Cajun music is made up of songs that are illustrative of the Cajun’s ethnic traditions.
The songs depict their adversities, history and spirit, “joie de vivre”. The history of Cajun music stems from joyful to sorrowful events. It describes their way of life, strong history and ancestral line. There are songs about the Cajun’s eviction from Nova Scotia called le grand derangement, the Great Expulsion.
This story is portrayed in a poem by Henry W. Longfellow called, Evangeline. The poem was about two young lovers who were divided during the removal from Nova Scotia on their wedding day. When she reaches Louisiana, she finds out that he was there but had left. They do not meet again until he is on his death bed and that is where they shared their last kiss. The poem was later converted into a song and became a crucial part of Cajun history.
