Tomorrow is American Thanksgiving! Although I can’t celebrate it fully here in Japan, I choose Bleu Jeans Bleu’s “Mangeras-tu ma patate douce” as my pick for this year’s Thanksgiving song.
Japan usually doesn’t celebrate Thanksgiving at all. There is a “thankful” day here in Japan on November 23. But, that is more of a Labor Day than a Thanksgiving. Japanese people only hear about the American holiday through English language schools or by an American. I will eat a Thanksgiving dinner this year with turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and other food items. The dinner will be at an American restaurant here in Nagoya. It’s because I don’t have an oven for a turkey. Japanese kitchens don’t have huge ovens as American ones do!
To celebrate Thanksgiving, I picked the song “Mangeras-tu ma patate douce” by the French Canadian band Bleu Jean Bleu. It a super cute song over the main staple of Thanksgiving dinner: the sweet potato.
Will You Eat My Sweet Potato?
“Mangeras-tu ma patate douce” or “Will You Eat My Sweet Potato” is from the band’s first album, Haute couture Gold. When I first looked at the English translation of the lyrics, I was a bit afraid of posting the song on my blog. I thought that the song was about something sexual. But, I was wrong after I confirmed the meaning in the song’s lyrics with a French-speaking friend. It wasn’t about sex, it was about something a little more innocent: having the first dinner with someone you love.
Judging on the rough translation of the lyrics below, it seems that the song is about a young man who is preparing his meal with his beloved. He is a bit nervous because he doesn’t know what she/he loves in terms of food. Will his beloved love the dishes he prepares? Or is he/she a vegetarian? Is the silverware he prepare enough to impress the person he loves?
Yet, the melody of “Mangeras-tu ma patate douce” doesn’t indicate any tones of worry or being frantic. Instead, It is a slow rock that has some country twinge added, especially during the midsection. The song is mostly lead by the downbeats of the percussion set as the vocals lead the melody with a soft acoustic guitar playing along. It isn’t till the chorus that the guitar becomes electrified with an alternative rock style. This change in styles from soft rock to alternative a nice change as it keeps the tune from becoming boring.
