Paris 1929 - HALLELUJAH! (Vincent Youmans) on Pathe's DISQUE HENRY with WEIRD FRENCH LYRICS

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• published: 14 Sep 2009
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The1927 Hit Song HALLELUJAH about some randy sailors SCREWED UP IN TRANSLATION as a 1929 Paris Foxtrot Song on Disque Henry, a cheap label by Pathe. Vertical sapphire disc, and still an acoustic recording. This record gives a good idea how an US Hit tune sounded, once it had been arranged for the peculiar Continental Jazz of the 1920s. Exotic savagery, plenty of percussion, but not a lot of smooth Jazz. What the French really screwed up were the new lyrics: From a Sailor's song about shooing Satan and the Blues away comes now this etherized song about Winter Cold and Love Divine, with some fairly disturbing imagery given the general tone of the song. And to imagine that this song was used for some close-body dancing in the dive joints of Montparnasse or Pigalle! Incroyable! Funny how the singer sings the French Alleluia in the first refrain (1:20), and in the second refrain (2:30) does almost manage to pronounce the English Hallelujah. The original, somewhat blasphemous, US Lyrics: Sing Hallelujah Hallelujah! And youll shoo the blues away When cares pursue ya, Hallelujah! Gets you through the darkest day. Satan lies a-waitin And creatin skies of gray But Hallelujah, Hallelujah Helps to shoo the clouds away. Up at dawn and hit the deck Put out your chest and straighten your neck Gotta be clean without a speck Tonight the admirals comin to check. Here this! Here that! Shine your shoes and square your hat Theyll give ya the boot if ya dont salute Hup one two! complete: http://www.mtv.com/lyrics/tatum_art/hallelujah/144181/lyrics.jhtml The French Lyrics: Ainsi que des papillons fantômes En hiver, les flocons blancs Volent et font des ballets d'atomes Que l'hiver mêle en sifflant Au fond des bois, troublant leur silence La bise souffle et la neige danse Toute la Terre Chante une prière Et demande à Dieu que le blond Phébus Du printemps ordonne l'angélus Ô alléluia ! Alléluia ! Cri d'amour et de désir Métamorphoses ! Mille roses S'épanouissent de plaisir Parfums des calices Qui se glissent Dans nos cœurs Ô alléluia ! Alléluia ! Tout frissonne de bonheur Le matin, pour dissiper la brume Il suffit d'un seul éclair Un seul rayon, quand la mer écume Et le flot redevient clair Lorsque l'amour frôle notre lèvre Un seul baiser calme notre fièvre Divine joie Où notre âme flamboie Et voudrait toujours et sans fin chanter De l'amour naissant la volupté Ô alléluia ! Alléluia ! Cri d'amour et de désir Ta folle extase Nous embrase Et nous grise de plaisir Charme des tendresses Des caresses Dans nos cœurs Ô alléluia ! Alléluia ! Tout frissonne de Bonheur And their re-translation: Like phantom butterflies in winter, The white flakes fly and make ballets of atoms, Which winter stirs up, howling, In the dark woods, troubling their silence. The wind blows and the snow dances. All the earth sings a prayer and asks From God that the blond Phoebus of the Spring order the angelus. O Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Shout of love and of desire. Metamorphoses! Thousand roses bloom from pleasure. Perfumes of the chalices, which slide into our hearts. O Hallelujah! Hallelujah! All things tremble with happiness. In the morning, to clear up the fogs, A single spark suffices. A single ray, when the sea is frothing And the stream becomes clear again. Since Love brushes our lips, A single kiss calms down our fever, Divine Joy, Where our soul is ablaze, And want always sing without end, From love comes pleasure. O Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Shout of love and of desire. Your wild ecstasy sets us aflame And intoxicates us with pleasure. Charm of tender feelings, Of caresses In our hearts O Hallelujah! Hallelujah! All things tremble with happiness. The Gramophone ============== The HMV 31b was a follow on model to the 1928 HMV 28, the last open horn phonograph. With an 5b soundbox and an exponential horn, this machine is my favorite phonograph. This machine has been made by HMV India in Dum-Dum, perhaps as late as the 1940s. It had an interesting history: Obviously used somewhere in the Indian desert (the was pink sand on the inside of the soundbox), the machine had been continually mended and repaired - no two screws seem to be identical. Ending up without the horn in a Southern California antiques store, it was completed again with a new elbow and a Victor horn of the correct shape. Now it again is able to delight us in its full glory. Check out more great tunes and amazing vintage phonographs at My YouTube Videos: http://www.youtube.com/user/sanfranphono More about this and other machines on my Changer Website http://myvintagetv.com/updatepages1/changer%20videos/changer_videos.htm