Gilles Vigneault (born 27 October 1928) is a Québécois poet, publisher and … Read Full Bio ↴Gilles Vigneault (born 27 October 1928) is a Québécois poet, publisher and singer-songwriter, and well-known Quebec nationalist and sovereigntist.
A poet deeply rooted in his native Quebec, Vigneault has become an icon at home and Quebec ambassador abroad. He was one of the principal figures of the generation of chansonniers who helped the Quebec chanson find its own identity, even while helping it find a universal dimension.

Born in Natashquan, on the far north shore of the St. Lawrence River in Quebec, he was educated in Rimouski and Quebec City.
Vigneault started writing poetry during his studies at the Seminary in Rimouski, and by the 1950s was publishing poems and writing songs. In 1959 he founded a publishing house, Les Éditions de l'Arc to distribute his publications. His first collection, Étraves was published in 1959.
In August 1960, at the request of the audience at the boîte à chansons L'Arlequin in Quebec City, he agreed to sing his earliest song: Jos Monferrand, written in 1957, which had been recorded by Jacques Labrecque in 1959. This was the beginning of his singing career which culminated in 1962, when he received the Grand prix du disque from Montreal radio station CKAC. His reputation grew in Quebec and elsewhere with the success of his song Mon Pays, from the sound track of the NFB film La neige a fondu sur la Manicouagan (1965).
In the last half of the 1960s, Vigneault started to perform outside of Quebec, notably in France, but also elsewhere in Canada, including appearances at the Mariposa Folk Festival and at Massey Hall, in Toronto.
The mid-1970s saw Vigneault's participation in several major events. On August 13, 1974 130,000 spectators came together on the Plains of Abraham for the Superfrancofête, where Vigneault participated in an historic concert alongside Félix Leclerc, a representative, in a way, of the older generation, and Robert Charlebois, of the younger generation. A highpoint of the concert was the threesome's rendition of Raymond Lévesque's powerful Quand les hommes vivront d'amour.
On June 24, 1975, during a Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day concert on Montreal's Mount Royal, Vigneault sang for the first time Gens du pays, a song which has since become a sort of anthem in Quebec.
In 1976, the Ensemble Claude Gervaise recorded an album of Vigneault's music entitled Tout l'monde est malheureux: "Claude Gervaise" Joue Vigneault.
An ardent Quebec nationalist, Vigneault was disappointed by the results of the 1980 Quebec referendum. During the 1980s he lived in France for a short time.

J'ai pour toi un lac
Gilles Vigneault Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

J´ai pour toi un lac quelque part au monde
Un beau lac tout bleu
Comme un oeil ouvert sur la nuit profonde
Un cristal frileux
Qui tremble à ton nom comme tremble feuille
À brise d´automne et chanson d´hiver
S´y mire le temps, s´y meurent et s´y cueillent
Mes jours à l´endroit, mes nuits à l´envers.

J´ai pour toi, très loin
Une promenade sur un sable doux
Des milliers de pas sans bruits, sans parade
Vers on ne sait où
Et les doigts du vent des saisons entières
Y ont dessiné comme sur nos fronts
Les vagues du jour fendues des croisières
Des beaux naufragés que nous y ferons.

J´ai pour toi défait
Mais refait sans cesse les mille châteaux
D´un nuage aimé qui pour ma princesse
Se ferait bateau
Se ferait pommier, se ferait couronne
Se ferait panier plein de fruits vermeils
Et moi je serai celui qui te donne
La terre et la lune avec le soleil.

J´ai pour toi l´amour quelque part au monde
Ne le laisse pas se perdre à la ronde.

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to Gilles Vigneault's song "J'ai pour toi un lac" express the depth of the singer's love for their beloved. The song speaks of a lake, far away and beautiful, like an eye open on the deep night. It's a crystal-clear body of water that shimmers at the mere sound of the beloved's name, trembling like the leaves in autumn and the songs of winter. The singer's days and nights are reflected in this lake, with their days right-side up and their nights upside-down. The lake represents the depth of the singer's feelings, and their beloved is the only one who can understand them fully.

The singer also promises their beloved a walk on soft sand, without noise or parade, with the wind's fingers tracing the path they take. The sand represents the journey of life that they will take together, with its ups and downs, and the wind's fingers represent the unpredictable nature of life. It's a journey they will take together, with all its unpredictability, and they will be the beautiful shipwrecks who make their way through it.

Lastly, the singer speaks of the thousand castles they build for their beloved, from a beloved cloud that would become a boat, an apple tree, or a crown. The singer promises to be the one who gives away the Earth and the Moon with the Sun, demonstrating that the love they have is grand and immense. The last line is a plea not to let the love they share get lost in the world, as it is something that is rare and precious.

Line by Line Meaning

J´ai pour toi un lac quelque part au monde
I have for you a beautiful blue lake somewhere in the world.

Un beau lac tout bleu
A beautiful blue lake.

Comme un oeil ouvert sur la nuit profonde
It is like an eye that is open during the deep night.

Un cristal frileux
A chilly crystal.

Qui tremble à ton nom comme tremble feuille
The crystal trembles at your name like a trembling leaf.

À brise d´automne et chanson d´hiver
In the autumn breeze and winter song.

S´y mire le temps, s´y meurent et s´y cueillent
Time is reflected there, my days and nights go back and forth there.

Mes jours à l´endroit, mes nuits à l´envers.
My days are right-side-up, but my nights are upside down.

J´ai pour toi, très loin
I have for you, very far away.

Une promenade sur un sable doux
A walk on soft sand.

Des milliers de pas sans bruits, sans parade
Thousands of steps without noise or showiness.

Vers on ne sait où
Towards a place unknown.

Et les doigts du vent des saisons entières
And the fingers of the wind from whole seasons.

Y ont dessiné comme sur nos fronts
Have drawn like on our foreheads.

Les vagues du jour fendues des croisières
The waves of the day, split by cruises.

Des beaux naufragés que nous y ferons.
Of the beautiful shipwrecks we will have there.

J´ai pour toi défait
I have for you undone.

Mais refait sans cesse les mille châteaux
But I constantly rebuild the thousand castles.

D´un nuage aimé qui pour ma princesse
From a beloved cloud that would become a boat, an apple tree, a crown, or a basket full of ripe fruit for my princess.

Se ferait bateau
It would become a boat.

Se ferait pommier, se ferait couronne
It would become an apple tree or a crown.

Se ferait panier plein de fruits vermeils
It would become a basket full of ripe fruit.

Et moi je serai celui qui te donne
And I will be the one who gives you all of it.

La terre et la lune avec le soleil.
The earth, the moon, and the sun.

J´ai pour toi l´amour quelque part au monde
I have for you love somewhere in the world.

Ne le laisse pas se perdre à la ronde.
Don't let it get lost as you go around.

Contributed by Alexis H. Suggest a correction in the comments below.

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