Crawdiddy & Friends

14 orginal songs by Ken Wells and Pershing Wells

Recorded 2020-2023 at Digital Sac-a-Lait Studio, Houma, La.

Produced by Pershing Wells

© Ken Wells and Pershing Wells, all rights reserved

Licensing by ASCAP

 

 

Crawfishin’

 

We grew up in the country runnin’ barefoot in the yard

Catchin' honey bees in a big ole Mason Jar

Lazin' on a cypress dock fishin' for some bass

Runnin' with our hound dogs, rollin' in the grass

When Saturday came around, it really got us wishin'

C'mon, Daddy, let's go crawfishin'

 

Papa had a flat boat floatin’ in the bayou

We’d all hop in, paddle down to ‘Chafalaya’

Cypress trees posin’ in a dreamy Cajun sky

Herons flappin’ from the bank, my, oh, my

We’d hit Belle River, where the black water glistens,

Man, what a place to go crawfishin’

 

You don’t need much money

You can bring your honey

Groovin’ on the bayou bank

Where it’s nice and sunny

Fill your nets with bait

Throw ‘em out and wait

Think about them mudbugs

Spicy on your plate

 

Way down in Loosiana, we got that cookin’ scene

We know our chicken gumbo, love our rice and beans

Papa makes his jumbalaya cookin' in the pot

Momma fixes sauce piquante, Lawd, she likes it hot

But every true Cajun, they know the real tradition

The nearest thing to heaven is to go crawfishin'

 

Fill a gunny sack

Tote ‘em on your back

Gather up your podnahs

And some cold six packs

Dump crawfish in the pot

boil ‘em nice and hot

Say a little prayer of thanks

For all the things you’ve got

 

I moved from the bayou way up to Yankeeland

People hear my accent and they still don’t understand

Workin’ in an office, bustin’ nine to five

Payin’ all my bills and dodgin’ all the jive

But here’s a news flash, I hope they get the transmission

I’m blowin’ off the city and I’m goin’ crawfishin’

 

Fade out…

Crawfishin’, I’m goin’ crawfishin’

Crawfishin’, I’m goin’ crawfishin’

 

 

Chanky-Chank Music (on the Radio)

 

Intro

...Chanky-chank music!

 

Daddy grew up way out in the country

deep in Arkansas on a muddy ole slough

Momma was a dark-eyed Louisiana beauty

a good-timin’ Cajun through and through

Daddy liked to listen to the Grand Ole Opry

Try and change the station, he’d say ‘no’

But when Daddy wasn’t lookin’, Momma’d spin the dial

put chank-a-chank music on the radio

 

Hmm-uh-hmm, don’t you know

Chanky-chank music on the radio

Hmm-uh-hmm, don’t you know

Chanky-chank music on the radio

 

Momma’d turn it up and we’d dance in the kitchen

two-steppin’ ‘cross that wooden floor

My brother playin’ chords on an old, battered guitar

I’m keepin’ time on an ole washboard

Waylon and BeauSoleil scratchin’ on them fiddles

Vin Bruce singin’ ‘bout a fais-do-do

We had a great time while Daddy wasn’t lookin’

playin’ chank-a-chank music on the radio.

 

Hmm-uh-hmm, don’t you know

Chanky-chank music on the radio

Hmm-uh-hmm, don’t you know

Chanky-chank music on the radio

 

I grew up and moved from the bayous

roamed ‘round the world like many people do

I live in the ‘burbs and work in a city

but I’m still a Cajun through and through

you know I often miss those days in the swampland

family and friends and Momma’s gumbo

And here’s what I do when I get lonesome

Put that chank-a-chank music on my stereo

 

Hmm-uh-hmm, don’t you know

Chanky-chank music on the radio

Hmm-uh-hmm, don’t you know

Chanky-chank music on the radio

 

Atchafalaya Mornin’

 

Sunrise, Atchafalaya mornin’

Another day is dawnin’

A robin sings, it’s early spring,  I’m home

Just driftin’ through misty bayou sunlight

Those cypress dream in twilight

They grow so high, oh my, my, I’m home

 

Oh, catfish, won’t you grant my wish

Come nibble on my line

Mr. Gator gonna catch you later

I know just what’s on your mind

 

Sunset, Atchafalaya moonlight

The quiet break of starlight

Marshbirds sing and wing their way back home

Slow-dancin’,  the Milky Way ‘cross a Cajun sky

Paints the water with a lullaby

Oh, my, my,  I’m so glad to be home

 

Oh, catfish, won’t you grant my wish

Come nibble on my line

Mr. Gator gonna catch you later

I know just what’s on your mind

 

Sunrise, Atchafalaya mornin’

Another day is dawnin’

A robin sings, it’s early spring,  I’m home

Just driftin’ through misty bayou sunlight

Those cypress dream in twilight

They grow so high, oh my, my, I’m home

 

Cher Bebe'

 

Walkin’ down the bayou bank

Not too long ago

I saw a Cajun honey

Headed to the zydeco

She whipped a smile upon me

That girl could really flirt

She said, ‘What you think about me

In my mini-mini skirt’?

I said, ‘mais, la, girl

That ain’t no flour sack

You could make a country boy like me

Catch a heart attack

She giggled like a schoolgirl

And then I heard her say

Why don’t you come a dancin’ with Cher BeBe’?

 

Oh, Cher BeBe’,  yeah, she’s so hot

She wanna go dancin’, shakin’ what she’s got

Oh, Cher BeBe’, elle est si chaude* (el a see sho)

She wanna go dancin’ at the zydeco

 

We went to Elmo’s Bar

It’s a big ole bayou shack

They got boudin on the menu

Sell crawfish out the back

They got Fats on the jukebox

Sawdust on the floor

People start to holler when they start the Zydeco

Well, Cher Bebe’ she knew everybody there

She had mischief in her eyes

And flowers in her hair

The beer started a flowin’

And the band begun to play

I had to stand in line

To dance with Cher BeBe

 

Cher BeBe’,  yeah, she’s so hot

She wanna go dancin’, shakin’ what she’s got

Cher BeBe’, elle est si chaude (el a see sho)

She wanna go dancin’ at the zydeco

 

I told her, “Cher BeBe’

Please save a dance for me

She said “Meet me in the canefield

by that big oak tree”

I had myself a buzz

I was feelin’ all right

when I saw Bebe’ comin down in the moonlight

Well, Cher Bebe’, she took me by the hand

She said, 'to dance real close

We don’t need no band'

We waltzed into that canefield

And then I heard her say

You might wanna fall in love with Cher BeBe’

 

Oh, Cher BeBe’,  yeah, she’s so hot

She wanna go dancin’, shakin’ what she’s got

Cher BeBe’, elle est si chaude (el a see sho)

She wanna go dancin’ at the zydeco

 

Aw, shake your money maker!

*French for 'She's so hot'

 

 

Those Days on the Bayou (Were Sweet, For Sure)

 

I remember my brothers and me

Climbin’ in the branches of the cottonwood tree

Get halfway and we’d just keep goin’

Get to the top and here’s what we’d see

Granny in the garden, Momma in the kitchen

Daddy on the bayou cane-pole fishin’

Happy friends and neighbors knockin’ at the door

Those days on the bayou were sweet for sure

Those days on the bayou were sweet for sure

 

Daddy and Momma raised us up straight

Mind your manners, now don’t you be late

We had to pitch in, had to do our chores

When Saturday rolled around, we could hardly wait

Brother Doucet would bring his Cajun fiddle

Everybody dancin’ big and little

All those happy feet high-steppin’ ‘cross the floor

Those days on the bayou were sweet for sure

Those days on the bayou were sweet for sure

 

Momma said every day can’t be sunny

If you get sour grapes just spin ‘em into honey

Don’t need big house or a big car

You can still be rich ‘cause it ain’t about money

Plant yourself a garden, have fun in the kitchen

Round up the kids and take ‘em all fishin’

Keep an open heart at your open door

And the days of your life will be sweet for sure

The days of your life will be sweet for sure

 

I remember my brothers and me

Climbin’ in the branches of the cottonwood tree

Get halfway and we’d just keep goin’

Get to the top and here’s what we’d see

 

South Loosiana

 

Deep in the swamps where the willows are green

The people make a livin’ eatin’ rice and beans

Gumbo boilin’ in the big black pot

The babies drink Tabasco Sauce, they like it hot

Well, it ain’t New York and it ain’t Atlanta, nah

Man, dontcha know you’re in South Loosiana

Hypnotizin’, mesmerizing, harmonizin’, so suprisin’

Jubilatin, cogitatin’, celebratin’ Cajun land

Vive Le Louisiane*, all right, Vive L’Acadiens*

 

Back up in the marshes where the crawfish are found

There’s a gros bec* jammin’ on a muskrat mound

Alligators slidin’ all over the place

They boogie with the bullfrog supplyin’ the bass

Well, it ain’t Hollywood and it ain’t Texarkana

Man, dontcha know you’re in South Loosiana

Hypnotizin’, mesmerizing, harmonizin’, so suprisin’

Jubilatin, cogitatin’, celebratin’ Cajun land

Vive Le Louisiane, all right, Vive L’Acadiens

 

Well, I got a buddy from Thibodaux

He play a funky slide guitar he sure can blow (play it, boy!)

When he plays the Cajun blues it sounds so bad

Now he’s lovin’ all the women that he never had (He’s bad)

Well, it ain’t Chicago and it ain’t Alabama (no way)

Brother, lemme tell you you’re in South Loosiana

Hypnotizin’, mesmerizing, harmonizin’, so suprisin’

Jubilatin, cogitatin’, celebratin’ Cajun land

Vive Le Louisiane, all right, Vive L’Acadiens

 

Well, a Yankee come to supper, he say, ‘What I do?”

I said, ‘have some jambalaya eat some oyster stew

You sop up the gravy with that good French bread

And you don’t just eat the crawfish tail, you suck the head

Well, it ain’t Manhattan and it ain’t Santa Anna (no way)

Testify if you’ve been down to South Loosiana

Hypnotizin’, mesmerizing, harmonizin’, so suprisin’

Jubilatin, cogitatin’, celebratin’ Cajun land

Vive Le Louisiane, all right, Vive L’Acadiens

 

*gros bec--the Cajun term for the bird otherwise known as the yellow-crowned night heron

*Long live Louisiana. Long live the Cajuns

 

(I Took) Two Steps

 

Magnolias in bloom, a warm night in June

The smile on the face of a girl across the room

So I held out my hand and asked her to dance

To a two-step in time with the moon

 

And I took two steps into her arms

Cajun waltzin’ from dusk till dawn

I took two steps, into her heart

Hoping we’d never part

 

The band it could play songs the old time way

‘Oh, Jolie Blon, ‘gardez donc quoi t'as fait’*

Whispers so sweet, our hearts keeping beat

As we two-stepped in time with the moon

 

And I took two steps into her arms

Cajun waltzin’ from dusk till dawn

I took two steps, into her heart

Hoping we’d never part

 

The night drifted by, a thousand stars filled the sky

The light on her face turned to spring in her eyes

The band kept on playin’, and we kept on swayin’

To that two-step in time with the moon

 

Repeat chorus and fade out…

And I took two steps, into her arms…

 

*Translated: Pretty blonde, look what you've done

 

 

Fais Pas Ca (Don't Do That)

 

I met a girl, her name was Julie

Eyes that sparkled like the sun on the sea

She could flirt, she could dance, she knew how to hold me

Julie was the girl made a man out of me.

She gave me her love, she gave me her money

Kisses so sweet make the angels cry

But I didn’t know how to treat such a treasure

And she used the Cajun way when she said goodbye.

 

Fais pas ca*, don’t do that

If true love walks it ain’t comin’ back

Fais pas ca, oh, no, no

If you find true love never let it go

if you find true love never let it go

 

Workin' on a barge way down on the bayou

Met a Cajun girl named Anne Marie

She looked me over good and this is what she told me

'Boy, you're the man to make a woman out of me'

So I gave her my heart, I gave her my money

How could I know that her kisses were a lie?

She slipped off for another man's pleasure

And I used that Cajun way when I said goodbye

 

Fais pas ca, don’t do that

If true love walks it ain’t comin’ back

Fais pas ca, oh, no, no

If you find true love never let it go

if you find true love never let it go

 

Years went by and I ran into Julie

Her eyes still sparkled like the sun on the sea

She was walking to her truck with her dog named Buddy

I loved how she smiled when she looked at me

We went for beer to talk about old times

Went slow dancin' where the music was free

I said pretty please may I call you on Friday

'Cause I ‘member long ago what you told me

 

Fais pas ca, don’t do that

If true love walks it ain’t comin’ back

Fais pas ca, oh, no, no

If you find true love never let it go

if you find true love never let it go

 

*A Cajun idiom meaning, "Don't do that"

 

(I Miss Those) Bayou Lights

 

Three long Missouri winters

Snow fallin’ on my shoes

Gets down to five below

And I sure get the blues

And even with the spring’s a comin’,

Sycamores all turnin’ green

I’d sure like to be on the streets of New Orleans

 

I miss those bayou lights, warm Cajun nights

Dixie Beer, old friends of mine

I miss those bayou days, warm Cajun ways

And I wonder if I’m ever goin’ home again.

 

Drifted out to Colorado

Those Rocky Mountains  get you high

And you can see the Northern Lights

In the Denver sky

Summers you can go hikin’

Snow-capped mountains on the Great Divide

But I like my views

More on the Southern side

 

I miss those bayou lights, warm Cajun nights

Dixie Beer, old friends of mine

I miss those bayou days, warm Cajun ways

And I wonder if I’m ever goin’ home again.

 

Lived awhile in San Francisco

Crystal light through those foggy pines

There’s nothin’ like the Golden Gate

In the spring sunshine

But winter storms, they’d come a rollin’

And strand me in the cold, cold rain

And longin’ for those days

Down on the Pontchartrain

 

I miss those bayou lights, warm Cajun nights

Dixie Beer, old friends of mine

I miss those bayou days, warm Cajun ways

And I wonder if I’m ever goin’ home again

 

Maybelle Breaux

 

On a blacktop road south of Thibodaux

Lived a little woman named Maybelle Breaux

She liked my music, she liked my fishin’

She looked so good got me to wishin’

That Maybelle Breaux would be my wife

Take care of me all my life

So I counted ‘One, Two, Three’

Then I asked that girl would she marry me

She said ‘yes’ and that was September

And let me tell you, we’re happy campers

 

Oh, Maybelle Breaux, she’s sweet on me

(I love the way she fries my chicken)

Maybelle, she’s sweet on me

(Taste so good it’s finger lickin)

Maybelle, she’s sweet on me

(Makes me go for another helpin’)

Maybelle, she’s sweet on me

Feeds my dog and rubs my back

How you like dat? How you like dat?!

 

It’s Saturday night at a local pub

Me and Maybelle are gettin’ tore up

She’s shootin’ tequila, I’m chuggin’ rum

Shoutin’ out loud havin’ too much fun

Then, this big, hair dude, all tattooed

Grabs Maybelle and says, “I wanna dance with you’

Before I could think of what move I’d try

He was layin’ on the floor and I think he was cryin’

Not sure if I said this about her

But Maybelle’s a black-belt karate chopper

 

Oh, Maybelle Breaux, she’s sweet on me

(I love the way she fries my tomatoes

Maybelle she’s sweet on me,

(Taste so good I’ll catch you later)

Maybelle, she’s sweet on me

(Makes me go for another helpin’)

Maybelle, she’s sweet on me

Washes my truck and fixes my flats,

How you like dat? How you like dat?!

 

Well, Maybelle ain’t no gussied-up queen

But when she walks down the street in her jeans

You might be a Jack, might be a Percy

But you’ll fall on your knees, hollerin’ ‘Mercy!’

But go ahead brother, give it a shot

‘cause me and Maybelle know what we’ve got

We can’t be bothered, we can’t be parted

We can’t control this fire we’re started

Maybelle’s an angel, Maybelle’s a joker

She let’s me stack the deck when we play strip poker

 

Oh, Maybelle Breaux, she’s sweet on me

(I love the way she fries my chicken)

Maybelle she’s sweet on me,

(Taste so good it’s finger lickin’)

Maybelle, she’s sweet on me

(Makes me go for another helpin’)

Maybelle, she’s sweet on me

 

Fade out

Oh, Maybelle Breaux she sweet on me

(Love the way she fries my chicken)

 

Jessie, I’m Lost

 

There’s a cold, lonely wind blowing down off the river

The song that it brings is of love with no chance

Two restless hearts, our heads filled with music

But we know that there’s no place to dance.

 

And Jessie, I’m lost, I’m adrift in between

Love and duty and God you’re a beauty

And Jessie, I swear, if I ever held you tight

I’d want to hold you for the rest of my life

 

There’s a bright winter moon, shining down on the city

The light turns to spring when it plays in your eyes

There’s a place in my mind, like the sun on a hillside

Where the love that I feel for you lies.

 

And Jessie, I’m lost, I’m adrift in between

Love and duty and God you’re a beauty

And Jessie, I swear, if I ever held you tight

I’d want to hold you for the rest of my life

 

Thin is the line between heartbreak and heaven

Short is the time between thunder and rain

And long are the nights when I lie a dreamin’

Just longing to see you again.

 

And Jessie, I’m lost, I’m adrift in between

Love and duty and God you’re a beauty

And Jessie, I swear, if I ever held you tight

I’d want to hold you for the rest of my life

 

Bayou Black (Calls Me Back)

 

Bayou Black, calls me back

Down that long windin' road I go

Live-oak trees and bayou breezes

Just watchin' that bayou flow

 

Me and brother Willie scrapped that cane

In early fall when grindin’ started

Walkin' back home, two miles long

Way down through the Mandalay quarter

See ole Sherman out plowin' those fields

Behind his ole mule Bo

He stops a moment to wipe his brow

And watch that bayou flow

 

Bayou Black, calls me back

Down that long windin' road I go

Live-oak trees and bayou breezes

Just watchin' that bayou flow.

 

My Daddy, he works at the Southdown Mill

It's a sweet life, or so they say

Come Sunday mornin' he'll be out on that bayou

Fishin' for some sac-a-lait*

Momma's  in the kitchen since early morn'

Cookin' up a big gumbo

And Granny's out on that ole front porch

Just watchin' that bayou flow

 

Bayou Black, calls me back

Down that long windin' road I go

Live-oak trees and bayou breezes

Just watchin' that bayou flow

 

You know, I've been around this great big world

I've seen the Rockies and Gay Paris

But through mountain nights and city lights

That bayou still calls to me

See that sunlight growin' dim,

See that ole muskrat, he's out for a swim

That ole bullfrog gonna croak all night

It's a Bayou Black delight

 

Bayou Black, calls me back

Down that long windin' road I go

Live-oak trees and bayou breezes

Just watchin' that bayou flow

 

*The Cajun term for the fish known otherwise as the crappie

 

I’m Goin’ to Nashville

 

 I’m goin’ to Nashville…

I’m goin’ to Nashville...

 Yeah, lemee tell ya what’s up…

 

I’m goin’ to Nashville ‘cause I wanna get down

Like every sucker that goes up to that town

I’m gonna cut on an API console

A jewel ’67 that costs more than a house, yo

I know I can cut a hit, hangin’ with them ole boys

Stuck on that cookie-cutter bullshit

Yeah, I’m gonna sound like everybody else

But all of my fans gonna call me the best

Yeah, I’m gonna be a country star doin’ hip-hop

Add a lil’ steel guitar and let the mike drop, yeah

I’m goin’ to Nashville, yeah that’s right

I’m goin’ to Nashville

 

Check this out

 

My producer gonna make me sound smack

No need for Auto-Tune on MY vocal track

I’m gonna hire all the A-call cats

Gonna slap my accountant when he says,

‘How much you paid for that?’

Hit them honky-tonks like a train wreck

Drink some PBRs like a redneck

Watchin’ all those hotties line-dancing to my song

Man, I love ‘em, and I leave ‘em alone

Gonna be a star, gonna have Number 1

When my daddy writes a check for 50K big ones

Yeah, I’m goin’ to Nashville

 

I went to Nashville ‘cause I wanted to get down

But I gotta tell ya man, what a let down

I channeled Willie tryin’ to sound like Jay-Z

DJ heard my track, he hollered, ‘Man, are you crazy?

That ain’t no hit, you need to quit

They made you sound like

A white-honky nitwit’

I thought my tune would make me superfly

But what Daddy’s money bought

Was a 50k cowpie

 

Produced in Nashville

Arranged in Nashville

Done up in Nashville

Low down in Nashville

 

I was gonna be a Nashville cat

Got played like a Nashville rat

I was gonna be a Nashville stud

Blew all that money and my tune is a dud

I was gonna be a country superstar

Now I’m drinkin’ with the losers in a Nashville bar

This hottie said when she heard my track

‘Tell me, when you wrote it,

Were you smokin’ crack?

Down in Nashville

Low down in Nashville

 

 

Boy From Houma

 

Well, I’m a boy from Houma, got a  high school diploma

Went to Ti' Nick U*, didn’t graduate, did you?

I’m a boy from Houma but I’m gonna be a man some day

 

Went to Ti' John’s * bar, up the road not too far

I walked right in, girl said, ‘Hey, boy there you are’

You’re a boy from Houma

But I’m gonna make a man out of you (and she did)

 

Boy from Houma, got a high school diploma

Boy from Houma, high school diploma

I’m a boy from Houma but I’m gonna be a man one day

 

Met a girl from Brusly, her name was Julie Boulet

Well, she gave me a wink, made me think

That a boy from Houma

Might want a girl from Brusly some day

 

Boy from Houma, got a high school diploma

Boy from Houma, high school diploma

I’m a boy from Houma but I’m gonna be a man one day

 

*The affectionate nickname for Ken's alma mater, Nicholls State University, in Thibodaux, La.  The Cajuns love the prefix Petit, shortened to 'Ti, and often affix it to the youngest or smallest child in the family. And since NIcholls back then was a little school of abut 3,000 students, it became known as "Ti Nich (nick) U."

*Ti John's--Per above,  Little John's Bar