Few bands have shaped Quebec as much as Les Cowboys Fringants. On the eve of a summer concert series that will see Quebec’s favorite quartet reconnect with the Plains of Abraham during the Festival d’été de Québec, The newspaper thought to offer you this selection of the 25 most beautiful songs of the cowboys. Do you agree with our number 1?
15 Bye Lou
(October2015)
A compelling example of a cowboy specialty: to a playful melody, a melancholic and tender look at a happy past that collides with the disillusionment of the present. Here’s a couple who vowed never to fit the norm: “We have dinner at the restaurant on Thursdays and take photos of our dishes.” Our time summed up in one sentence. (BC)
14 Like Joe Dassin
(What a wind – 2011)
We love the Cowboys Fringants’ unique way of making sad songs happy. The story of this couple who break up over a glass of beer and whose members meet again a few years later might make you cry, but on the contrary, we like to walk with them in that joyful melancholy. Real Joe Dassin! (SEN)
13. merchant marine
(October2015)
This vehement singing duo consisting of Frannie Holder (Random Recipe) and Karl Tremblay has become a concert highlight. “Merchant Navy,” a drinking song with Irish influences, portrays a couple who can no longer stand each other. Or as Tremblay puts it, “You’re mean when you’re drunk, and you’re always drunk/ Well, you’re mean all the time.” Ouch! (BC)
12. Letter to Levesque
(High fair2004)
Twenty years ago, in this pop-trad song, the Cowboys expressed their sovereign dismay by turning to René Lévesque. Two decades later, it is understood the group would not change a line of that title, which did not fail to slam the politicians at the helm of a country “run by poor peasants.” (BC)
11. Hector’s cabin
(Motel Capri, 2000)
A must have party song at any Cowboys gig. Already with the first notes of the harmonica you can feel the tension in the audience. Although the track has been around for more than 20 years, the band almost always has to play it every night. And we always enjoy hearing Karl Tremblay improvise new lyrics. (RGM)