Malavoi was a Martinican band consisting of Mano Césaire, Jean-Paul Soïme, … Read Full Bio ↴Malavoi was a Martinican band consisting of Mano Césaire, Jean-Paul Soïme, Christian de Negri, Denis Dantin and Marcel Rémion. They formed in 1972, naming themselves after a kind of sugarcane and a street on Gorée, a Senegalese island. Many of the members were part of the Merry Lads, a band from the Lycée Schoelcher, and many had been students at Colette Franz, a music school.

Malavoi's style mixes French Antillean music with modern influences from across the Americas, especially Caribbean and Brazilian music, as well as jazz. Their early popular singles included "Albé" and "En lè mon là". The band was soon expanded to include saxophonist Bib Monville and pianist Paulo Rosine. The singers alternated and included Raymond Mazarin, Pierre Jabert, Maurice Marie-Louise, Pierre Pastel and Julien Constance.

Malavoi's first album was Malavoi, released in 1978 and featuring singer Ralph Thamar. The band broke up soon after, however, and didn't perform again until re-uniting under Rosine's leadership in 1981. Rosine greatly expanded the fiddle section, first to ten performers, then down to four with Philippe Porry taking over for Dantin, and also added Jean-José Lagier on cello. Malavoi's fame soon spread across the Caribbean and abroad with the 1983 album Zouel, featuring Thamar on vocals along with Marie-José Alie. They played at the Printemps de Bourges in 1983 and at the Caribbean festival in Cartagena, and won the Caribbean music prize, the Maracas d'Or, as well as scoring the film Rue Case Nègres.

They continued touring widely into the late 1980s, in the United States, France, Japan, Russia, Brazil, Canada and Ecuador. Thamar was replaced by Pipo Gertrude in 1988. In the early 1990s, the band's popularity continued to grow, and the membership expanded with the addition of singer Tony Chasseur. Their 1992 Matebis included collaborations with numerous Caribbean musicians, including Jocelyne Beroard, Bethova Obas, Kali (musician), Edith Lefel and Tanya Saint-Val.

Malavoi's leader, Paulo Rosine, died in 1993. He was replaced by José Privat, while two French violinists, Jean-Luc Pino and Daniel Dato, also joined; the band's leader became Jean-Paul Soïme.

La siren'
Malavoi Lyrics

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On jou, mwen desenn la cascade pou binyin
Mwen ten on ti chan, ki soti di siel la
Mwen lévé, zié mwen pou chéché la sa yé
Mwen y vwé, on mamzel trè joli, ki di mwen

A penn mwen souri nom la couri decenn
Jimbé mwen bo dlo la
Y bo y di mwen di "chérie sois à moi pour la vie"

A penn mwen souri nom la couri decenn
Jimbé mwen bo dlo la
Y bo y di mwen di "chérie sois à moi pour la vie"

Alo, mwen desenn la cascade pou binyin
Y di "mwen cheri, chante mwen ka vini"
Y pren on plonjon, disparèt, an dlo a
Lé jou ka pasé, mé mwen la, ka di:

Doudou sé ou mwen wé sé ou mwen lé?
Doudou sé ou mwen wé sé ou mwen lé?

Doudou sé ou mwen wé sé ou mwen lé?
Doudou sé ou mwen wé sé ou mwen lé?

Lé mwen refléchi, mwen di sé on sirene
Ki fé mwen jé ta la
Y bo mwen y fé mwen inmé
Y épi y kité mwen

Lé mwen refléchi, mwen di sé on sirene
Ki fé mwen jé ta la
Y bo mwen y fé mwen inmé
Y épi y kité mwen

Y kité mwen...

Y kité mwen...

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Malavoi's song "La Siren'" capture the experience of a man who sees a beautiful mermaid while standing at a waterfall. He is instantly spellbound by her beauty and decides to pursue her. The lyrics are written in Creole, which is a French-based language spoken in many Caribbean countries.

The singer says that he is sketching the waterfall while humming a tune from the sky. Suddenly, he hears a melodic voice and turns around to find a gorgeous mermaid. Mesmerized by her, he smiles, and the mermaid swims closer to him. She invites him to dance with her, and he jumps into the water. The mermaid then tells him that she wants him to be hers forever.

Later, after the singer reflects on what happened, he realizes that it was the mermaid who made him fall in love with her. However, she vanished and left him heartbroken. In the end, he is left to wonder if he ever saw the mermaid or if it was just a figment of his imagination.

Overall, the song captures the magic and allure of falling in love with something or someone that is unattainable. It speaks to the universal experience of falling under the spell of someone's charms, only to be left wondering if it was real.

Line by Line Meaning

On jou, mwen desenn la cascade pou binyin
Once, I descended the waterfall to refresh

Mwen ten on ti chan, ki soti di siel la
I held a small melody that came from the heavens

Mwen lévé, zié mwen pou chéché la sa yé
I stood up, eyes searching for what it was

Mwen y vwé, on mamzel trè joli, ki di mwen
I saw a very pretty young lady who said to me

A penn mwen souri nom la couri decenn
At the tip of my smile, her name ran through me

Jimbé mwen bo dlo la
She took my hand and led me to the water

Y bo y di mwen di "chérie sois à moi pour la vie"
She whispered to me "darling, be mine for life"

Alo, mwen desenn la cascade pou binyin
So, I descended the waterfall to refresh

Y di "mwen cheri, chante mwen ka vini"
She said "beloved, sing to me so that I may come"

Y pren on plonjon, disparèt, an dlo a
She took a dive, disappeared, into the water

Lé jou ka pasé, mé mwen la, ka di:
As days passed, but I'm here, saying: