This Should Go On Forever

King Karl (real name Bernard Jolivette), a black Creole swamp pop musician, composed the song around 1958. (Producer J. D. "Jay" Miller is listed as a co-writer even though he did not actually help to compose the tune.) Karl intended to record the song for the Excello label of Nashville, for which he, his bandmate Guitar Gable (Gabriel Perrodin), and their band the Musical Kings had recorded other swamp pop compositions. Excello did not like the song, however, and as a result Karl's version at first remained unreleased.

In the meantime, Cajun swamp pop musician Rod Bernard of Opelousas, Louisiana, heard Karl and his group perform the tune at the local Moonlight Inn nightclub. When Bernard learned that Excello had no intention of releasing the song, he asked Karl if he could record it for Floyd Soileau's newly formed Jin label of Ville Platte, Louisiana. Karl approved, and Bernard and his group, the Twisters, recorded the song that year for Jin, using the same studio — Miller's MasterTrak Studio of Crowley, Louisiana — that Karl and his band had used to record their still-unreleased original version.

In late 1958, Bernard's version became a regional hit in south Louisiana and east Texas, and, licensed to the Argo label of Chicago. In the US, it rose to the top 20 on the Hot 100 and R&B charts in 1959. Surprised by the song's success, Excello quickly released King Karl's original version. Other group, sought to record the song, by then, however, the general public regarded Bernard's version as the authoritative version. As a result, it was Bernard who appeared on American Bandstand, The Alan Freed Show, and elsewhere.

Other swamp pop groups, released their own versions of the song to capitalize on Bernard's success including:

• Doug Charles and the Boogie Kings
• Gene Terry and the Downbeats
• It has also been covered by Mike Ladd on Shadow Records NR8816 and is credited only to "J. Miller" on the 45 label.

Today, "This Should Go On Forever" is considered an early classic of the swamp pop genre and is frequently performed by live bands in dancehalls and festivals in south Louisiana and east Texas.

• Shane K. Bernard, Swamp Pop: Cajun and Creole Rhythm and Blues (Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 1996).
• John Broven, South to Louisiana: Music of the Cajun Bayous (Gretna: Pelican, 1983).