Kate McGarrigle (February 6, 1946 – January 18, 2010) and Anna McGarrigle (born December 4, 1944) were a duo of Canadian singer-songwriters from Quebec, who performed until Kate McGarrigle's death. In the 1960s, in Montreal, while Kate was studying engineering at McGill University and Anna art at the École des beaux-arts de Montréal, they began performing in public and writing their own songs. From 1963 to 1967 they teamed up with Jack Nissenson and Peter Weldon to form the folk group "Mountain City Four". Kate's son is Rufus Wainwright, her daughter is Martha Wainwright.
A # 18 hit in Holland. Can't find any info on other countries' charts about this song. Anyone?
COMPLAINTE POUR STE CATHERINE
(Anna McGarrigle and Philippe Tatarcheff)
moi j'me promène sous Ste Catherine
j'profite la chaleur du métro
je n'me regarde pas dans les vitrines
quand il fait trente en dessous d'zéro
il y'a longtemps qu'on fait d'la politique
vingt ans de guerre contre les moustiques
je ne me sens pas intrépide
quand il fait frais j'fais pas du ski
j'ai pas d'motel aux Laurentides
le samedi c'est l'soir du hockey
il y'a longtemps qu'on fait d'la politique
vingt ans de guerre contre les moustiques
faut pas croire que j'suis une imbécile
parce que j'chauffe pas une convertible
la gloire c'est pas mal inutile
au prix de gaz c'est trop pénible
il y'a longtemps qu'on fait d'la politique
vingt ans de guerre contre les moustiques
on est tous frères pis ça s'adonne
qu'on a toujours eu du bon temps
parce qu'on reste sur la terre des hommes
même les femmes et les enfants
il y'a longtemps qu'on fait d'la politique
vingt ans de guerre contre les moustiques
croyez pas qu'on n'est pas chrétien
le dimanche on promène son chien
la la la la la la laaa laaa
la la la la la la la laaa
la la la la la la laaa laaa
la la la la la la la laaaaaaaaa...
Translation (found on the web)
me, I walk along Ste Catherine
getting the warmth from the Métro
I don’t look through shop windows
when it’s thirty below zero
we’ve been in politics for a long time
twenty years of war against mosquitos
I don’t feel intrepid
when it snows I don’t go skiing
I don’t have a motel in the Laurentians
saturday night is hockey night
we’ve been in politics for a long time
twenty years of war against mosquitos
don’t think that I’m an fool
because I don’t drive a convertible
the glory is fairly useless
at the price of gas (petrol) it’s too distressing
we’ve been in politics for a long time
twenty years of war against mosquitos
we’re all brothers ’cause we devote ourselves
to always having a good time
because we’re on the earth of men
and women and children
we’ve been in politics for a long time
twenty years of war against mosquitos
don’t believe that we’re not Christians
on Sundays we walk our dogs
la la la etc.
Some commentary from the web:
Ste Catherine is the name of Montreal’s main shopping street. It’s also the name of a metro station, but you ‘profite de la chaleur du métro"’ when you’re above ground, standing atop the exhaust vents that pump out stale hot air from the subway.
The bit about ‘la politique’ is a joke, seeing as the only politics the narrator’s interested in is the battle against mosquitos (though admittedly this is a serious enough concern during the Canadian summer!).
Je n’ me regarde pas dans les vitrines – when it’s 33 degrees C minus zero, people run from metro to metro and have no time to look in window panes to see if their hair is right or what is in the windows.
J’ai pas d’ motel aux Laurentides – People tend to have a small second house up in the Laurentides, north of Montreal, mainly to ski. In summer there’s a lot of mosquitos.
S’adonner means to like each other very much in a familiar way: to be fond of each other. We are all brothers because we are all fond of each other (i.e. the singer and her friends) Ça = that = (here) part of colloquial or vernacular : the people or thing we are talking about = us (used because it is ‘logical’, ‘goes without saying’, this exists in France as well).
le dimanche on promène son chien – We don’t do anything sinful on Sundays.
