Anna McGarrigle and Kate McGarrigle were born in Montreal of mixed Irish- and French-Canadian background, but lived their childhood in the Laurentian Mountains village of Saint-Sauveur-des-Monts, northwest of Montreal, where they learned piano from village nuns. In the 1960s, in Montreal, while Kate was studying engineering at McGill University and Anna art at the École des Beaux-Arts de Montréal, they began performing in public and then began writing their own songs. From 1963 to 1967 they teamed up with Jack Nissenson and Peter Weldon to form the folk group Mountain City Four. Into the twenty-first century, Kate and Anna McGarrigle continued to write, and recorded and performed music, with assorted accompanying musicians including Gerry Conway, Pat Donaldson, Ken Pearson, Michel Pépin, Chaim Tannenbaum and Joel Zifkin.
Their songs have been covered by a variety of artists including Maria Muldaur, Nana Mouskouri, Linda Ronstadt, Emmylou Harris, Billy Bragg, Chloé Sainte-Marie, Judy Collins, Anne Sofie von Otter and others. The covers of their songs by well known artists led to the McGarrigles getting their first recording contract in 1974. They created ten albums from 1975 through 2008.
Although associated with Quebec's anglophone community, the McGarrigles also recorded and performed many songs in French. Two of their albums, Entre la jeunesse et la sagesse (also known as French Record) and La vache qui pleure, are entirely in French, but many of their other records include one or two French songs as well. Most of their French songs were co-written by Philippe Tatartcheff, with occasional input from Kate McGarrigle's son, Canadian-American solo artist Rufus Wainwright. Rufus and his sister Martha Wainwright, also a singer, are the children of Kate and her former husband (married 1971, separated 1976, divorced 1978), singer-songwriter Loudon Wainwright III.
They have performed or recorded with the Irish group The Chieftains, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds on their No More Shall We Part album, Emmylou Harris on her albums Bluebird, Wrecking Ball, Western Wall: The Tucson Sessions, Light of the Stable, Stumble into Grace, and All I Intended to Be, Lou Reed on his concept album The Raven, Joan Baez on her live recording Ring Them Bells, Gilles Vigneault on “Charlie-Jos” on his album C’est ainsi que j’arrive à toi, and Robin Holcomb on her 2002 album The Big Time.
Their version of Wade Hemsworth's song, "The Log Driver's Waltz" grew famous as the soundtrack for a 1979 animated film by Canada's National Film Board. They provided backing vocals on Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds's 2001 album No More Shall We Part. They appeared on the children's TV show Sharon, Lois & Bram's Elephant Show in Season 4, episode 50 entitled "Sibling Rivalry".
They were appointed Members of the Order of Canada in 1993 and received the Governor General's Performing Arts Award in 2004.
Another sister, Jane McGarrigle, is a film and television composer who wrote and performed several songs with the duo, but was not a regular collaborator.
Kate died January 18, 2010 at the age of 63 after fighting a rare form of cancer.
Blue Christmas
Kate & Anna McGarrigle Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I'll be so blue just thinking about you
Decorations of red on a green Christmas tree
Won't be the same, dear, if you're not here with me
And when those blue snowflakes start falling
That's when those blue memories start calling
You'll be doin' all right with your Christmas of white
You'll be doin' all right with your Christmas of white
But I'll have a blue, blue, blue, blue Christmas
Kate & Anna McGarrigle's song "Blue Christmas" is a melancholic tune that talks about the blues one feels during the holidays when separated from a loved one. The lyrics express the sentiments of someone experiencing the holidays without the person they love. The opening lines, "I'll have a blue Christmas without you; I'll be so blue just thinking about you," sets the mood for a sad Christmas, where the singer is consumed by thoughts of a lost love. The decorations of red on a green Christmas tree are a symbol of the colorful moments they shared, but now they feel incomplete without the presence of the loved one.
The song talks about the persistent memories that keep the singer downcast. The blue snowflakes become a metaphor for the singer's sadness, and they trigger memories of the past. The singer contrasts their feelings with the person they once loved, who is probably having a Merry Christmas without them. The lyrics "You'll be doin' all right with your Christmas of white, but I'll have a blue, blue, blue, blue Christmas" shows how the singer is trapped in a melancholic mood that will persist throughout the holiday season.
Overall, "Blue Christmas" is a poignant song that perfectly captures how the holidays can be difficult for those who are missing someone special in their lives. It reminds us that during the festive season, it is important to reach out to those who are separated from their loved ones, to show them love and support.
Line by Line Meaning
I'll have a blue Christmas without you
I will experience a sad and melancholic Christmas in your absence.
I'll be so blue just thinking about you
Thoughts of you will cause me to feel sorrowful and disheartened.
Decorations of red on a green Christmas tree
The customary trimming of a Christmas tree with red ornaments on green branches.
Won't be the same, dear, if you're not here with me
The festivities of the season would not bring me joy if you were not here by my side.
And when those blue snowflakes start falling
The onset of blue-tinted snow falling from the sky.
That's when those blue memories start calling
The season incites memories that bring about feelings of sadness and longing.
You'll be doin' all right with your Christmas of white
You may be experiencing a pleasant and happy Christmas.
But I'll have a blue, blue, blue, blue Christmas
However, my Christmas will be characterized by blues and sadness.
Contributed by Aaron O. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
joelz
on Song For Gaby
Added the first vocal line which was missing
joelz
on Why Must We Die?
We are meat. We are spirit
We have blood and we have grace
We have a will and we have muscle
A soul and a face
Why must we die
We have eyes and intuition
A DNA code and a name
Some tend to logic, some superstition
We have an aura and a frame
Why must we die
We are human, we are angel
We have feet and wish for wings
We are carbon, we are ether
We are saints, we are kings
Why must we die
Why must we die
We are men of constant sorrow
We′ll have trouble all our days
We never found our Eldorado
Where we were born
We are meat, we are spirit
We have blood and we have grace
We have a will and we have muscle
A soul and a face
Why must we die
Why must we die
We are men of constant sorrow
We'll have trouble all our days
We never found our Eldorado
Where we were born
We are men of constant sorrow
We′ll have trouble all our days...