Monday, June 24, 2024

⚜ ⚜ ⚜ The Unofficial National Anthem of Québec: 'Gens du pays' by Gilles Vigneault & Gaston Rochon ⚜ ⚜ ⚜





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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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