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Pearl of the Quarter Lyrics
On the water down in New Orleans
My baby's the pearl of the Quarter
She's a charmer like you never seen, singing
Voulez voulez voulez vous
Where the sailor spends his hard-earned pay
Red beans and rice for a quarter
You can see her almost any day, singing
Voulez voulez voulez vous
And if you hear from my Louise
Won't you tell her I say hello
Please make it clear
When her day is done she got a place to go
I walked alone down the Miracle Mile
I met my baby by the Shrine of the Martyr
She stole my heart with her Cajun smile, singing
Voulez voulez voulez vous
She loved the million dollar words I'd say
She loved the candy and flowers that I bought her
She said she loved me and was on her way, singing
Voulez voulez voulez vous
And if you hear from my Louise
Won't you tell her I love her so
Please make it clear
When her day is done she got a place to go
[repeat]
My baby's the pearl of the Quarter
She's a charmer like you never seen, singing
Voulez voulez voulez vous
Red beans and rice for a quarter
You can see her almost any day, singing
Voulez voulez voulez vous
Won't you tell her I say hello
Please make it clear
When her day is done she got a place to go
I met my baby by the Shrine of the Martyr
She stole my heart with her Cajun smile, singing
Voulez voulez voulez vous
She loved the candy and flowers that I bought her
She said she loved me and was on her way, singing
Voulez voulez voulez vous
Won't you tell her I love her so
Please make it clear
When her day is done she got a place to go
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One of the few songs about a hooker that features pedal steel.
You guys have dirty minds. Louise probably works in a food truck, serving up beans and rice to the sailors.
@Toadly No way. She is a nun who cares for homeless at the Shrine of the Martyr. ☺
@Toadly No way. She is a nun who cares for homeless at the Shrine of the Martyr. ☺
@Toadly HAHAHAHA.
@Toadly HAHAHAHA.
Ahh, the classic "I fell in love with a hooker" song--and in true 'Dan fashion, the hooker is willing to humor him ("She said she loved me and was on her way...") and leave him begging for her to cease her promiscuous ways and stay with him. I think "Voulez-vous?" translates to "Do you want [this]?", which is a logical sales pitch.
I wonder if Sting listened to this song when he wrote "Roxanne."
Nothing like red beans and rice for a quarter.
Fall in love with a hooker and that pedal steel will be playin' the blues fer ya. :)
Pearl Of The Quarter shows that, in addition to everything else, these guys could write great love songs. Beautiful pedal steel playing and heart rending lyrics make it sit comfortably beside Doctor Wu and Maxine...
I learned in church today about the Parable of The Pearl... It is in the Book of Matthew how a merchant had given away a lot of riches just for one pearl... So that made me think of how the sailor's voyage had called for a similar sacrifice of such to find metaphorically a "pearl" a girl was termed as... Louise makes me even think of Louisiana itself, to have gone there for the rice and red beans, too, summing it all up in that French Quarter this takes place... -- Dave
Moldering facades of apartments in the French Quarter / overwhelming sadness in the pedal steel guitar / imagining Louise's face / the shrine of the martyr / someone who died at the hands of sinful humanity / the world's oldest profession / unrequited love / musical notes that turn into tears...
This song does it to me every time.
Also, "charmer" is NOLa slang for a woman, usually white, lower/middle class.