19th Century Haitian song: “YELLOW BIRD” – Chord Melody arrangement included in the CHORD/MELODY eBOOK TWO from Ukulele Mike Lynch

Performance of YELLOW BIRD on YouTube

From WIKIPEDIA we find: Choucoune (Haitian Creole: Choukoun) is a 19th-century Haitian song composed by Michel Mauleart Monton with lyrics from a poem by Oswald Durand. It was rewritten with English lyrics in the 20th century as Yellow Bird. One of Oswald Durand’s most famous works, the 1883 Choucoune is a lyrical poem that praises the beauty of a Haitian woman of that nickname. Michel Mauleart Monton, an American-born pianist with a Haitian father and American mother composed music for the poem in 1893, appropriating some French and Caribbean fragments to create his tune. The song Choucoune was first performed in Port-au-Prince on 14 May 14, 1893. It became a popular slow méringue (mereng) in Haiti, and was played prominently during the bicentennial celebrations in Port-au-Prince in 1949. Chououne was first recorded in Haiti by Emy de Pradines for her “Voodoo – Authentic Music…