Actually, translating “Voulez-vous…” as “Will you lie down with me tonight?” is an egregious example of overly literal translation. The phrase is clearly idiomatic and is functionally the equivalent of “Want to sleep together?”, which we all know isn’t about sleeping at all. After all, you would confuse a young mademoiselle if you asked “Voulez-vous dormir avec moi?”
The use of the formal “Vous” instead of the friendlier “Tu” is explained by the type of New Orleans lady who might use this phrase. There’s no law against soliciting a stranger politely, and in formal French it is considered to be bad form to address any stranger in the familiar, even if you’re proposing getting a lot friendlier soon. Mind you, that formality has gone out the door in a lot of places, like Quebec, but it is the functional equivalent of being asked “Excuse me sir, would you like a date tonight” as opposed to “Hey buddy, want a good time?”.
Jeez, some of you are taking this far too seriously, I think. Cecil was obviously mindfucking an apparently vapid teenybopper who posed a beyond-moronic question. I found it hilarious. And Otto, I’m sure cecil was familiar with the original version of the song (as anyone who wasn’t raised on MTV is) and was only further mocking the questioner by quoting the lyrics of the new version.
That’s the way I always understood the lyrics, too. Remember the Rolling Stones album “Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out” (which I figured translated to “get your rocks off”, which would make sense in this context.)? Anyway, who cares? Free your mind and your ass will follow.
Got to agree with this – I have a copy of the original LaBelle version (an inheritance from the grandparents, any and all so-called “evidence” to the contrary) and just gave it another listen. Regarding item #2 in his answer, Cecil is a) having serious attacks of cranial flatulence; b) pulling the questioner’s leg; c) full of manure; d) hard of hearing; e) too fixated on the video to pay attention to anything other than Mrs. Adams swatting the side of his head with a skillet;. and/or f) under the belief that it is April Fool’s Day. The lyric is quite definitely about getting one’s ya-yas here and, presumably, out, off, or otherwise in some pleasurable state – the equivalent of “Hey, sailor, want to get your rocks off?” No bastardization of any Native American language or reference to bad Anglo-American poetry involved, not even a pig Latin reference to Camp Grenada. Ms. Marmalade may claim she isn’t a whore, but she sure is advertising her sexual wares. . . .
That’s not how I interpreted it. Don’t you remember the part of the album where Mick’s trousers get loose and he says “you wouldn’t want me trousers to fall down now wouldya?” and the crowd goes wild. They want him to get his ya-yas out.
Anyway, on a vaguely Moulin Rouge-ish theme, am I the only person who thinks Nicole Kidman is really creepy and ugly? I mean, I have a fetish for readheads but the sight of her makes my flesh crawl. I saw her on Letterman and she looked like something pulled out of a fresh grave. I had to turn the channel.
Er . . . that’s the joke. It’s nonsense doggerel, transcribed phonetically rather than correctly. The song was written by Milton Drake, Al Hoffman and Jerry Livingston in 1943 and was called, that’s right, “Mairzy Doats.” Complete lyrics are here.
The theory was that it was heavily accented English, being “get your, get your yaya here”, ‘yaya’ being a slang term for the goods on sale, big daddy, and it’s “mocha chocolatte yaya” to boot.
Down here in Nawlins we got a plenty folks called creole: color of cafe a lait. There are some creole speakers around, and some even stranger languages/ dialects that I couldn’t put a name to. Now, I’d agree with the quote above in everything but the “heavily accented english”… I have heard some of this talk over the years and hell if its got anything to do with english. Likewise- I can’t tell you what these ladies are saying- but I’ve never had a doubt about what they meant.
The more formal “vous” is still the norm here for:
All elders - There’s always that “hip” aunt or teacher that insists on being “tutoyée-ed” but this is still not the norm.
Professionals - A younger doctor would still be “vous” out of respect and so would a younger used car salesman until he made coarse joke while demonstating the bucket seats.
Customers - Unless one kid to another at Foot Locker, “vous” would be de rigeur.
Strangers - Since you never know who you’re talking to, it’s best to err on the side of caution. Someone might take your “tu” as a sign of disrespect or conversely, a declaration of friendship, but everywhere French is spoken “vous” is still the proper form of address.
Granted, Quebec French is not as formal as in Acadia or France but as with Spanish-speaking countries, many formalities are still observed.
Lady Marmalade, a New Orleans prostitute addressing a potential customer in an offshoot of Cajun/Acadian French would most certainly have used “vous” and not “tu”.
(post edited to fix formatting)
[Edited by Arnold Winkelried on 08-09-2001 at 08:55 PM]
None of which, of course, prevents my customers from tutoying me up and down the place. Anyone under 25 seems to be automatically “tu” unless they hold your life in their hands.
(Of course, even the 6-year-old with the kiddie cone is “vous” as far as I’m concerned - and “mademoiselle” for that matter. I’ve also had to clarify the difference between tutoying and vouvoying to at least one of my coworkers.)
Is this pathetic or what. I came here & registered just to make this point:
Cecil was wrong when he refered to “the LaBelle original.”
Lady Marmalade was originally recorded on an album by a group called “The Eleventh Hour” about a year prior to the LaBelle version. It was done with a male vocal.
