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.
Young Love
Kate & Anna McGarrigle Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
There's just one love in this whole world
And I know I found mine
The heavenly touch of your embrace
Tells me no one can take your place
Forever in my heart
Young love first love
Young love first love
We share with deep devotion
Just one kiss from your sweet lips
Will tell me that your love is real
And I know it's true
We will vow to one another
There will never be another
Love for you or for me
Young love first love
Filled with true emotion
Young love first love
We share with deep devotion
Young love first love
Filled with true emotion
Young love first love
We share with deep devotion
The song "Young Love" by Kate & Anna McGarrigle expresses the powerful emotions of first love. The opening lines, "They say for every boy and girl, there's just one love in this whole world" set the stage for the rest of the song. The lyrics convey a sense of deep connection and commitment between two people, as they pledge their love to each other. The heavenly touch of the lover's embrace signifies that they have found their true love and that no one else can take their place. The love that they share is eternal and forever in their hearts.
The chorus repeats "Young love first love filled with true emotion, we share with deep devotion" to emphasize the overwhelming feelings of passion and commitment that the couple shares. The lyrics convey an innocence and vulnerability that characterizes young love. The couple's one kiss from their sweet lips is enough to reveal the depth of their love for each other. Their love is exclusive, and they vow to each other that there will never be another love for them.
Overall, the song beautifully captures the pure and intense emotions of first love, especially the depth of the couple's devotion to each other. It highlights the power of love to transform and define us as individuals.
Line by Line Meaning
They say for every boy and girl
It's commonly believed that there's only one true love for each person
There's just one love in this whole world
That true love is unique and unmatched
And I know I found mine
I found that one true love in you
The heavenly touch of your embrace
The way you hold me feels like heaven, like nothing else can compare
Tells me no one can take your place
That feeling of comfort, safety, and love in your arms makes me certain that no one else could ever replace you
Forever in my heart
It's a love that I will always carry with me, forever etched in my heart
Young love first love
There's something special about the love we share as young people, something pure and innocent
Filled with true emotion
Our feelings are honest and real, unburdened by the complications of adult love
We share with deep devotion
Our love for each other is profound and unwavering
Just one kiss from your sweet lips
The way your lips feel against mine is enough to reassure me of your love
Will tell me that your love is real
That kiss is enough to confirm that the love we share is genuine and true
And I know it's true
I trust in the love we share and know that it's real
We will vow to one another
We promise to each other
There will never be another
That there will never be anyone else but each other
Love for you or for me
We will only love each other, for all eternity
Lyrics © CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC, Peermusic Publishing
Written by: Carole Joyner, Ric Cartey
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
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...