C'est La Vie . . .

Degenerations: a fairly new Quebecois song. To this novice reader of French, the translation is basically good, except for the "drunken notions" part. The French is:

pour calmé tes envie de hold-uper la caissière tu lis des livres qui parle de simplicité volontaire

Which we should read as:

In order to calm you desire of holding up the bank-teller, you read books which describe voluntary simplicity.

The lack of religion in the song is interesting, if predictable. One can't very well remove Catholicism from Quebec's past though. The band, Mes Aieux, is fervently pro-abortion (also predictable), despite the lyrics:

And then you my little girl, you constantly switch partners
Whenever you make a mistake, you correct it by aborting.
But some mornings you wake weeping,
When you have dreamed of a big table surrounded by children.

One is probably meant to read these lines as a critique of the culture, rather than of the practise iteself (regrettable, maybe necessary). Still, the lyrics pack quite a punch, and I don't know if one can get the inferences the band desires unless you know their own ideology.  Of course, the cultural critique only goes so far. What is one to do with the last verse?  It continues the theme of isolation but the action it offers is more symbolic: as our ancestors did, we still can dance. Rather gloomy.

A sidenote. The full song has two minute instrumental section at the end. I wonder why the music video didn't include it with the girl dancing with some older folks in traditional costume. Too happy maybe? Or is there some socialist law about music videos not going over 3:15 in Canada?