We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.

Rat de Bois: The Tale of an Old Opossum

from LITTLE BIRDIE: Birds, Beasts & Banjo Blues by Marc Nerenberg

/

about

I first heard the Cajun folk tale upon which this is based at a folk festival in the 1970s, told by a guy with a live opossum in his arms. I found the story so striking that I added it to my performance repertoire, with a few embellishments of my own here and there. About 10 years later, I wrote this version in verse.
Over the intervening years, I took various stabs at turning it into a song, but no matter what musical setting I tried, I never felt that it worked as well sung as it did as a spoken word piece. Here, I've tried a different approach: a spoken word piece with banjo accompaniment.

credits

from LITTLE BIRDIE: Birds, Beasts & Banjo Blues, released November 10, 2020
Words and music by Marc Nerenberg

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Marc Nerenberg Montreal, Québec

Marc Nerenberg is a veteran Montreal folksinger who plays old time banjo styles and blues harmonica. He has a narrative- centric repertoire, recounting stories in song and wrapping stories around songs. You may “be drawn in by a combination of Marc’s mastery of traditional banjo styles, his idiosyncratic singing, and [his] richly detailed ballads.” (Mike Regenstreif – Folk Roots/Folk Branches 2019) ... more

contact / help

Contact Marc Nerenberg

Streaming and
Download help

Report this track or account

If you like Marc Nerenberg, you may also like: