MA CHÈRE VALLÉE
Le printemps s'annonce en couleur!
Lyrics
MA CHÈRE VALLÉE
words & music: Mike Ford 2018
Regardons ces fleurs sauvages
Qui s'élèvent autour du marais
La sanguinaire et le petit prêcheur
L'ancolie qui cherche le soleil
DANS LA VALLÉE, MA CHÈRE VALLÉE
DANS LA VALLÉE, MA CHÈRE VALLÉE
Les arbres qui dormaient tout l'hiver
L'érable à sucre sent l'essor du sang
Chêne rouge aussi que le pin blanc
Le saule fragile, le peuplier faux-tremble
DANS LA VALLÉE, MA CHÈRE VALLÉE
DANS LA VALLÉE, MA CHÈRE VALLÉE
Le printemps s'annonce en couleur!
Ecoutons chanter le loriot
Aux amis cachés dans la broussaille
Cardinal et le martin-pêcheur
En plein essor faisant leur beau travail
DANS LA VALLÉE, MA CHÈRE VALLÉE
DANS LA VALLÉE, MA CHÈRE VALLÉE
Le printemps s'annonce en couleur!
Background
Other Examples
I am fascinated by songs that list the attributes of a special place, as I try to do in Ma chère vallée. Check out this one by Quebecois chansonnier George Dor:
He begins by telling the audience about his earliest song memories, and about a time, when he was younger, when local geography was learnt in song. He then sings this beautiful example, naming regions of Quebec and the main produce and industry of each, in a joyful folk rap. Where are these kinds of songs today?
Secondly, check out this brilliant example by the great Jacques Brel, in which he takes the listener on a break-neck tour of all the personalities of The City of Lights - not the personalities of people on Paris, but multiple personalities of the city itself. To accomplish this, he imagines a telephone directory of all those aspects, with:
Finally, have a listen to Quebec's most lionized musical spokeperson, Félix Leclerc, and his equally tender and strident description of the soul-healing virtues of Ile d'Orleans (just off Quebec City in the St. Lawrence):