Chuck Berry - You Never Can Tell. (with its history and lyrics)

[Verse 1]
It was a teenage wedding
And the old folks wished them well
You could see that Pierre did truly love the mademoiselle
And now the young monsieur and madame have rung the chapel bell

[Hook]
"C'est la vie", say the old folks
It goes to show you never can tell

[Verse 2]
They furnished off an apartment with
A two room Roebuck sale
The coolerator was crammed with
TV dinners and ginger ale
But when Pierre found work, the little money comin' worked out well

[Hook]
"C'est la vie", say the old folks
It goes to show you never can tell

[Verse 3]
They had a hi-fi phono, boy
Did they let it blast
Seven hundred little records,
All rock, rhythm and jazz
But when the sun went down
The rapid tempo of the music fell

[Hook]
"C'est la vie", say the old folks
It goes to show you never can tell

[Verse 4]
They bought a souped-up jitney, 'twas a cherry red '53
They drove it down New Orleans
To celebrate their anniversary
It was there that Pierre was married to the lovely madamoiselle

[Hook]
"C'est la vie", say the old folks
It goes to show you never can tell

[Bridge]
They had a teenage wedding
And the old folks wished them well
You could see that Pierre did truly love the mademoiselle
And now the young monsieur and madame have rung the chapel bell

[Hook]
"C'est la vie", say the old folks
It goes to show you never can tell

You Never Can Tell", also known as "C'est La Vie" or "Teenage Wedding", is a song written by Chuck Berry. It was composed in the early 1960s while Berry was in federal prison for violating the Mann Act. Released in 1964 on the album St. Louis to Liverpool and the follow-up single to Berry's final Top Ten hit of the 1960s: "No Particular Place to Go", "You Never Can Tell" reached number 14, becoming Berry's final Top 40 hit until "My Ding-a-Ling", a number 1 in October 1972. A 1977 Top Ten C&W hit for Emmylou Harris, the song has also been recorded or performed by Chely Wright, John Prine, New Riders of the Purple Sage, the Jerry Garcia Band, Bruce Springsteen, The Mavericks, Buster Shuffle and Bob Seger

Description

The song tells of the wedding of two teenagers and their lifestyle afterward. Living in a modest apartment, the young man finds work and they begin to enjoy relative prosperity. Eventually they purchase a "souped-up jitney" (an automobile modified for high performance) and travel to New Orleans, where their wedding had taken place, to celebrate their anniversary. Each verse ends with the refrain, "'C'est la vie,' say the old folks, 'it goes to show you never can tell.'" The melody was influenced by Mitchell Torok's 1953 hit "Caribbean."

Pulp Fiction

The song briefly became popular again after the 1994 release of the film Pulp Fiction, directed and co-written by Quentin Tarantino. The music was played for a "Twist contest" in which Vincent Vega (John Travolta) and Mia Wallace (Uma Thurman) competed (and were the only contestants shown in the film). The music added an evocative element of sound to the narrative and Tarantino said that the song's lyrics of "Pierre" and "Mademoiselle" gave the scene a "uniquely '50s French New Wave dance sequence feel".

Impact

Nick Lowe has indicated this song was a source of inspiration for his song "I Knew the Bride (When She Used to Rock 'n' Roll)", which has been recorded by Dave Edmunds, Status Quo, and Lowe himself.

Other versions

Emmylou Harris version

"(You Never Can Tell) C'est La Vie"

(You Never Can Tell) C'est La Vie - Emmylou Harris.jpg

Single by Emmylou Harris

from the album Luxury Liner

B-side "Hello Stranger"

Released February 2, 1977

Format 7" single

Genre Rockabilly

Length 3:27

Label Warner Bros.

Songwriter(s) Chuck Berry

Producer(s) Brian Ahern

Emmylou Harris singles chronology

"Light of the Stable"

(1976) "(You Never Can Tell) C'est La Vie"

(1977) "Making Believe"

(1977)

Emmylou Harris' recording of "You Never Can Tell" - entitled "(You Never Can Tell) C'est La Vie" - was the lead single from her 1977 Warner Bros. Records album Luxury Liner.

Harris had sung Chuck Berry songs as a member of a DC-based folk trio early in her career. Her decision to record "...C'est La Vie" was the result of her listening extensively to rock-&-roll oldies while on the road.[4] The track, which features a prominent Cajun fiddle contribution by Ricky Skaggs, was recorded in an August 10, 1976 session recorded in the Enactron Truck, the mobile studio owned and operated by Harris' producer Brian Ahern. The same session yielded "Hello Stranger" which would serve as the B-side of the single release.

Released February 2, 1977, "...C'est La Vie" rose as high as #6 on C&W chart in Billboard that April. The track also rose to #4 and #5, respectively in the Netherlands and also the Flemish Region of Belgium. It also charted in Germany at #41.

In a 2013 interview Harris said: "'C’est la Vie' was a wonderful song to do, and I might [perform] it for nostalgic reasons, but it just lost its appeal for me after a while. I didn’t feel that I was bringing anything to it, I guess."

Also

1974 Ronnie Lane, on Ronnie Lane's Slim Chance

1975 John Prine, on Common Sense

1975 Loggins and Messina, on So Fine

1976 New Riders of the Purple Sage, on New Riders

1981 Waylon Jennings and Jessi Colter, on Leather and Lace

1984 Ian A. Anderson and Mike Cooper, on The Continuous Preaching Blues

1985 Bill Wyman's "Willie and the Poor Boys" featuring Charlie Watts, Andy Fairweather-Lowe, Mickey Gee, Geraint Watkins[6]

1993 Aaron Neville, on The Grand Tour

1994 Bob Seger, on Greatest Hits (as "C'est La Vie")

1996 Status Quo, on Don't Stop

2003 Farmboy, on the album Farmboy (as C’est la Vie)

2005 Chely Wright, on The Metropolitan Hotel (as "C'est La Vie (You Never Can Tell)")

2005 Santiago & Luis Auserón, on Las Malas Lenguas (as "Quién Lo Iba A Suponer")

2005 Texas Lightning, on Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch (as "C'est La Vie")

2008 Roch Voisine, on Americana

2010 The Morlocks, on Play Chess

2013 Buster Shuffle On the "You Never Can Tell" single

2013 Bruce Springsteen, on the Wrecking Ball tour, in Germany

2015 A. Caveman & The Backseats for Ubisoft's Just Dance 2016

2017 Elise LeGrow, on Playing Chess

2017 Coldplay, on A Concert for Charlottesville