I've had "La Danse de Mardi Gras" as an Ohrwurm for the past fortnight - please make it stop!

I woke up with it playing in my head one night two weeks ago, and it's been a persistent companion ever since. The version that's burrowed its way into my brain is by Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys:

I've had that on iTunes for several years, and featured it in a post about Cajun music in 2012. I'm pretty sure I haven't played any Cajun music for a while, so I've no idea why it should have popped into my head now, or why it won't pop off again. I suppose I should just be thankful that it's such a great track, a febrile, bittersweet sound full of yearning (as uptempo numbers featuring minor chords often are), propelled by a maddeningly insistent rhythm. This afternoon, I gave up hope that it would just go away if I ignored it (because that's not how earworms work), so I did some research instead. According to this fascinating article, The Mardi Gras Song "is most commonly heard within the context of a traditional Cajun Mardi Gras run... and is played as the Mardi Gras 'runners' travel from house to house begging for ingredients for a gumbo." The same article tells us "its modal sound and melodic form are indicative of old Breton (French Celtic) melodies." So now we know.

Apart from Steve Riley's version, several notable recordings are available. Here, accompanied by some oddly unsettling video of what is presumably a Mardi Gras run, are the legendary Balfa Brothers with a more traditional, drum-free reading (featuring, unless my ears deceive me, some intriguing discords):

I don't know about you, but if I came across scenes like that while driving across rural Louisiana, I'd probably floor the gas pedal - but, then, I never was that adventurous.  And here is a terrific Creole (i.e. black) version by Cedric Watson:

All together now: "Capitaine, capitaine, voyage ton flag..."

If writing this post doesn't work, I might have to call in an exorcist.