Youpe! Youpe! Sur la rivière!

'Youpe! Youpe! Sur la rivière!'

'Youpe! Youpe! Sur la rivière!' Folksong adapted by Quebec lumberjacks from another song, 'Le P'tit Bois d'l'ail.' The words 'Youpe! Youpe! Sur la rivière,' which form the typically Canadian refrain, are not found in 'Le P'tit Bois d'l'ail,' since it has no refrain. The song tells the story of a man who visits the home of some friends with a companion one evening and tries to court the host's daughter. But she tells him that she doesn't take him seriously and that she knows he loves another. Her father, who has retired for the night, tells his guests and his daughter that they should do likewise. The suitor acquiesces and leaves with his friend. 'Le P'tit Bois d'l'ail' was published with a piano accompaniment by P.-É. Prévost in Chansons canadiennes (Montreal 1907). The words had been printed previously in La Lyre canadienne (Quebec City 1886), a work compiled by W.H. Rowan. The Nouvelle Lyre canadienne (Montreal 1895) contains an unusual version employing the words of another song, 'Quand j'étais chez mon père,' for the verses and those of 'Youpe! Youpe! Sur la rivière!' for the refrain. 'Youpe! Youpe! Sur la rivière!' can be found in Folk Songs of Canada (Waterloo 1954) by Edith Fowke and Richard Johnston, with accompaniment for piano and guitar and with both French and English words. Among those who made 78s of the song are Charles Marchand, singing alone and with the Bytown Troubadours, and Conrad Gauthier. It appears on LPs by Alan Mills (Folk FP-29) and by Jules Bruyère with the choir of La Bonne Chanson (RCA LPC-1011).