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?
10 All the same houses
(The antipodes2019)
Along with L’Amérique pleure and D’une triste, this sumptuous feast of strings forms an exquisite trilogy of pieces with a sadly lucid view of our time, when billions of people believe all is well in their great 5000-foot space squares. The meaning of Jean-François Pauzé’s formula still hits the mark. (BC)
9. 8 seconds
(High fair2004)
The fate of the planet did not make headlines in 2004, when the Cowboys sounded Fringants’ alarm by attacking the big corporations that “play the earth at Monopoly” in those four minutes of rousing outrage in which Marie-Annick Lépine’s violin stands out . (BC)
8th. Paris-Montreal
(wind – 2011)
In November 2011, the Cowboys released an album that fans tended to avoid: Que du vent. On this CD, however, we find the intense Paris-Montreal. In February 2012 I followed the group in Europe and had the opportunity to watch them perform this new piece at the Olympia in Paris. Needless to say how much the viewers reacted when they heard it! (RGM)
7. on my shoulder
(The antipodes – 2019)
This sweet piece does a lot of good for those going through difficult times. It’s nice to be reminded with such a beautiful song that in times of need there’s always a shoulder somewhere to lay your head on. (SEN)
6. There Expression
(union break – 2002)
This piece ironically tells of the debacle of an anti-deforestation demonstration in front of the Domtar company, which turns into a freak show between a couple of hippies and the police. During performances, it is impossible to stay in one place with the famous green break-union sweater and shout: “At the demonstration, we dreamed of revolution!”! (SEN)