We Gonna Do That Bayou Thing

By Alison Fensterstock

When Horace Trahan wrote “That Butt Thing” more than 20 years ago, he didn’t quite expect it to have the lifespan it does.

“It’s just a party song, you know,” he laughed. As it turns out, some parties can last a really long time.

The musician has been performing live since age 16, booking his first professional gig only six months after beginning to study the accordion. Almost immediately after graduating Carencro High School, Trahan joined the band of legendary Cajun musician D.L. Menard and got a whirlwind real-life education as a performing artist, traveling the world backing up the National Endowment for the Arts Heritage Fellow, who passed away in 2017. Leading his own group, the Ossun Express, Trahan began recording for the venerable Southwest Louisiana label Swallow Records in his early 20s, and over the years, he’s demonstrated himself to be a thoughtful, versatile writer and performer. He pays tribute to traditional standards in Louisiana French and in English, and in his original compositions, he doesn’t shy away from tough topics like politics and spirituality. But his most popular tune remains that rollicking ode to the rear, a Carnival season must-play out in Cajun country that echoes from parade floats and jukeboxes alike. On YouTube, a search for “That Butt Thing” brings up at least half a dozen instructional videos on how to dance to it.

“You just never know how long something’s going to last when you put it out,” he said. He’s still tickled by the longevity of the tune, which almost didn’t even make it to recording. “It was just a joke that wasn’t gonna be on the record,” he told New Orleans magazine in 2017. A friend convinced the band to keep it, and the rest was history; in what you might call hindsight, it was a good call indeed.

During a normal Carnival season, Trahan said, his band would have gigs every day of the long Mardi Gras weekend, with fans clamoring to hear “That Butt Thing” and shake their own on the dance floor to the whomping two-step. Due to the pandemic, this year’s holiday is going to look a little different. “It’s okay, though,” he said. “I can stay home and play my accordion, and not get sick.”

Fans, of course, will probably also be doing that butt thing at home this Mardi Gras Day — after all, it takes more than a virus to stop the Louisiana party spirit.

I don’t like golf / I don’t like swimmin’ / I just like chasin’ / Dem big butt women / We goin’ do that butt thang / Kinda like that nookie thang / We goin’ do that butt thang / We gonna make that butt swing / (Musical Interlude) / I don’t like golf I don’t like swimmin’ / I just like chasin’ / Dem big butt women / We goin’ do that butt thang / Kinda like that nookie thang / We goin’ do that butt thang / We gonna make that butt swing