris journal, Revue illustrée. Both Brunetière and du Bled’s texts include song text excerpts which clearly identify “Anatole et Amanda” as the song from which Alberta Gagné’s version derives.
Although “Anatole et Amanda” seems to have enjoyed only short-term popularity in Paris, it gained durable popularity in Quebec, where it passed into oral tradition within a couple of generations. In 1927, it was recorded as a “folklore” vocal duet by Montreal singer Béatrice Latour-Lapierre and singer, songwriter, actor, concert impresario, and jack-of-all-trades Conrad Gauthier (1885-1964) on the Victor label (issue # 263515, side B) under the title “Anatole et Amanda.”
Gauthier was at various times a director of silent movies, a journalist, an accountant, and a municipal officer, but it was as a singer, songwriter, and actor that he made his name in Canada and the United States. In the 1920s, Gauthier was a pioneer in radio and in the recording of Quebec folk music, making 78s of more than 100 songs and monologues for the Victor and Columbia labels. He also was a concert impresario, founder and lead vocalist at the immensely popular Veillées du bon vieux temps, a Montreal musical theatre show featuring skits, songs, dances, and monologues evoking rural Quebec traditions, music, and dances. Gauthier founded the Veillées in 1921 and produced them until 1941 at the Monument national theatre in Montreal.
The Gauthier and Latour-Lapierre recording was evidently enough of a commercial success for Montreal actor, folk singer, and songwriter Eugène Daignault (1895-1960) to issue a second recording in 1928, featuring himself and Aline Mailhiot, on the Compo/Starr label (issue #15438, matrix #3256, side B) under the title “Anatole et ‘Manda.” Versions of this song continue to circulate in oral tradition in French-speaking traditional singing circles in many regions of Quebec, as well as Nova Scotia and New England.
Perhaps one of the reasons for the enduring popularity of this song in French North America is that it is a “zipper song”: an enumerative song whose text has situationally based elements which easily lend themselves to replacement with local references which are more relevant to the singer, and to which new verses can be readily added. For example, the place names in the first verse, in which Anatole and Amanda query each other about where they are from, tend to localize when there are local references which rhyme appropriately with the names Anatole and Amanda. Hence, in the Gauthier version, all the place names are Quebec or Canadian references (Sorel, Trois-Pistoles, and Canada). In Alberta Gagné’s version, the Trois-Pistoles reference remains, but Amanda’s responses make New England/United States references (Lowell, Les États).
“Dites-moi donc, mademoiselle’’ (“Tell me, Miss”) is a version of the late 19th century French music-hall song,“Anatole and Amanda,” which was a hit in Paris’s seedy and thriving café-concert circuit, where the bourgeois mingled with artists, composers, singers, and prostitutes, enjoying songs which were light-hearted, comical, racy or just plain pornographic. “Anatole et Amanda” was the creation of songwriter Jules Jouy (1855-1897) and composer Henri d’Arsay (1857-1914), first published in 1885 (Paris: Maillard). It was popular enough to be mentioned with withering derision by French literary critic Ferdinand Brunetière in a chapter on café-concerts from his three-volume work, Histoire et littérature (Paris: C. Lévy, 1886-93) and also, somewhat more sympathetically, by historian and social commentator Victor du Bled in an article titled “Les cafés-concerts” which was published in the August 1887 edition of the bi-monthly Paris journal, Revue illustrée. Both Brunetière and du Bled’s texts include song text excerpts which clearly identify “Anatole et Amanda” as the song from which Alberta Gagné’s version derives.
Although “Anatole et Amanda” seems to have enjoyed only short-term popularity in Paris, it gained durable popularity in Quebec, where it passed into oral tradition within a couple of generations. In 1927, it was recorded as a “folklore” vocal duet by Montreal singer Béatrice Latour-Lapierre and singer, songwriter, actor, concert impresario, and jack-of-all-trades Conrad Gauthier (1885-1964) on the Victor label (issue # 263515, side B) under the title “Anatole et Amanda.”
Gauthier was at various times a director of silent movies, a journalist, an accountant, and a municipal officer, but it was as a singer, songwriter, and actor that he made his name in Canada and the United States. In the 1920s, Gauthier was a pioneer in radio and in the recording of Quebec folk music, making 78s of more than 100 songs and monologues for the Victor and Columbia labels. He also was a concert impresario, founder and lead vocalist at the immensely popular Veillées du bon vieux temps, a Montreal musical theatre show featuring skits, songs, dances, and monologues evoking rural Quebec traditions, music, and dances. Gauthier founded the Veillées in 1921 and produced them until 1941 at the Monument national theatre in Montreal.
The Gauthier and Latour-Lapierre recording was evidently enough of a commercial success for Montreal actor, folk singer, and songwriter Eugène Daignault (1895-1960) to issue a second recording in 1928, featuring himself and Aline Mailhiot, on the Compo/Starr label (issue #15438, matrix #3256, side B) under the title “Anatole et ‘Manda.” Versions of this song continue to circulate in oral tradition in French-speaking traditional singing circles in many regions of Quebec, as well as Nova Scotia and New England.
Perhaps one of the reasons for the enduring popularity of this song in French North America is that it is a “zipper song”: an enumerative song whose text has situationally based elements which easily lend themselves to replacement with local references which are more relevant to the singer, and to which new verses can be readily added. For example, the place names in the first verse, in which Anatole and Amanda query each other about where they are from, tend to localize when there are local references which rhyme appropriately with the names Anatole and Amanda. Hence, in the Gauthier version, all the place names are Quebec or Canadian references (Sorel, Trois-Pistoles, and Canada). In Alberta Gagné’s version, the Trois-Pistoles reference remains, but Amanda’s responses make New England/United States references (Lowell, Les États).
Abstract
[NOTE: this is a dialogue song between a man and a woman. In each verse, the man asks a question; the woman replies with lofty language and returns the question; the man replies in down-home terms and the woman rephrases her answer to match his unpretentious response.]
“Tell me, miss, where are you from?”
“I’m from Lowell, and you, my boy?”
“I come from Trois-Pistoles, and my name is Anatole,”
I live in the States, and my name is Amanda.”
“Tell me, miss, what do you eat?”
“I’m eat snails, and you, my boy?”
“I eat fritters, and my name is Anatole,”
I eat chocolates, and my name is Amanda.”
“Tell me, miss what do you drink??”
“Good currant wine, and you, my boy?”
“I drink whisky by the bowl, and my name is Anatole,”
I drink cream soda, and my name is Amanda.”
“Tell me, miss, what ails you?”
“I suffer from skin rash, and you, my boy?”
“I suffer from measles, and my name is Anatole,”
I suffer from eczema my name is Amanda.”
“Tell me, miss, what do you seek?”
“I seek new love, and you, my boy?”
“I seek a silly little girl, and my name is Anatole,”
“I seek a big lunkhead, and in fact, we’ve got one here.”
“Tell me, miss, where are you from?”
“I’m from Lowell, and you, my boy?”
“I come from Trois-Pistoles, and my name is Anatole,”
I live in the States, and my name is Amanda.”
“Tell me, miss, what do you eat?”
“I’m eat snails, and you, my boy?”
“I eat fritters, and my name is Anatole,”
I eat chocolates, and my name is Amanda.”
“Tell me, miss what do you drink??”
“Good currant wine, and you, my boy?”
“I drink whisky by the bowl, and my name is Anatole,”
I drink cream soda, and my name is Amanda.”
“Tell me, miss, what ails you?”
“I suffer from skin rash, and you, my boy?”
“I suffer from measles, and my name is Anatole,”
I suffer from eczema my name is Amanda.”
“Tell me, miss, what do you seek?”
“I seek new love, and you, my boy?”
“I seek a silly little girl, and my name is Anatole,”
“I seek a big lunkhead, and in fact, we’ve got one here.”
Source
VFC1998-0007 Martha Pellerin Collection. TC1998-1075 interview with Alberta Gagné. Vermont Folklife Center Archive, Vermont Folklife Center, Middlebury, Vermont, United States of America.
Date
Rights
Copyright (c) Vermont Folklife Center
Relation
Full Interview: vfc1998-0005_tc1998-1075
Language
fra
Identifier
vfc1998-0007_tc1998-1075-001a-008
Song Item Type Metadata
Supplied Title
Dites-moi donc mademoiselle (first line)
Standard Title
“Anatole et Amanda”; “Anatole et ‘Manda”
First Line
Dites-moi donc mademoiselle
Transcription
[BEGIN SINGING]
« Dit’s-moi donc ma’mselle, d'où venez-vous donc ? »
« Je viens de Lowell et vous, mon garçon ? »
« Moi, je viens de Trois-Pistoles et j'm’appelle Anatole, »
« Moi. j'demeure dans Les États et j'm'appelle ‘Manda. »
« Dit’s-moi donc ma’mselle, que mangez-vous donc ? »
« Je mange des snail et vous, mon garçon ? »
« Moi, je mange des croquignoles, et j’m'appelle Anatole, »
« Moi, je mange du chocolat, et j’m'appelle ‘Manda. »
« Dites-moi donc ma’mselle, que buvez-vous donc ? »
« Du bon vin d’gadelle et vous, mon garçon ? »
« Moi, je bois whisky à plein l'bol, et j’m'appelle Anatole, »
« Moi, je bois du crème soda, et j’m'appelle ‘Manda. »
« Dites-moi donc, ma’mselle, que souffrez-vous donc ? »
« Je souffre d'la grattelle et vous, mon garçon ? »
« Moi je souffre de la rougeole, et j’m'appelle Anatole, »
« Moi je souffre de l'eczéma, et j’m'appelle ‘Manda. »
« Dites-moi donc ma’mselle, que cherchez-vous donc ? »
« Des amours nouvelles et vous, mon garçon ? »
« Moi, je cherche une petite folle, et j’m'appelle Anatole, »
« Moi, je cherche un gros bêta, justement nous v'là. »
[END SINGING]
Translation
strophic, dialogue, enumerative, four-line verses, five verses
Interviewer
Location
Original Format
sound cassette (analog)
Files
Citation
“Dites-moi donc, mademoiselle (AU1998-1075-008),” Vermont Folklife Center Digital Collections, accessed May 22, 2025, https://vtfolklifearchive.org/collections/items/show/355.
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