"Choucoune" is a 19th-century Haitian song composed by Michel Mauléart Monton with lyrics from a poem by

Oswald Durand Oswald Durand (September 17, 1840 - April 22, 1906) was a Haitian poet and politician, said to be "to Haiti what Shakespeare is to England, and Dante to Italy."P. Schutt-Ainé, ''Haiti: A Basic Reference Book'', 95 He was also a Haitian writer ...

. It was rewritten with English lyrics in the 20th century as "Yellow Bird".

Exotica Exotica is a musical genre, named after the 1957 Martin Denny Exotica (Martin Denny album), album of the same name that was popular during the 1950s to mid-1960s with Americans who came of age during World War II. The term was coined by Simon Wa ...

musician

Arthur Lyman Arthur Lyman (February 2, 1932 – February 24, 2002) was an Hawaiian jazz vibraphone and marimba player. His group popularized a style of faux-Polynesian music during the 1950s and 1960s which later became known as exotica. His albums became ...

made the song a hit in 1961.

Choucoune

One of

's most famous works, the 1883 '' Choucoune'' is a lyrical poem that praises the beauty of a Haitian woman of that nickname. Michel Mauléart Monton, an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

-born

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

with a Haitian father and American mother composed music for the poem in 1893, appropriating some French and Caribbean fragments to create his tune. The song "Choucoune" was first performed in Port-au-Prince on 14 May 1893. It became a popular

méringue Méringue (; ht, mereng), also called ''méringue lente'' or ''méringue de salon'' (''slow'' or ''salon'' méringue), is a dance music and national symbol in Haiti. It is a string-based style played on the lute, guitar, horn section, piano, ...

lente (slow méringue) in Haiti, and was played prominently during the bicentennial celebrations in Port-au-Prince in 1949. ''Choucoune'' was recorded by "

Katherine Dunham Katherine Mary Dunham (June 22, 1909 – May 21, 2006) was an American dancer, choreographer, anthropologist, and social activist. Dunham had one of the most successful dance careers of the 20th century, and directed her own dance company for ...

and her Ensemble" for the Decca album ''Afro-Caribbean Songs and Rhythms'' released in 1946 (with the title spelled as Choucounne), and was first recorded in Haiti by Emerante (Emy) de Pradines for her ''Voodoo - Authentic Music of Haiti'' album (Remington R-199-151) released in the US in 1953. Another version of Choucoune was recorded by Puerto Rican singer Lolita Cuevas with famed Haitian guitarist and arranger

Frantz Casseus Frantz Casseus (14 December 1915 – 3 June 1993) was a Haitian-American guitarist and composer. Born and raised in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, he spent most of his adult life in the United States where he immigrated in 1946 hoping to meet pia ...

and is featured on

Smithsonian Folkways Smithsonian Folkways is the nonprofit record label of the Smithsonian Institution. It is a part of the Smithsonian's Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, located at Capital Gallery in downtown Washington, D.C. The label was fo ...

' album "Haiti Folk Songs" released in 1953. The song also appeared in the 1957 Calypso-exploitation film ''Calypso Heat Wave'', performed by

The Tarriers The Tarriers were an American vocal group, specializing in folk music and folk-flavored popular music. Named after the folk song " Drill, Ye Tarriers, Drill", the group had two hit songs during 1956-57: "Cindy, Oh Cindy" (with Vince Martin) a ...

, sung by the group's lead singer,

Alan Arkin Alan Wolf Arkin (born March 26, 1934) is an American actor, director and screenwriter known for his performances on stage and screen. Throughout his career spanning over six decades, he has received various accolades, including an Academy Award ...

Versions

Yellow Bird

The English rendering of "Choucoune", "Yellow Bird", first appeared on the album ''Calypso Holiday'', a 1957 release by the Norman Luboff Choir, with Luboff having arranged the song in the calypso style that become popular in the English-speaking world in the mid-1950s. The lyrics for "Yellow Bird", by Alan and

Marilyn Bergman Alan Bergman (born September 11, 1925) and Marilyn Keith Bergman (November 10, 1928 – January 8, 2022) were an American songwriting duo. Married from 1958 until Marilyn's death, together they wrote music and lyrics for numerous celebrated telev ...

, have no connection with the narrative of the Durand poem—other than the poem features the words "ti zwazo" (little bird) in its refrain, and so the original Haitian song is sometimes called "Ti Zwazo" or "Ti Zwezo". The song became a minor hit at number 70 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 for the

Mills Brothers The Mills Brothers, sometimes billed the Four Mills Brothers, and originally known as the Four Kings of Harmony, were an American jazz and traditional pop vocal quartet who made more than 2,000 recordings that sold more than 50 million copies a ...

in 1959. Its most successful incarnation came in the summer of 1961 when the

Group reached number four on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and number two on the newly formed

Easy Listening Easy listening (including mood music) is a popular music genre and radio format that was most popular during the 1950s to 1970s. It is related to middle-of-the-road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit songs, n ...

chart with their

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...

an-flavored instrumental version, which bested a rival instrumental single release by

Lawrence Welk Lawrence Welk (March 11, 1903 – May 17, 1992) was an American accordionist, bandleader, and television impresario, who hosted the '' The Lawrence Welk Show'' from 1951 to 1982. His style came to be known as "champagne music" to his radio, te ...

(number 61). Several versions of "Yellow Bird" were recorded and released in Jamaica around the late 1950s/1960s. Jamaican mento/calypso singers renditions include Lord Jellicoe (Hilary ILP-1040), Keith Stewart (WIRL 1031), Count Frank (WIRL 1058), Roy Fuller (Tiger 002/Dynamic 3312), Archie Lewis (Federal 213) and The Joy Makers (Somb, 1976). "Yellow Bird" has also been recorded by Keely Smith,

Roger Whitaker Roger Henry Brough Whittaker (born 22 March 1936) is a British singer-songwriter and musician, who was born in Nairobi to English parents. His music is an eclectic mix of folk music and popular songs in addition to radio airplay hits. He is bes ...

Davy Graham David Michael Gordon "Davey" Graham (originally spelled Davy Graham) (26 November 1940 – 15 December 2008) was a British guitarist and one of the most influential figures in the 1960s British folk revival. He inspired many famous practitioners ...

, Roger Williams,

Johnny Tillotson Johnny Tillotson (born April 20, 1938) is an American singer-songwriter. He enjoyed his greatest success in the early 1960s, when he scored nine top-ten hits on the pop, country, and adult contemporary ''Billboard'' charts, including " Poetry ...

The Brothers Four The Brothers Four is an American folk singing group, founded in 1957 in Seattle, Washington, and known for their 1960 hit song "Greenfields." History Bob Flick, John Paine, Mike Kirkland, and Dick Foley met at the University of Washington, wher ...

, Gary Crosby,

The Paragons The Paragons were a ska and rocksteady vocal group from Kingston, Jamaica, initially active in the 1960s. Their most famous track was " The Tide Is High", written by band member John Holt. Career The Paragons were originally Garth "Tyrone" E ...

and Paul Clayton. The song continues to be popularly associated with calypso and the Caribbean, and is often performed by

steelpan The steelpan (also known as a pan, steel drum, and sometimes, collectively with other musicians, as a steelband or steel orchestra) is a musical instrument originating in Trinidad and Tobago. Steelpan musicians are called pannists. Descriptio ...

bands—but some versions, such as

Chris Isaak Christopher Joseph Isaak (born June 26, 1956) is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist and occasional actor. He is widely known for his breakthrough hit and signature song " Wicked Game", as well as other songs such as "Blue Hotel", " Baby ...

's from ''

Baja Sessions ''Baja Sessions'' is the sixth studio album by Chris Isaak, released in 1996, featuring largely acoustic arrangements. The album contains a large number of covers, many of which are classic songs (such as the Hawaiian-tinged "Sweet Leilani" and ...

'', show a Hawaiian flavor. In 1970, Fairport Convention recorded the song for their album '' Live at the L.A. Troubadour''.

Popular culture

Vivian Vance Vivian Vance (born Vivian Roberta Jones; July 26, 1909 – August 17, 1979) was an American actress and singer best known for playing Ethel Mertz on the sitcom '' I Love Lucy'' (1951–1957), for which she won the Primetime Emmy Award for Out ...

sang "Yellow Bird" on a two-part '' Here's Lucy'' episode, ''Lucy Goes Hawaiian,'' which aired February 15 and Feb. 22, 1971. Vance sang it in a high falsetto, with a calypso beat—dressed in yellow with feathers like a canary (including a long tail feather)—and perched on a swing decorated as a nest. The 23 October 1989 broadcast of the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

TV series '' Murphy Brown'' entitled ''Miles' Big Adventure'' ends with guest star

Yeardley Smith Martha Maria Yeardley Smith ( ; born July 3, 1964) is an American actress, artist and writer. She currently stars as the voice of Lisa Simpson on the long-running animated television series ''The Simpsons''. Smith became an actress in 1982 aft ...

serenading her unwilling object of desire Miles Silverberg with a snippet of "Yellow Bird". A Portuguese percussion band plays the song in a ''

Full House ''Full House'' is an American television Situation comedy, sitcom created by Jeff Franklin for American Broadcasting Company, ABC. The show is about widowed father Danny Tanner who enlists his brother-in-law Jesse Katsopolis and childhood best ...

'' episode, ''The House Meets the House - Part 2'' at Walt Disney World while Michelle Tanner dances.

The Wiggles The Wiggles are an Australian children's music group formed in Sydney in 1991. The group are currently composed of Anthony Field, Lachlan Gillespie, Simon Pryce and Tsehay Hawkins, as well as supporting members Evie Ferris, John Pearce, ...

sing this song on their ''Let's Eat'' album and DVD. "To Bowl or Not To Bowl", an episode of ''

The Looney Tunes Show ''The Looney Tunes Show'' is an American animated sitcom produced by Warner Bros. Animation that ran from May 3, 2011, through November 2, 2013, on Cartoon Network. The series consists of two seasons, each containing 26 episodes, and features ch ...

'' that first aired on July 27, 2011, featured an uptempo, ska-like version of "Yellow Bird" during the Merrie Melodies song segment of the same name performed b
Holland Greco
The song appears in the 2012 Australian movie '' The Sapphires'' and on the soundtrack album. In the Monty Python sketch "Spot The Loony", one of the characters is named "Miles Yellowbird, up high in banana tree". The name quotes the opening words of the Bergman lyrics. The song "Why" from the

Jonathan Larson Jonathan David Larson (February 4, 1960 – January 25, 1996) was an American composer, lyricist and playwright most famous for writing the musicals ''Rent'' and '' Tick, Tick... Boom!'', which explored the social issues of multiculturalism, ...

musical '' Tick, Tick... Boom!'' includes a reference to this song, as Larson reminisces about singing it in a talent show at the Y when he was nine. Radio Trinidad 730 AM Frequency band, sign on song used to be a Steel drum version of "Yellow Bird"

Don't Ever Love Me

Harry Belafonte Harry Belafonte (born Harold George Bellanfanti Jr.; March 1, 1927) is an American singer, activist, and actor. As arguably the most successful Jamaican-American pop star, he popularized the Trinbagonian Caribbean musical style with an interna ...

had a 1957 single release entitled "Don't Ever Love Me" that set different English lyrics (written by

Lord Burgess Irving Louis Burgie (July 28, 1924 – November 29, 2019), sometimes known professionally as Lord Burgess, was an American musician and songwriter, regarded as one of the greatest composers of Caribbean music.B-side of " Mama Look at Bubu" (number 11), "Don't Ever Love Me" itself entered the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 at number 90. The song can also be found on the CD album ''Harry Belafonte - All Time Greatest Hits Vol. I'' (track #2).

References

External links

*Oswald Durand'
Original Creole Poem and a Short History
are available at ''Webster University's Haiti-archive''. Accessed 27 April 2009. {{authority control Haitian folk songs 1893 songs 1957 singles 1961 singles Yellow Bird Yellow Bird Songs with lyrics by Alan Bergman Songs with lyrics by Marilyn Bergman