"You Never Can Tell" as written by and Brian Douglas/love Wilson....
It was a teenage wedding, and the old folks wished them well
You could see that Pierre did truly love the mademoiselle
And now the young monsieur and madame have rung the chapel bell
"C'est la vie", say the old folks, it goes to show you never can tell
They furnished off an apartment with a two room Roebuck sale
The coolerator was crammed with TV dinners and ginger ale
But when Pierre found work, the little money comin' worked out well
"C'est la vie", say the old folks, it goes to show you never can tell
They had a hi-fi phono, boy, did they let it blast
Seven hundred little records, all rock, rhythm and jazz
But when the sun went down, the rapid tempo of the music fell
"C'est la vie", say the old folks, it goes to show you never can tell
They bought a souped-up jitney, 'twas a cherry red '53
They drove it down to Orleans to celebrate the anniversary
It was there that Pierre was married to the lovely mademoiselle
"C'est la vie", say the old folks, it goes to show you never can tell
You could see that Pierre did truly love the mademoiselle
And now the young monsieur and madame have rung the chapel bell
"C'est la vie", say the old folks, it goes to show you never can tell
They furnished off an apartment with a two room Roebuck sale
The coolerator was crammed with TV dinners and ginger ale
But when Pierre found work, the little money comin' worked out well
"C'est la vie", say the old folks, it goes to show you never can tell
They had a hi-fi phono, boy, did they let it blast
Seven hundred little records, all rock, rhythm and jazz
But when the sun went down, the rapid tempo of the music fell
"C'est la vie", say the old folks, it goes to show you never can tell
They bought a souped-up jitney, 'twas a cherry red '53
They drove it down to Orleans to celebrate the anniversary
It was there that Pierre was married to the lovely mademoiselle
"C'est la vie", say the old folks, it goes to show you never can tell
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This was one of the new batch of hits Berry produced after being released from his 1962-63 prison incarceration.
Berry invented a new word for the lyrics: "Coolerator." It means "refrigerator."
And NOW the young monsieur and madame HAVE RUNG the chapel bell,
"C'est la vie", SAY the old folks, it GOES to show you never can tell.
So, the chapel bell is not ringing on their marriage (it would be "and THEN the young Monsieur and Madame RUNG the hapel bell" or the similar) but on their funeral!!! It is way the old folks NOW say "C'est la vie!", now when something bad is happened, because, do not forget!, the expression "C'est la vie" always expresses complaint about something bad but unvoidable.
Guys, that's Chuck Berry, that's Rock'n'Roll!! Irony and double sense are always there! A banal love song about a couple wiho has an happy life is out of place here!
Even more tragical here is that the youg couple dies on their anniversary, while driving back with a brand new car to the place where they got married, a year after... Call no man happy 'till he dies!
All the best, my friend!
This song probably had personal meaning to Chuck Berry. In 1959, he was arrested and imprisoned on trumped up charges of violating the "Mann Act", related to a sexual relationship he allegedly had with an underage girl. This song was written while Berry was in prison.
And no, this song is not about a young couple who have died, as one comment would have it. The use of past tense in the song is just the perspective chosen by the songwriter, nothing more.
"But when the sun went down,
the rapid tempo of the music fell..."
They had almost everything but no "fun" in the night, dear kids...