Angelique O

COUNTRY: Haiti

LANGUAGE: Haitian Creole

A traditional Haitian lullaby about a girl who comes to live with a family to help with chores but can’t cook or clean well enough to stay . . . or at least that’s what it is on the surface. People in Haiti in the early 20th century understood the song as a thinly veiled rallying cry against the U.S. occupation.Found on the Smithsonian Folkways album, “Haitian Folk Songs.”

Lyrics of All Around This World version:

Angelique, oh, Angelique, oh
Allé calle manman ou

Anglique, oh, Angelique, oh

Go to your mama

Go back to your mama, dear, allé calle manman ou