Jole Blon

Jolie Blonde is a traditional Cajun waltz, often called "the Cajun national anthem" because of the popularity it had in Cajun culture. The song was then later popularized on a nationwide scale by a series of renditions and references in late 1940s country songs. It has been the subject of occasional cover later in the 20th century by Cajun and classic country revival bands. Becoming a part of the band's repertoire in 1951, "Joli Blon" became the official fight song of McNeese State University in 1970, and it is played by the "Pride of McNeese" band upon scoring at athletic events.

The original Cajun version is a brief address to a "pretty blonde" who had left the singer and moved back in with her family, and is also now in the arms of another man. The singer concludes that plenty of other pretty blonde women are around. The fiddle-based melody dates to before the 1900s.

The earliest recording of the song is believed to be a 1929 version by the family trio Breaux Brothers entitled "Ma blonde est partie", recorded in Atlanta. Some mystery exists to its origin. While Amedée Breaux is credited with writing the song, his sister Cleoma actually wrote the lyrics and Amedée sang the song. Dennis McGee claims the original song was written by Angelas Lejeune as "La Fille De La Veuve" ("The Widow's Daughter") during World War I and Cleoma rewrote the lyrics, allegedly about Amedée's first wife. Lejeune and Ernest Fruge eventually recorded this song on November 19, 1929, in New Orleans (Brunswick 558, Melotone M18052). In 1934, Alan Lomax traveled to Louisiana, recording artists including the Segura Brothers and their version of "La Fille De La Veuve". Eventually, in 1951, Amede Breaux formed the band Acadian Aces and recorded the song with the title "Jole Blonde" for J. D. "Jay" Miller's Feature Records (F-1023).

In January 1929, John Bertrand and Milton Pitre travelled to Chicago and recorded "La Valse de Gueydan" for Paramount Records (12748A), using the same melody. It appeared again in a 1930 recording of "La Valse de Gueydan" (Brunswick 513) by Amade Ardoin. Dennis McGee and he traveled to New Orleans and recorded this song discussing a "small young girl". This version was re-recorded with slightly different lyrics by Leo Soileau and his Three Aces. The title was "La Valse Gueydan [Jolie Fille]", recorded by Bluebird (B-2086) on January 18, 1935.

...
Wikipedia