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Bonne St-Jean Baptiste à tous les Québécois!
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In honor of today being Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day / La Fête nationale in Québec, it seemed appropriate to dedicate a blog entry to the song that is unofficially recognized as the national anthem of Québec: 'Gens du pays'. This was a song written by Gilles Vigneault and Gaston Rochon for the celebrations of the holiday at 1975 the Parc du Mount Royal in Montréal. There is a brief video clip of them performing it on that occasion, which I believe was the first time that it was released to the general public.
Since then, however, it has taken on a life of it's own. It is a beautiful song (in my opinion) and it became the de facto anthem of Québecois separatists in the years following. It had already become the unofficial anthem of Québec by the time of the referendum championed by René Lévesque in 1980. Below, there is a brief video of his concession speech, with the song being sung by the crowd on it's own quite spontaneously. It even seems to have become a makeshift birthday song (at least the way that it was performed by Céline Dion in an attached video included below, and in a few other video clips which I have seen over the years, but could not find for this particular blog.
Anyway, as already mentioned, I believe that this is a beautiful song. The tune is catchy, the music is beautiful, and the lyrics are positively poetic. So it seemed worth it to include a blog entry about it here.
Below are several video clips of different versions of the song being played on different occasions, as well as the original lyrics in French, and a couple of different translations into English. Remember, this is being played all over Québec today.
Enjoy.
Below are the lyrics to 'Gens du pays' first in the original French, and below that, with an English translation.
Enjoy.
Original Lyrics to 'Gens du pays' by Gilles Vigneault:
Gens du pays, c'est votre tour
De vous laisser parler d'amour
Gens du pays, c'est votre tour
De vous laisser parler d'amour
Le temps que l'on prend pour dire Je t'aime
C'est le seul qui reste au bout de nos jours
Les voeux que l'on fait, les fleurs que l'on sème
Chacun les récolte en soi-même
Au beau jardin du temps qui court
Gens du pays, c'est votre tour
De vous laisser parler d'amour
Gens du pays, c'est votre tour
De vous laisser parler d'amour
Le temps de s'aimer, le jour de le dire
Fond comme la neige aux doigts du printemps
Fêtons de nos joies, fêtons de nos rires
Ces yeux où nos regards se mirent
C'est demain que j'avais vingt ans
Gens du pays, c'est votre tour
De vous laisser parler d'amour
Gens du pays, c'est votre tour
De vous laisser parler d'amour
Le ruisseau des jours aujourd'hui s'arrête
Et forme un étang où chacun peut voir
Comme en un miroir l'amour qu'il reflète
Pour ces coeurs à qui je souhaite
Le temps de vivre leurs espoirs
Gens du pays, c'est votre tour
De vous laisser parler d'amour
Gens du pays, c'est votre tour
De vous laisser parler d'amour
The English translations:
People of my Country “Faithful” translation by John Lejderman (Version 1):
The time that we take, saying “I love you”
Is all that remains at the end of our days
The vows that we make
The flowers that we sow
We harvest them within
Among the splendid gardens of time’s flow.
People of my country, your turn has come
To let love speak to you
People of my country, your turn has come
To let love speak to you
The time to love each other, and the day to say it,
Melt like the snow touched by spring.
Celebrate our joys, celebrate our laughter
Our eyes meeting in embrace
Tomorrow I was only twenty.
People of my country, your turn has come
To let love speak to you
People of my country, your turn has come
To let love speak to you
The stream of our days, today comes to a pause
And forms into a pool where everyone can see
As if it were a mirror, the love that it reflects,
For those hearts to whom I wish
The time to live out all our hopes.
People of my country, your turn has come
To let love speak to you
People of my country, your turn has come
To let love speak to you
People of Mine
Rhyming adaptation by John Lejderman (Version 2)
The time that we take, saying “I love you”
Is all that we have left, at the end of our days
The promises we gave
The flowers that we grew
Inside of each of us they bloom
In the fragrant gardens on our way.
People of mine, your turn has come
To let yourself be spoke of love
People of mine, your turn has come
To let yourself be spoke of love
The care that we show, the love that we confess
Melt away the snow, like the touch of the sun.
Celebrate our joys, the life with which we’re blessed
The meeting of our eyes in happiness.
Celebrate today I’m growing young.
People of mine, we celebrate you
And hope that your dreams may soon come true
People of mine, we celebrate you
And hope that your dreams may soon come true
The stream of our years, settles down today
Allowing each to see, as in a silent pool
Reflecting like a mirror, the love we give away
To those hearts for whom I pray
That all our hopes may soon come true
Gens du pays, c’est votre tour
De vous laisser parler d’amour
Gens du pays, c’est votre tour
De vous laisser parler d’amour
Source:
Song Translation – Gens du pays:
https://french-to-english.net/song-translation-gens-du-pays/
National Anthem: Quebec - Gens du pays (Province of Canada)
The first time that 'Gens du Pays' was played, I believe (Montréal, 1975):
Gens du Pays (St-Jean 1975)
A cover of the song by Québecois singer Céline Dion back in 2017:
Céline Dion sings Gens Du Pays (April 15, 2017)
Here is the aforementioned clip of supporters of René Lévesque singing 'Gens du pays' on their own following the Québec referendum defeat of 1980.
René Lévesque et la défaite du référendum - 1980
A more recent performance of 'Gens du pays' by none other than Gilles Vigneault, accompanied by Fred Pellerin, who I am admittedly not all that familiar with.
Gens du pays | Gilles Vigneault/Fred Pellerin
And here is another brief video clip of this song (with altered lyrics) being used for other occasions, like birthdays and celebrations:
Chanson Quebecoise d'Anniversaires
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