Le Crieur

"What's wrong?" the little woman frequently asks me. "Nothing," I reply, "why do you ask?" "Because you moaned again, that's why," she says. "Oh, that," I answer, "you gotta remember, I'm half-French." It was characteristic among French-Canadian Americans, especially the older ones, to release moans/groan/sighs several times a day. When I was a kid, the assistant pastor in my home church was directly from Quebec. When he would be sitting in the confessional and even while celebrating Mass, he would emit loud moans over and over. His fellow French-Americans were accustomed to that, and "les Americains" (the non-French ones) simply had to become accustomed to him. In Cajun-French-American folk music, most of the songs, whether slow walzes or fast two-steps, have sad stories. Thus it's preferred that the male lead singer of those songs have a high-pitch voice which more easily carries the feel not only of the sad words but also his accompanying, frequent moans---hence he is called "le crieur" ("the cryer"). So when Joanie complains about my sighs, I just tell her that I'm an unappreciated musical talent who should be on "American Idol." She tells me to go skin a Canadian moose.

-Old Doc