Quebecois Folk Songs in English

An English version of the classic Quebecois folk song "Degenerations". Your great grandfather's dad Was the one who cleared the land Then Your grandfather's dad Was the one who plowed the land And then your own granddad took the field and made it thrive And your father sold it all for a steady nine-to-five As for you, young man, feeling lost and all alone In your one-bedroom loft winter chills you to the bone But you dream at night with a shovel in your hand in the open fields of your little piece of land Your great grandmother's mom She had fourteen kids to raise Your grandmother's mom nearly followed in her ways Then your grandmother had three and decided to prevent And your mother had just one and she was an accident As for you, little girl, a different partner every night And if anything goes wrong, you go to town and put it right But in the silent morning you can almost hear the sound Of a big kitchen table with your children gathered round Your great grandfather's dad Was a depression-era man And your grandfather's dad Counted pennies in the hand And thank God, your granddad became a millionaire And your dad's invested it since inheriting his share As for you, young man, you owe your soul to uncle sam You can't even get a loan, and nobody gives a damn And so fight the temptation to commit armed robbery you read books about how to embrace simplicity Your great great grandmom and dad They knew how to party down Then your great grandmom and dad went a-swinging through this town And your grandmom and dad They sang rock and roll all night Your mom and dad met at a disco and it was love at first sight As for you, my friend, how do your evenings go? Break away and escape from the television glow Some things never change under any circumstance Put your best clothes on cuz we're going out to dance!

English version of Quebecois folk song "L'Amerique Pleure", sung by Jaclyn Lizzi Well it’s just another day Rise with the sun, don't be late I rub the sleep out off my face Not like I get much anyway Years of smoking cigarettes Can’t be undone by vitamins Down ‘em with coffee and regret ‘Fore I gotta head out again Take the Florida Turnpike Then gotta head for Montmagny It’s nothing much a trucker’s life But you do see the country And it makes you realize Behind the stunning countryside There’s so much inequality You see the saddest sort of eyes Asking myself all the time What’s the reason where’s the rhyme Living in hypocrisy And still believe in life [Refrain] And at night when I come home After driving all alone I feel I maybe should have known America just bursts with pride But in my rearview cries Is this the fruit of our success The evidence our excess I haul along these lonely roads Seran-wrapped frozen overflow The rotten fruit of privilege In the back of every fridge Still we’re never satisfied Even while our own future dies Asking myself all the time What’s the reason, where’s the rhyme And what will our children do? When nothin’s left but ruin [Ref] Well Interstate 95 Snuffed out yet another life Impatient cars just crawling by A requires in flashing lights Honking their way through the mess The rubberneckers strain to see But when did fatal accidents Become reality TV Asking myself all the time What’s the reason where’s the rhyme No respect far’s you can see The world has gone crazy [Ref] Another truck stop on the route A meal that maybe once was food Well, if you’re gen’rous, call it soup Just close your eyes and chew well The franchise killed Mom and Pop Made with love in some sweatshop Can’t even turn on the TV Without another mass shooting Asking myself all the time What’s the reason where’s the rhyme Are we just ‘long for the ride This lonely loveless life [Ref] Well, it gets to me sometimes 'Specially in my rig at night What the hell I’m doing here This godforsaken frontier All the milestones that I missed With Mimi and my baby girls Can’t shake this fucked-up feeling That I’m just a stranger in their world Asking myself all the time What’s the reason, where’s the rhyme Always bein’ far from home Another workin’ drone And at night I drive alone I’m always so far from home I think of Mimi’s loving eyes And my heart just bursts with pride But on the inside, dies