Martin de la chasse-galerie, by Michel Rivard,
Sung by La Bottine Souriante
The first Europeans to live in the territory we now know as Qubec were hunters, trappers, and, as the colonies were established and began to grow, lumberjacks. These men, living in extremely cold and harsh conditions far away from any comforts of civilization (including their girlfriends and/or spouses), developed a rich oral tradition of folksong and folk legend. These traditions became the foundation for the first native literature and music of colonized Qubec, and it has been disseminated worldwide, particularly through the Acadians, who became the Cajuns of Louisiana. This song, written by the well-known poet/songwriter, Michel Rivard, and sung by the world-famous cajun-style band, La Bottine Souriante, evokes the shanties through its use of traditionally portable instruments, like the fiddle, washboard, and spoons. It tells the story of la chasse-galerie, or the flying canoe. This story was written down and published by H. Beaugrand in the 19th century and was one of the first examples of a French Canadian literature.
In this story, a group of
lumberjacks make a pact with the devil in order to fly a canoe back to their
loved ones in Montral for new-years eve. Their callousness towards the
conditions that the devil sets, however, leads to disastrous consequences. The
story has recently become familiar worldwide through its appearance on a
popular brand of Qubec beer, La Maudite (the
damned). Incidently, the beer is made by Robert Charlebois, the singer of Lindpendantriste
(see below). Our materials for this song include both traditional
and recent paintings of La chasse galerie, excerpts from different versions of the legend, and documents
relating to the lumberjack life.
In addition, we have included excerpts from Michel Tremblays famous
play, Les Belles-Surs, which
changed the face of Canadian theater by focusing on the everyday problems of
French-canadian people and by relying on the colloquial language of the time,
called joual. This dialect can be
found, although to different extents, in all the songs presented here.
Martin de la chasse-galerie[1]
by Michel Rivard, Sung
by La Bottine Souriante[2] |
Martin of the Flying Canoe
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1 Vous connaissez l'histoire Nous bchions au chantier[3] Loin de nos tres chers Dix gars bien esseuls. Dans notre dsespoir Le soir du jour de l'An Nous avons fait, cibore![4] Un pacte avec Satan! Dans le ciel du pays[5] Le canot fendit l'air Et nous mena, ravis Aux maisons de nos pres! Toute la nuit, en famille Nous pmes rire et boire Mais sans toucher aux filles Le diable veut rien savoir! (REFRAIN:) C'est moi le plus jeune des dix Dans ce canot maudit Volant par malfice Au-dessus de vos vies pargnez vos prires Mes parents, mes amis Je suis un beau tord-vis: Martin de la Chasse-Galerie.
2 Mais moi toujours plus saoul Fantasque et fanfaron Plus prime aux mauvais coups Que mes vieux compagnons. Au moment des adieux J'entranai Marion La plus belle des lieux Dans un baiser profond! C'est l que l'histoire se foque! Car le grand Lucifer Pour comble de badloque[6] Tchquait du haut des airs![7] "Martin mon escogriffe T'as voulu faire ton frais! Asteure on est kif-kif[8] Vous n'en reviendrez jamais!"
3 En nous voyant, penauds Chuter jusqu'aux enfers Dans notre maudit canot Le Bon Dieu n'tait pas fier. "Ma gang de sans-gnie! Le Malin vous a pinc! Il ne me reste qu' vous souhaiter Une belle ternit!" "Quand mme, je serai bon diable Et au lieu d'en enfer Je vous enverrai dans le ciel![9] a fera suer Lucifer!" |
1 You
know the story We
fell trees/slog away at the shanty Far
from our loved ones Ten
guy completely forlorn (also, isolated). In
our despair, New-years
Eve We
made, holy mackerel! A
pact with Satan! In
the country sky The
boat split the air And
carried us, delighted To
the houses of our fathers! All
the night, among family, We
could laugh and drink, But
without touching the girls The
devil wont allow it! (REFRAIN:) I
am the youngest of ten In
this accursed/damned canoe. Flying
thanks to an evil spell Above
your lives Save
your prayers, My
parents, my friends, I
am a handsome tall guy: Martin
of the Chasse-Galerie.
2 But
I am increasingly drunker Humorous
and boastful Thinking
I can outdo bad luck more Than
my old companions. At
the moment of the good-byes, I
involved Marion, Most
beautiful in the place In
a deep kiss! It
is there that the history gets crazy! Because
the great Lucifer To
complete the bad luck Bumped
(us) from the top of the breezes! "Martin,
my beanpole, You
wanted to be fresh! Now
we are kif-kif (even) You
will never return!"
3 Seeing
us, sheepish, Falling
all the way to hell In
our accursed canoe, The
Good Lord was not proud. "My
gang of idiots! The
bad guy caught you! I
can only wish you A
beautiful eternity!" "Nevertheless,
I will be a good devil And
instead of into hell I
will send to you into the sky! That
will make Lucifer sweat!" |
Martin de la chasse-galerie (2)
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Mais ce n'est pas le Paradis Ce ciel dont je vous parle C'est un petit peu plus gris C'est le ciel de Montral!
4 Voil pourquoi, bonnes gensses, Depuis ce jour fatal Nous flottons en errance Entre Longueuil et Laval![10] Condamns, pour toujours contempler de haut Vos peines et vos amours Vos chars et votre mtro![11] Jeunes filles au pas lger Flnant rue Saint-Denis Si un jour entendez Un sifflet impoli Ne soyez pas rebelles Quelqu'un vous trouve jolie Regardez vers le ciel C'est Martin qui s'ennuie! |
But
it is not Paradise This
sky about which I speak It
is a little bit grayer Its
the sky of Montreal!
4 For
this reason, good people, Since
that fatal day We
float around Between
Longueuil and Laval! Condemned,
for always To
contemplate from on high Your
sorrows and your loves Your
cars and your subway! Young
girls with a light step Strolling
on Saint-Denis street, If
one day (you) hear An
impolite whistle, Do
not be offended Somebody
finds you pretty Look
towards the sky It
is Martin who is bored! |
[1] La chasse-galerie is a folk story about a group of lumberjacks who make
a pact with the devil in order to fly a canoe to their loved ones back at home.
De courir la chasse-galerie, or
run the chasse-galerie, is to fly
in a canoe that is carried by the devil.
[2] Fils de comdien, Michel Rivard, est un artiste aux
multiples talents: auteur, compositeur, chanteur, interprte, guitariste,
comdien et monologuiste. Il est
n Montral en 1951. Trs tt, il sintresse la musique et au
thtre. Il formera le groupe Beau
Dommage qui sera trs populaire au
Qubec et en Europe. Aprs la dissolution du groupe il se consacrera au thtre
pour quelques annes avant de revenir la chanson avec quelques albums solos
qui connatront beaucoup de succs. Malgr ses nombreux spectacles travers
tout le Qubec et en Europe, Michel Rivard multiplie les collaborations sur
scne ou en studio et prte souvent sa plume dautres rpertoires notamment
pour la chanson "Martin de la chasse-galerie" du groupe de musique
traditionnelle La Bottine Souriante.
[3] Bcher
has a nice double entente (double
meaning). Literally, it means, to do what lumberjacks dofell trees, chop
wood, and suchfiguratively, however, it means to slog away, or work very
hard.
[4] Cibore
is a French-Canadian curse, invoking the colorful language of the lumberjacks.
It comes from the word ciboire, or
ciborium, the vessel that holds the Holy Communion in the Catholic service. Most
French-Canadian curses are words related to the Church, indication of the
Catholic churchs long-standing influence there, and are seen by many as quite
offensive. As in English, one way to curb their offensiveness, is to modify the
words slightly (consider the expressions darn and holy mackerel in
English), hence ciboire becomes cibore.
Note that even the verb to curse sacrer, also means to consecrate.
[5] Ciel
means sky, but it also has a religious connotation, heaven.
[6] Badloque
is simply a French spelling of the English, bad luck. Colloquial dialect in the 1960s and 70s included the
curses discussed above as well as this francicization of English words. This
became known as the joual dialect.
An excerpt from Michel Tremblays play Les Belles-Surs, the first play to
be written using this dialect, is
found in the materials for this song (see also the end of Un soir de fvrier).
[7] Another example of what is described above. Here, tchquait,
comes from the hockey term, to
check, which means to hit another player deliberately.
[8] Asteure
in another joual term, made from a contraction of cette heure, or at this hour (more simply, now, or
now-a-days).
[9] Note again, the double meaning of the word ciel. Although it could mean heaven (getting the
lumberjacks hopes up), it soon becomes clear that they are being sent to the
Montral skynot quite the same!
[10] Longueuil
and Laval are two suburbs of
Montral.
[11] Chars is
another joual term, referring originally to chariots, but now commonly understood as cars.
1- Traditional
and Contemporary paintings of La chasse-galerie
2- Les contes
et les chansons populaires par Marguerite et Raoul dHarcourt
3- Un exemple de
jouale : extrait de la pice de thtre les belles-surs de Michel Tremblay
4- La version
franaise originale de lhistoire de la chasse-galerie (H.
Beaugrand)
5- Une version
anglaise de la chasse-galerie
6- La chanson dun
bcheron.