Le Fou is Zachary’s 20th album. Going back to his roots, this album is steeped in the sounds and rhythms of Louisana. The texture is acoustic folk. The songs simple yet rich in emotion. The themes of resistance (Laisse le vent souffler - Let the storm wind blow), of separation (La chanson des migrateurs - The migrant’s song) and of identity (Orignal ou caribou - Moose or caribou) are still present in Zachary’s work, but this album has a unique Louisiana flavor as only Zachary Richard can prepare. Clif’s Zydeco, Sweet Sweet, Crevasse Crevasse, Bee de la manche pay tribute to the culture of Zachary’s bayou home. The title song (Le Fou - The Crazy) was inspired by the Deepwater Horizon spill of 2010. The first bird to be captured and cleaned in April of that year was a northern gannet, whose name in French is “Fou de Bassan” (Crazy from Bassan). The folly of which the song speaks is the folly of mankind in destroying the natural environment. It’s enough to make you crazy.
Zachary received his first recording contract at the age of 21. He was the last artist to sign with Electra records before the creation of WEA. That album, High Time, was lost in the maelstrom surrounding the merger and was not released until 2000 when the original masters were found in a vault in New York City and made available on Rhino Hand Made.
It was during his early days in New Yorek that Zachary made a discovery that would influence his art and effect the rest of his life. With the advance money from the record company, he purchased a Cajun accordion. From that moment on, he was swept up by the French language culture of Louisiana. Delving into the Cajun tradition, Zachary formed the first new generation Cajun/Rock band. It would be years, however, before Cajun music became popular outside of rural Louisiana. In the meantime, Zachary career led him to Canada and France.
From 1976 until 1981, Zachary lived in Montreal, recording seven French language albums including two gold albums, Mardi Gras and Migration. Despite critical and commercial success in the French-speaking world, Zachary returned to Louisiana in the early 1980s and began another phase of his career, this time recording in English. He recorded two albums for Rounder Records, Mardi Gras Mambo and the perennial favorite Zack’s Bon Ton, before signing with A&M, and recording two albums at the label, Women in the Room, and SnakeBite Love. Non-stop touring and the strength of these recordings guaranteed Zachary an international following.
In 1994, after and extended absence from the French market, Zachary returned to Canada to play at the Acadian World Congress in New Brunswick. Passionately inspired by his heritage once again, Zachary began a new collection of French songs. The result was Cap Enragé. This double platinum (Canada) album established Zachary Richard as one of the foremost singer-songwriters in the French-speaking world. Once again Zachary had broken the mold, weaving a musical tapestry rich in atmosphere, with masterfully crafted lyrics dealing with far ranging themes.
During his years in Montreal, Zachary published three volumes of poetry, receiving the prestigious Prix Champlain for Faire Récolte in 1998. Zachary’s third volume, Feu was awarded the Prix Roland Gasparic in Roumania, the jury noting not only Zachary’s unique poetics, but also his militant commitment to the defense of the French language in North America. With his daughter Sarah, Zachary had published three children’s book.
In 1996, Zachary founded Action Cadienne, a volunteer organization dedicated to the promotion of the French language and the Cadien/Cajun culture of Louisiana. His contributions to the arts and to French culture were recognized by the government of France in March, 1997. Zachary Richard was decorated Officier de l’Ordre des Arts et Lettres de la République Française. That same year, Zachary was initiated into the Ordre des Francophones d’Amérique by the government of Québec. Zachary has received three honorary doctorates, bestowed by the University of Moncton (New Brunswick), the University of Louisiana (Lafayette) and Ste Anne’s University in Nova Scotia.
Zachary Richard has produced and narrated numerous television documentaries. In collaboration with Louisiana Public Broadcasting, he produced, narrated and scored Against the Tide, the story of the Cajun people of Louisiana which was awarded Best Historical Documentary by the National Educational Television Association (NETA) in 2000. A French version, Contre vents, contre marées received the Prix Historia from the L’institut d’Histoire de l’Amérique Française in 2003. Other documentary projects included Coeurs Batailleurs, a 26 part series exploring the Acadian diaspora, Migrations, which dealt with avian migration in North America and was awarded the Liriot D’or (first prize) and the International Ornithological Film Festival (France) in 2008, and most recently Kouchibouguac, which investigated the social upheaval following the expropriation of 250 Acadian families in 1978 for the creation of a national park.
The celebrated Creole poet, Aimé Césaire, once said that to separate himself from one of his languages (French and Créole) would be like cutting off one of his hands. It is much the same for Zachary. Participating completely in two distinct cultures and creating in his two languages, French and English, Zachary’s artistic experience is unique. He is the most American of French songwriters, and the most French of the American.
Official Website: Zachary Richard
Take Me Away
Zachary Richard Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
But I never ever knew it 'til I saw you last night.
I can barely tell you how it made me feel.
When the world stopped moving and my heart stood still.
Take me away.
Come on, pretty baby, take me for a ride.
Standing on the corner of Hiway 93,
Here comes the king of Zydeco in a black limousine.
Come on, pretty baby, come on take me away.
Make love with me baby each and every day.
Bridge:
This place means nothing to me,
Waiting for the end to come.
But when I saw you there,
I knew, I knew that you had to be the one
To make my life worth living,
Come on and take me away.
The lyrics to Zachary Richard's song Take Me Away describe the feeling of finally finding the person you've been looking for your entire life. The singer had been searching for this elusive person but had never realized who they were until they saw them for the first time the previous night. The feeling was so overwhelming that time seemed to stop and the singer's heart stood still. From that moment on, the singer realizes that they want to be taken away by this person, to be with them forever.
The second verse of the song describes the scene where the singer has once again found this person. They are on the corner of Highway 93, and "the king of Zydeco" (a popular genre of music in Louisiana) is arriving in a black limousine. The person the singer is looking for is also there, and they can see in their eyes that they want to be taken away too. The singer is urging this person to come with them, to make love with them every day and to make their life worth living. The bridge of the song reveals that nothing in the place where the singer is matters to them anymore. They want to be taken away and start a new life with this special person.
Overall, the lyrics to Take Me Away are about the search for one's soulmate and the feeling of finally finding that person. The singer knows that this is the person they've been searching for and they want to be "taken away" by them. The song has a hopeful and optimistic tone and encourages the listener to hold out hope for finding their own soulmate.
Line by Line Meaning
I've been looking for you all of my life,
I have been searching for you my entire existence.
But I never ever knew it 'til I saw you last night.
I was not aware of this until I saw you yesterday.
I can barely tell you how it made me feel.
It is difficult for me to convey how it affected me.
When the world stopped moving and my heart stood still.
The world appeared to pause and my heart stopped beating.
Take me away.
Take me somewhere new.
Come on, pretty baby, take me for a ride.
Let us go on an adventure, my love.
You don't have to say it I can see it in your eyes.
There is no need to say anything, your eyes reveal all.
Standing on the corner of Hiway 93,
We are currently located at the intersection of Hiway 93.
Here comes the king of Zydeco in a black limousine.
The respected Zydeco musician is approaching in a black limousine.
Come on, pretty baby, come on take me away.
Let us leave this place together.
Make love with me baby each and every day.
Let us make love every day, my dear.
This place means nothing to me,
I have no attachment to this location.
Waiting for the end to come.
I am merely waiting for the inevitable conclusion.
But when I saw you there,
However, upon sighting you,
I knew, I knew that you had to be the one
I instinctively knew that you were the one
To make my life worth living,
To bring purpose to my existence,
Come on and take me away.
Please, take me away with you.
Contributed by Sophia I. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Trishibebe
on Iko Iko
I tell you ma cher the thing that makes me Trieste is no Mardi Gras parties this year, and that is pas bon pas bon pas bon! The plague of 2020 and has canceled it all over our state. So I will be playing my music at top volume come this February so ll my neighbors hear it.