1. TRADITIONAL SONGS OF AGRICULTURE
SCHOOL PARTNERSHIP PROJECT
TRACE
(Discovering Traditional Crafts Across Europe)
TRADITIONAL SONGS OF AGRICULTURE

2. La Bourbonnaise (a traditional tune)
1ST VERSE
As I was passing by the St Gilles Ravine
I met an old grand-father
I asked him what he was doing there
I am catching fish, he answered
2nd VERSE
I met a wild cat.
I asked him what he was doing there
I am a wild cat, he answered
Chorus: Yes, yes, my dear child
Everyone has to struggle to make a living (bis)

3. Ça sent la banane (J. Farreyrol / reviewed version) It smells like banana)
Chorus :
It smells like banana, vanilla and cumin,
like sugar cane, mango and tamarind. (bis)
1ST VERSE
I am writing to you from my Creole island,
To you, my friend from far away, from mainland France
You say winter and coldness, there,
Make you dream of my country, do come along then!
2nd VERSE
Do you know, in January, flowers here are magnificient?
For in our country, it’s summer time under the tropics.
While your garden is covered with snow,
Here the sun has already ripened the grapes.
3rdVERSE
And, on the long lanes, the cane’s cutters,
The cutlass in the hand, look like gypsies.
The big flamboyant trees, at sunset time,
Get undressed scattering their blood like petals.
4thVERSE
I’ll have you taste our good jams,
The palm tree’s hearts, the well ripened “sapotes”
And, under the bougainvillea’s bower,
With Isabelle, we will toast the coffee.
5thVERSE
I will sing Creole romances for you
That you’ll take back with you in your mother country.
By the sea side, on the silver sand,
You too will learn to dance « Maloya».