The New York Times said,: “Stanley ‘Buckwheat’ Dural leads one of the best bands in America. A down-home and high-powered celebration, meaty and muscular with a fine-tuned sense of dynamics…propulsive rhythms, incendiary performances.” USA Today called him “a zydeco trailblazer.” Buckwheat Zydeco performed with a large number of famous musicians from Eric Clapton (with whom he also recorded) and U2 to the Boston Pops. The band performed at the closing ceremonies of the 1996 Summer Olympics to a worldwide audience of three billion people. Buckwheat performed for President Clinton twice, celebrating both of his inaugurations. The band appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman, CNN, The Today Show, MTV, NBC News, CBS Morning News, National Public Radio’s Weekend Edition.
Dural was born in Lafayette, Louisiana. He acquired his nickname as a youth, because, with his braided hair, he looked like the character Buckwheat from Our Gang/The Little Rascals movies. His father, a farmer, was an accomplished amateur traditional Creole accordion player, but young Dural preferred listening to and playing rhythm and blues.
Dural became proficient at the organ, and by the late 1950s he was backing Joe Tex, Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown and many others.
In 1971, he founded Buckwheat & the Hitchhikers, a funk band that he led for five years before switching to zydeco. They were a local sensation and found success with the single, “It’s Hard To Get,” recorded for a local Louisiana-based label.
He began backing Clifton Chenier, one of the most legendary zydeco performers. Though not a traditional zydeco fan when growing up, Buckwheat accepted an invitation in 1976 to join Clifton Chenier’s Red Hot Louisiana Band as organist. He quickly discovered the popularity of zydeco music, and marveled at the effect the music had on the audience. “Everywhere, people young and old just loved zydeco music,” Dural says. “I had so much fun playing that first night with Clifton. We played for four hours and I wasn’t ready to quit.”
Dural's relationship with the legendary Chenier led him to take up the accordion in 1978. After practicing for a year, he felt ready to start his own band under the name Buckwheat Zydeco. They debuted with One for the Road in 1979 on the Blues Unlimited label and then recorded for New Orleans’ Black Top label. In 1983, they were nominated for a Grammy Award for Turning Point and in 1985 for Waitin’ For My Ya Ya after switching to the Rounder Records label. The band then signed to Island Records, becoming the first zydeco act on a major label, and released On a Night Like This, a critically acclaimed album that was nominated for a Grammy as well. The band appeared in the movie The Big Easy in 1987.
In 1988, Eric Clapton invited the band to open his North American tour as well as his 12-night stand at London’s Royal Albert Hall. As even more doors opened, Buckwheat found himself sharing stages and/or recording with Keith Richards, Robert Plant, Willie Nelson, Mavis Staples, David Hidalgo, Dwight Yoakam, Paul Simon, Ry Cooder, the Cherry Poppin' Daddies and many others, including indie music stalwarts Yo La Tengo on the soundtrack to the Bob Dylan bio-pic, I'm Not There. His music has been featured in films including The Waterboy, The Big Easy, Fletch Lives and Hard Target. BET’s show Comic View, used his live version of “What You Gonna Do?” as theme music for the program’s 10th anniversary “Pardi Gras” season. He also wrote and performed the theme music for the PBS television series Pierre Franey’s Cooking In America. Buckwheat won an Emmy for his music in the CBS TV movie, Pistol Pete: The Life And Times Of Pete Maravich.
Buckwheat Zydeco has played many major music festivals, including the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival (numerous times), Newport Folk Festival, Summerfest, San Diego Street Scene, Bumbershoot, Montreux Jazz Festival, the Voodoo Experience, and countless others.
During the 1990s and early 2000s Buckwheat recorded for his own Tomorrow Recordings label and maintained an extensive touring schedule. Buckwheat Zydeco's latest album, Lay Your Burden Down, was released on May 5, 2009 on the Alligator Records label. It was produced by Steve Berlin of Los Lobos and included guest appearances by guitarists Warren Haynes and Sonny Landreth, Trombone Shorty, JJ Grey and Berlin himself. The album was nominated for a Grammy Award. Sonicboomers.com says, “The CD is a vastly entertaining and appealingly diverse package. Bandleader Dural remains an ever-engaging vocalist and a whiz on any keyboard he touches. So, for Buckwheat Zydeco fans, Lay Your Burden Down finds the maestro and his group near the top of their form. For listeners with less interest in the ol' accordion get-down, the collection supplies enough interesting wrinkles to get the good times rolling."
Buckwheat’s especially powerful and haunting version of the classic "Cryin' in the Streets" appears on the benefit album for Hurricane Katrina recovery, Our New Orleans: A Benefit Album for the Gulf Coast.
Buckwheat's version of Memphis Minnie and Kansas Joe McCoy's "When the Levee Breaks" appeared on 2011's Alligator Records 40th Anniversary Collection. It originally appeared on the 2009 Buckwheat Zydeco album Lay Your Burden Down.
Stanley “Buckwheat” Dural Jr. died on September 24, 2016, at Our Lady of Lourdes Regional Medical Center. Dural, who had lung cancer, was 68.
Back In Your Arms
Buckwheat Zydeco Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I carried you inside of me, prayed it wouldn't be too late
Now I'm standin' on this empty road where nothin' moves but the wind
Once I was your treasure and I saw your face in every star
But the promises we make at night, oh that's all they are
Unless we fill them with faith and love they're empty as the howlin' wind
And honey I just want to be back in your arms
You came to me with love and kindness
But all my life I've been a prisoner of my own blindness
I met you with indifference and I don't know why
Now I wake from my dream, I wkae from my dream to this world
Where all is shadow and darkness and a above me a dark sky unfurls
And all the love I've thrown away and lost I'm longin' for again
Now darlin' I just want to be back in your arms
Back in your arms again
The lyrics of Buckwheat Zydeco's song "Back in Your Arms" express the regret of a person who has lost the love of their life. In the first verse, the singer dreams of losing their love and living a life of luck and fate. They carried their love inside them, hoping it wouldn't be too late to make amends. In the second verse, the singer reflects on how they used to see their love's face in every star and how promises made at night are empty unless filled with faith and love. The singer longs to be back in their love's arms.
The chorus echoes this sentiment: "And honey I just want to be back in your arms, Back in your arms again." The third verse reveals that the love interest approached the singer with love and kindness, but the singer met them with indifference. They woke up from their dream to a world of shadow and darkness, longing for the love they lost.
The song's themes include the power of love, loss, regret, and the importance of forgiveness. The lyrics emphasize the idea that love requires faith and effort to maintain and grow. The song's slow tempo and mournful tone evoke a sense of longing, which complements the lyrics' emotion.
Line by Line Meaning
In my dream our love was lost, I lived by luck and fate
In my dreams, our love was nonexistent, and I was simply letting chance dictate my life.
I carried you inside of me, prayed it wouldn't be too late
I held onto our love deeply within myself, hoping that it wasn't already too late to rekindle it.
Now I'm standin' on this empty road where nothin' moves but the wind
I find myself alone on a desolate path where there is no life, except for the rustling of the wind.
Once I was your treasure and I saw your face in every star
I used to be the most precious thing in your life, and you were always on my mind.
But the promises we make at night, oh that's all they are
The vows we make to each other in the darkness are just words, empty without the actions to back them up.
Unless we fill them with faith and love they're empty as the howlin' wind
Unless we put trust and affection into those promises, they are as insignificant as the blustering wind.
And honey I just want to be back in your arms
My desire is to be close to you once again, to experience your embrace.
You came to me with love and kindness
You showed me affection and benevolence when we were first together.
But all my life I've been a prisoner of my own blindness
However, throughout my life, I have been trapped in my own ignorance and closed-mindedness.
I met you with indifference and I don't know why
When I first met you, I was apathetic towards you, without really knowing why.
Now I wake from my dream, I wkae from my dream to this world
Now I am awakening from this fantasy world of mine, back into reality.
Where all is shadow and darkness and a above me a dark sky unfurls
This is a world of gloom and darkness, with only a black sky looming above me.
And all the love I've thrown away and lost I'm longin' for again
All the love that I have carelessly tossed away and let slip from my grasp, I am now yearning for once more.
Now darlin' I just want to be back in your arms
My darling, I simply want to be reunited with you in a warm embrace.
Back in your arms again
To be held by you again, back in your arms, is what I long for the most.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA/AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Zenobia Chaney
on Mon Papa
I've always loved the Music in this Cajun Waltz-I Loved my grandpapas. I spent a lot of time with my grandparents and their generation.