[Dixielandjazz] That Mardi Gras song: "Big Bass Drum" & "To-Wa-Bac-A-Wa"

[David Richoux]

I asked an author of a book about Mardi Gras Indians that very question 
a few years ago at JazzFest. After some discussion we concluded that 
the most likely translation is very basic gang slang. (The early Mardi 
Gras Indians were more like neighborhood gangs than anything else - the 
"indian" activities were a cover for general meetings that would 
otherwise not be allowed by the police.)
This was defiantly not Cajun nor Creole -

from a website http://www.mardigrasunmasked.com/mardigras/history.htm  :
> To be sure, every strata of society has always participated in 
> Carnival. In the post-Reconstruction era, as racial repression 
> intensified, organized groups of black and mixed-race celebrants 
> masking as Indians began to appear on the streets on Mardi Gras. These 
> Mardi Gras Indians, as they came to be known, identified with Native 
> Americans, because they shared a common experience of subjugation 
> under colonialism and because tribes indigenous to Louisiana once 
> provided refuge to runaway slaves. By "masking Indian," they expressed 
> ritual freedom while also providing continuity to African forms of 
> festive merriment.
>
> At one time, rivalries among Mardi Gras Indian "gangs" (usually 
> defined by neighborhood) often turned violent. But these days, the 
> competitive aspects of their revelry tend to revolve around singing, 
> dancing and costuming—traditions that have become emblazoned on the 
> aesthetic and cultural consciousness of New Orleans.

also check out http://www.mardigrasindians.com/

Anyway, when one Band of Indians came down a street opposite another 
rival group of equal strength there might be a fight or there might be 
just a show-down bluff and then a "Two Way Back Away..."

Could be true, but not proven. A lot of the other songs are also 
gang-fight related terms.

Dave Richoux

On Apr 30, 2005, at 1:59 PM, Craig I. Johnson wrote:

> I saw the word (or phrase) "to-wa-ba-ca-way" in the lyrics quoted.
>
> I understand that the creole or cajun name for the tune
> upon which "Bucket's Got A Hole In It" is based, is "To-Wa-Ba-Ca-Wa"
> Does anyone know what this means or connotes?
> Doesn't look like any French that I've seen, even phonetically.
>
> Craig