When asked which song best represents Quebec, Mitsou moves our collective tape back a century.
His answer? The Cookby La Bolduc, which in his eyes constitutes a vibrant tribute to the dedication of our grandmothers.
“They worked hard for us. Having 12 children, my cervix hurts just thinking about it,” she says, recalling that time when there was no washer or dryer to lighten the burden of household chores.
“Imagine the diapers. Young women did not go to school to help their mothers. This song, for me, represents my grandmother, Annette Rioux, from Bas-du-Fleuve. We sang that to her every Christmas or every time she made food for 45 people, on Morin Street, in Trois-Pistoles.”
Here are the local songs that make your stars rock.
Claude Dubois: “I have two: My country [Gilles Vigneault] And The big six footer [Claude Gauthier]. The first is winter, the struggle to get through difficult times together, because when it’s minus 40, we don’t leave our door closed, we open it. The second, to be a little vulgar, is like a kick in the ass to those who deserve it.”
FouKi: “There are a lot of them, but it’s more the classics, I would say. The rusty key ring [La ziguezon, de La Bottine Souriante]. Otherwise, there is also Do you have any beer here!? [de La famille Soucy]. And in rap, Sir Pathétik, Quebec is the place [Pour mon pays]. He still has a legendary Quebecois tune. I do not have [d’autre] choice [que] to name it, it’s part of the heritage.”
FouKi
Photo Joël Lemauy/Agence QMI
Marco Calliari: “From a young age, for me, it was the tune where I had to go dancing: The bittt in Tibi, by Raoul Duguay. What a monument of song! For me, that tune is heavy metal. It’s big Quebec prog and it works.”
Marjo: “I sang People of the country in front of thousands of people one evening of June 24. It’s sickening, the words he says. It goes a long way.”
Pierre Séguin: “I really like The most beautiful journey, by Claude Gauthier. It tells a little bit of our story through everything we are and what we are not. It is still very relevant today. Obviously, A chance we haveI think we can’t miss it.”
Roxane Bruneau: “America cries, of the Cowboys. For me, it’s an anthem. It seems like that song says it all. We can all recognize ourselves in that.”
Suzie Villeneuve: “This is surely the entire repertoire of the Cowboys Fringants, obviously. But otherwise, in my memories, I would say The old man from Bas-du-Fleuve [de Gaston Mandeville]. It’s a song that is associated with Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day for me.”
Ariane Roy: “These days I listen to a song that, if I’m outside, makes me want to be at home. It is Letter from Torontoby Sylvain Lelièvre.”
Paul Daraiche: “Quebecois, from The French Revolution. On the mountain, this song was something.”
Mara Tremblay: “People of the country, clearly. When a song becomes an anthem even though it was not composed to be one, it is because it truly represents Quebec.”
