Un Canadien errant

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"Un Canadien errant" ("a wandering Canadian") is a song written in 1837 by Antoine Gérin-Lajoie after the Lower Canada Rebellion of that year, in which some convicted rebels were condemned to death or exiled for armed insurrection. The melody is from a French Canadian folk tune. To a few, it remains a patriotic song.

Leonard Cohen recorded "Un Canadien errant" on his 1979 Recent Songs album. His original song "The Faith" off his 2004 album Dear Heather is based on the same melody.

[edit] French lyrics

Un Canadien errant,
Banni de ses foyers,
Parcourait en pleurant
Des pays étrangers.
Un jour, triste et pensif,
Assis au bord des flots,
Au courant fugitif
Il adressa ces mots

"Si tu vois mon pays,
Mon pays malheureux,
Va, dis à mes amis
Que je me souviens d'eux.

"O jours si pleins d'appas
Vous êtes disparus,
Et ma patrie, hélas!
Je ne la verrai plus!

"Non, mais en expirant,
O mon cher Canada!
Mon regard languissant
Vers toi se portera . . ."

[edit] English lyrics

Once a Canadian lad,
Exiled from hearth and home,
Wandered, alone and sad,
Through alien lands unknown.
Down by a rushing stream,
Thoughful and sad one day,
He watched the water pass
And to it he did say:
"If you should reach my land,
My most unhappy land,
Please speak to all my friends
So they will understand.
Tell them how much I wish
That I could be once more
In my beloved land
That I will see no more.

"My own beloved land
I'll not forget till death,
And I will speak of her
With my last dying breath.
My own beloved land
I'll not forget till death,
And I will speak of her
With my last dying breath."