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Favorite French-Canadian Songs

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Discover Some Amazing Quebec Artists and French Canadian Songs

Want to discover some great French Canadian songs? Wish to learn more about some artists behind French Canadian music? This page of favorite Quebec songs will highlights some of the biggest French Canadian artists that are virtually unknown outside the province of Quebec. French Canadian music is extremely diversified. It's impossible to to highlight every single best French Canadian songs, so I pick some of my favorites for you. Ready for new songs and singers?

Favorite French-Canadian songs

Favorite French-Canadian music

You will discover an artist singing about mental illness and being locked up in an asylum. Another song is the result of smoking too much illicit stuff. Another, by a very young little boy, makes me cry. Discover the French-Canadian singer who could have been in the place of Celine Dion. Hear a classic Quebec folk tale about timbers who make a pact with the devil!

Emile Nelligan / La Romance Du Vin
Jean-Pierre Ferland / Le chat du cafe des artistes and God is an American
Diane Dufresne / Le parc Belmont
Ginette Reno / Un peu plus haut
Robert Charlebois and Louise Forestier / Lindberg
Beau Dommage / Picbois
Paul Piche / Heureux d'un Printemps
Download Paul Piché songs from A Qui Appartient Le Beau Temps Album
Or Buy Paul Piche CD
Rene Simard / l'oiseau
La Chasse Galerie
Starmania / Le Monde est Stone, Le Blues du Businessman
I welcome all your comments!
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Emile Nelligan / La Romance Du Vin

Quebec tragic poet

Why do I pick a poet to start a page on French-Canadian music? Just because I love his work, his life and his amazing and powerful poem "La Romance du Vin". "La Romance du vin" was nicely adapted in an opera where French Canadian actor Yves Soutiere played Nelligan.

Every country has at least one famous poet with a sad and tragic life. Emile Nelligan is one of them. He is the son of an Irish immigrant married to a French-Canadian woman. He was born in 1879 in Montreal , was locked in an asylum at age 20 and died there in 1941. He wrote 170 poems before suffering his nervous breakdown. Recent literary analyses conclude that he went insane because of his repressed homosexuality.

Nelligan was bilingual but choose French to wrote poetry for love of his mother and to antagonized his father. His mother was an artistic person, he was very fond of her and close to her. His father was strict and not very happy to see his son wasting his time instead of working hard as he did.

His most famous poem is "Le Vaisseau d'Or". You can ear it here if you want, sing by Michel Comeau in Opera Nelligan, the 1990 version: Opera Nelligan: Le Vaisseau d'Or

Special thanks to YouTube user MichaudNeurophile for uploading many of these rare excerpt of Nelligan Opera!

La Romance du vin (Song of Wine) is Nelligan's last poem before he was locked away. It was his last public read, and his most successful. La Romance du vin is an unveiled critic of his father's (and society) lack of appreciation for poetry. In the excerpt here, he is reciting La Romance du Vin in front of friends, poets and his family. I doubt that his father (we see him in this excerpt) went to any of his public read.

"Woman ! I drink to you who mock the path
where the rose-dream calls with arms flung wide;
I drink, too, to you men with brows of pride
Who first refuse my hand then scorn my life!"

Download Opera Nelligan (2005)

With the new cast

Or buy the CD

La Romance du Vin (English translation here)

Tout se mêle en un vif éclat de gaieté verte
O le beau soir de mai ! Tous les oiseaux en choeur,
Ainsi que les espoirs naguère à mon coeur,
Modulent leur prélude à ma croisée ouverte.

O le beau soir de mai ! le joyeux soir de mai !
Un orgue au loin éclate en froides mélopées;
Et les rayons, ainsi que de pourpres épées,
Percent le coeur du jour qui se meurt parfumé.

Je suis gai! je suis gai ! Dans le cristal qui chante,
Verse, verse le vin ! verse encore et toujours,
Que je puisse oublier la tristesse des jours,
Dans le dédain que j'ai de la foule méchante !

Je suis gai ! je suis gai ! Vive le vin et l'Art !...
J'ai le rêve de faire aussi des vers célèbres,
Des vers qui gémiront les musiques funèbres
Des vents d'automne au loin passant dans le brouillard.

C'est le règne du rire amer et de la rage
De se savoir poète et objet du mépris,
De se savoir un coeur et de n'être compris
Que par le clair de lune et les grands soirs d'orage !

Femmes ! je bois à vous qui riez du chemin
Ou l'Idéal m'appelle en ouvrant ses bras roses;
Je bois à vous surtout, hommes aux fronts moroses
Qui dédaignez ma vie et repoussez ma main !

Pendant que tout l'azur s'étoile dans la gloire,
Et qu'un rythme s'entonne au renouveau doré,
Sur le jour expirant je n'ai donc pas pleuré,
Moi qui marche à tâtons dans ma jeunesse noire !

Je suis gai ! je suis gai ! Vive le soir de mai !
Je suis follement gai, sans être pourtant ivre !...
Serait-ce que je suis enfin heureux de vivre;
Enfin mon coeur est-il guéri d'avoir aimé ?

Les cloches ont chanté; le vent du soir odore...
Et pendant que le vin ruisselle à joyeux flots,
Je suis gai, si gai, dans mon rire sonore,
Oh ! si gai, que j'ai peur d'éclater en sanglots !

Jean-Pierre Ferland / Le chat du cafe des artistes and God is an American

Jaune

Released in 1970, "Jaune" is one of the most avant-gardist album ever recorded by a French-Canadian artist. This album is a masterpiece, and consider as one of the 100 best Canadian album ever recorded.

"God is an American" is really good, although it was never one of his success. It is about God getting fed up with the human kind. He has enough of constant bickering and fighting: "God is an American", Nein Gott Ist Deutsch (no, God is German), Net, bog russkii (no, God is Russian), Dieu est Francais (God is French). So he end up telling us in a language we understand "go f*** yourself". But humans keep bickering so God tells Saint Peter at the end: "ok Saint Peter, turn them off...". I'll start all over with cats and dogs this time.

The music is amazing, the lyrics quite funny and original.

Also, really I couldn't make a choice, so I am also featuring this other "Jaune" track: "Le chat du cafe des artistes". A very haunting song, written by Jean-Pierre Ferland in the late 60's.
"Le chat du cafe des artistes" was covered recently by Charlotte Gainsbourg,daughter of famous French songwriter Serge Gainsbourg and British singer Jane Birkin. Listen to the cover song here.

Here's an incomplete try at translating this masterpiece:

Le chat du cafe des artistes English translation

When we're dead, we're dead
When we stop laughing, we stop living
When I'll cut my string
Put me in the trash bin

Let me rot a full month
Then feed me to the cat
He'll ignore my spleen and liver
Time it well so he'll eat my heart

Then I can be with you
On your shoulders and knees
So I can be, for we need to exist
The cat of Cafe des Artistes

Download Jean-Pierre Ferland "jaune" album

Here's your chance to sample some of his song and download your favorite:

Prologue
Le petit roi
Quand on aime on a toujours vingt ans
Sing Sing
God Is an American
Le chat du cafe des artistes
...
Y'a des jours
Ce qu'on dit quand on tient une femme dans ses bras
Epilogue
It Ain't Fair

Or Buy "Jaune" CD

Diane Dufresne / Le parc Belmont

No please not the straitjacket

She is Quebec's queen of heart. She has been for years Luc Plamondon's muse and their success together are many. So many that making a choice here was difficult. So once again, I went for a song that was neither a chart or commercial success. It is called "Parc Belmont" and once again it is a powerful song written by luc Plamondon.

It's a terrifying story about mental illness and being in an asylum. Rumor says it's tribute to one of her family member who was placed in mental institution.

"What did I do to the world to get walled in here.
What did I do to the world?
Some days I forget who and where I am.
I was like everybody else, living my folly without hurting anyone.
I made the choice to live my life inside my head.
What is my purpose in this world, I am not Van Gogh or Da Vinci.
Mona Lisa's eye are following me in the night.

When they came for me,
I knew where they were taking me,
but I had no other escape then this mental institution,
a long organized trip to the end of the night"

Sample or Download some of Diane Dufresne hits

1-J'ai rencontre l'homme de ma vie
2-Tiens toe ben, j'arrive
3-Rock pour un gars d'bicycle
4-Les hauts et les bas d'une hotesse de l'air
5-Hollywood Freak
6-Strip Tease
7-J'ai douze ans
8-Le parc Belmont
9-Hymne a la beaute du monde
10-Oxygene
11-Je voulais te dire que je t'attends
12-La vie en rose
13-Un souvenir heureux
14-Top secret
15-Le locataire
16-Que
17-L'enfant de la lumiere
18-Epine de rose
19-L'ete n'aura qu'un jour

Or buy a best of CD of Diane Dufresne

Ginette Reno / Un peu plus haut

The best voice of Quebec

A song by Jean-Pierre Ferland, from 1969. He is indeed a very prolific songwriter. But his song "un peu plus haut" sing here by Ginette Reno is so more powerful than the original (as sing by Ferland here). It will give you shivers. The second video is Ferland, Celine Dion and Ginette Reno, the ultimate trio singing "Un Peu Plus Haut" in 2008 for the 400th anniversary of the founding of Quebec City.

Ginette Reno has probably the most powerful voice of all French-Canadian singers. She could have been "Celine Dion ". What I mean here is that she was approached first by Rene Angelil (Celine Dion manager) to be his muse. But she has always refuse to sacrifice her family and life over an international career. Too bad, she has such a fabulous voice.

I choose this song just because it is so powerful and moving.

Robert Charlebois and Louise Forestier / Lindberg

Warning, even if you speak French please don't try to make any sense of this classic Quebec song. Charlebois probably did smoke the same illicit substance as the Beatles when they wrote Lucy in the sky.....

Here's a couple of lines:
My friend Sophie took the flying carpet, while I ride on a camel back
But I prefer Transworld, Northern, Eastern, Western and Pan-American
I don't really know where I am any more
Then I fall from so high
and found Sophie in bed with my best friend, and worst, she had my maple cookies!

If you have to make a top 10 of Quebec song, Lindberg should be on it. There is many other songs I like from him (especially Je reviendrais a Montreal), but this duo with Louise Forestier (another impressive Quebec artist) is really amazing. This song was originally found on the 1968 album "Lindberg".

In 2009 he was immortalized on a Canadian postage stamp.

Sample or Download Robert Charlebois songs

Clip play to sample

This CD features a great selection of Robert Charlebois songs spanning from the mid 60's to the early 1990's. Great classics as well as a few medley songs. It's a live album. This tour (tournee) was named La Maudite Tournee in reference to the beer La Maudite from Unibroue brewery that used to be partly owned by Charlebois.

L'intro de mon pays
Mon pays ce n'est pas un pays c'est une job
Medley Latin : Demain l'hiver - Je reve � Rio - Conception - Cartier
Iceberg
Saint-Laurent
Entre deux joints
O Cannabis
Les ailes d'un ange
Dolores
Le mur du son
Frog Song
L'autoroute electronique
Ordinaire
Witchi-Tai-To
Lindberg
Moins vieux
Te v'la
Medley Mechant : J'veux pu que tu m'aimes - J't'ha�s - Macho - Prendre un verre de biere mon minou - Cauchemar - Chu tanne
J'veux d'l'amour
Les talons hauts
J't'aime comme un fou
Manche de pelle
Immensement
L'independantriste
Je reviendrai a Montreal
Fu Man Chu
Le vieux rocker

Unibroue Maudite Ale 750ml 750 ml

Or Buy this CD of some of the best Robert Charlebois songs

Beau Dommage / Picbois

I am going to spare you the "La complainte du phoque en Alaska" cliche. Yes it is one of Quebec's classic song and usually the one song assosiate with Beau Dommage. That is the reason I pick another Beau Dommage success, but still from their eponymous album "Beau Dommage". It's called "Picbois". It is a feeling good kinda of song.

My aunt Marie was a real "peace and love" kinda girl and I discovered Beau Dommage while i visited my grand mother. I would get the permission to listen to her records, and I always ended up with Beau Dommage. All the album is amazing.

Beau Dommage eponymous album from 1974 is probably THE most popular ever album in Quebec history (triple platinum). Almost all the songs on the album were hits. Picking a favorite on such a great album is just impossible. Harmonie du Soir a Chateauguay, La Complainte du Phoque en Alaska, Tous Les Palmiers, Le Picbois...

And here's another: A 1995 live version of Harmonie du Soir a Chateaugay

Paul Piche / Heureux d'un Printemps

From album: A qui appartient l'beau temps ? (1977)

Paul Piche is of all good causes. He is a well known activist for many causes. His album "A qui appartient l'beau temps ? " was an instant success and contains some classic timeless pieces. If you travel to Quebec you are almost certain to hear his songs somewhere: in parties, concerts and around campfire (the ultimate campfire song in Quebec is probably Piche's "Mon Joe"). No self respecting June 24th Saint-Jean Baptiste day (Quebec day) is complete without some Paul Piche.

Download Paul Piché songs from A Qui Appartient Le Beau Temps Album

Click play to sample

Heureux d'un printemps
Y'a pas grand chose dans l'ciel
Le renard, le loup
R�jean Pesant
Essaye donc pas
La gigue � Mitchounano
Jean-Guy L�ger
Mon Joe
Chu pas mal mal parti
O� sont-elles

Or Buy Paul Piche CD

Rene Simard / l'oiseau

The first song I loved

Still today, this song makes me cry. Not the song itself, but his interpretation. He has such a voice! Rene Simard was a huge star as a kid, not only in Quebec but also in Japan. Japanese were just hysterical over him in the early 1970's.

L'oiseau became my parent pet peeve when I was 5 years old. You see my father gave me his old record player so i could play "le p'tit Simard" record in my room. What he didn't know is that I would play l'oiseau for hours at a time...over and over and over and over!

La Chasse Galerie

In Satan's home, you will burn for eternity

La chasse-galerie is a Quebec folktale: around New Year, isolated timbers want to visit their lovers faraway. The only way to travel so far is to run la chasse-galerie: making a pact with the devil so their canoe fly.

There is many versions of the story and many songs have been adapted from the tale. I pick the version here mainly because there is an attempt at translation (not the best, but enough to understand) and it's a excellent interpretation.

This version is sing by 3 of the most important figure in Quebec rock scene: Claude Dubois, Eric Lapointe and Garou.

Two other favorite of mine are an older version of la chasse-galerie by Claude Dubois and Martin de la Chasse-Galerie by folk group La Bottine Souriante

Starmania / Le Monde est Stone, Le Blues du Businessman

I cannot make a page on Quebec music without a place for the Rock opera Starmania.

"Starmania is a French/Quebecois rock opera written in 1976 with music by Michel Berger and lyrics by Luc Plamondon. Some of its songs have passed into mainstream Francophone pop culture.

In the near future, Monopolis, the capital of the recently-united Occident, is terrorized by the Black Stars, a gang headed by Johnny Rockfort, who dances to the tune of Sadia, a student-agitator, originally from the upper crust, who cross-dresses at night and descends into the underground to hand out orders. They meet at the Underground Cafe, under the amused gaze of Marie-Jeanne, the robotic waitress." -Wikipedia

I have picked 2 Starmania classic, both from the original cast. First, "le monde est stone" (The world is stone) sung by Fabienne Thibeault. And then "Le blues du businessman" by Claude Dubois.

" I am successful in business. I am lucky in love: I change often my secretary. I always travel first class. I rent expensive room in hotels, cause I cannot bother with misery. I am not happy, but I look happy. I lost my sense of humor since I have my business. I wanted to be an artist!"

Starmania, original cast

1. Ouverture Listen
2. Quand On Arrive En Ville Listen
3. Complainte De La Serveuse Automate Listen
4. Le Blues Du Businessman Listen
5. Monopolis (Dans Les Villes De L'An 2000) Listen
6. Un Garçon Pas Comme Les Autres Listen
7. La Chanson de Ziggy Listen
8. Travesti Listen
9. Banlieue Nord Listen
10. Petite Musique Terrienne Listen
11. Ce Soir On Danse À Naziland Listen
12. Les Adieux D'un Sex Symbol Listen
13. Ego Trip Listen
14. Les Uns Contres Les Autres
15. Quand On N'a Plus A Perdre
16. Le Monde Est Stone
17. Petite Musique Terrienne
18. S.O.S. D'un Terrien En Detresse
19. Le Reve De Stella Spotlight
20. Besoin D'Amour

Version Originale 1978

Amazon Price: $22.02 (as of 05/31/2012)

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aesta1 Apr 11, 2012 @ 3:53 pm | delete

You have introduced me to some Canadian singers I don't know.

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PaulOnBooks Apr 4, 2012 @ 9:59 am | delete

I'd defend my maple cookies as well. Nicely done guide to the music and musicians.

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jtrandall Jan 17, 2012 @ 9:54 am | delete

Great list! Thanks for the introduction to this kind of music.

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DatDudeMtl Sep 1, 2011 @ 3:02 am | delete

Im an English Quebecker & my Fav french song has to be:
Mon Chum Rémi des Cowboys Fringants

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Ladymermaid Jun 18, 2011 @ 8:16 am | delete

Wonderful musicians but I must admit though - I love Celine Dion. She is my favorite Canadian singer.

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awelldressedbullet Mar 6, 2011 @ 8:48 am | delete

~ Blessed by a Squidoo Angel of the Travel Canada/a> ~

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fanfreluche Mar 7, 2011 @ 6:08 am | delete

Thank you very much :)

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sorana Mar 4, 2011 @ 7:00 am | delete

Wow ... beautiful lens. It is always nice to learn about other countries' artists.

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Margo_Arrowsmith Mar 4, 2011 @ 6:20 am | delete

Very nice

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traveller27 Jan 27, 2011 @ 6:21 pm | delete

Having grown up in Quebec, I'm familiar with all of these artists. Nice to see them here!

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Timewarp Nov 1, 2010 @ 6:27 pm | delete

Cool lens, I have lived in Montreal for a few years now and should probably know more about French-Canadian music.