He and his friends formed the country rock ensemble Abbittibbi in the 1970s. Desjardins played piano, guitar, and sang. When the group disbanded in 1982, Desjardins pursued a solo career.
He also found work scoring films, especially documentaries. This involvement in the Quebec film industry even led him to co-direct a number of feature length documentaries. As well as his singing career, he is well known for his environmental activism.
Atlantique Nord
Richard Desjardins Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
dans une mer de chars
Suffit d’une glace noire
Bonjour mon clochard
Le caboteur que voici
au pied du glacier
Peut-être que la vie m’haït
En dérive, en que’que part
sur l’Atlantique Nord
Je voudrais une trêve
pour nos grands malheureux
en banlieue de nos rêves
Le hasard fait ben mieux
Au moment où s’achèvent
mes ennuis ici-bas
un petit vent se lève
sans même savoir pourquoi
La voile, monte la voile
Accroche-la aux étoiles
Je hisse mes draps d’amour
Je fly sur l’océan
Viking de faubourg
Empereur du néant
Au retour des lumières
les dieux me font offrande
d’un tas d’roches ordinaires
Oui mais c’est l’Irlande
O.K., chui O.K.
Au quai de Duncan Town
J’ai vendu l’caboteur
au gros rouquin du pub
Des danseuses, des chanteurs
du whisky Oh my God
Nous les têtes de morts
trinquons avec nos os
Salut! l’Labrador
t’auras juste eu ma peau
Quelle nuit
Quelle nuit
J’ai passé l’Halloween
Dans les bras d’Irene
The song "Atlantique Nord" by Richard Desjardins, is a poetic expression of a man's experience of being lost in a world where the only thing he seems to possess is his will to live. The lyrics are a journey of a man, who once lived in the midst of the hustle and bustle of the city, but now finds himself drifting somewhere on the North Atlantic. The first verse describes how the singer was once a man with a purpose, in a sea of traffic, until a black ice caused him to become a beggar, deserted and alone. The second verse describes a ship sailing near a glacier that might be his only chance for survival, but his life and death are precariously balanced, with both the abyss of the ocean and the treacherous glacier below him. In the chorus, the man longs for a truce with fate, a break from his misery, in the suburbs of his dreams, even though fate's randomness might work better than his plans.
The third verse continues with the story of the man's journey, as he sees the end of his problems and sails towards it, embracing love and flying over the ocean, feeling like a Viking king, yet lost in nothingness. As the lights come back, the gods bless him with a heap of rocks that turn out to be Ireland. Finally, the man sells the ship in Duncan Town, bartering with the pub's owner for whiskey and song, drinking a toast to his life and existence, and finally experiencing Halloween in the arms of a lady.
Line by Line Meaning
J’étais homme de vouloir
I was a man of desire
dans une mer de chars
in a sea of cars
Suffit d’une glace noire
All it takes is one dark ice
Bonjour mon clochard
Hello, my bum
Le caboteur que voici
The coastwise freighter here
au pied du glacier
at the foot of the glacier
Peut-être que la vie m’haït
Perhaps life hates me
que la mort veut pas d’moi
that death doesn't want me
En dérive, en que’que part
Adrift, somewhere
sur l’Atlantique Nord
on the North Atlantic
Je voudrais une trêve
I want a truce
pour nos grands malheureux
for our great unhappy ones
en banlieue de nos rêves
in the suburbs of our dreams
Le hasard fait ben mieux
Chance does much better
Au moment où s’achèvent
At the moment when it's over
mes ennuis ici-bas
my earthly troubles
un petit vent se lève
a small wind rises
sans même savoir pourquoi
without even knowing why
La voile, monte la voile
The sail, hoist the sail
Accroche-la aux étoiles
Attach it to the stars
Je hisse mes draps d’amour
I raise my sheets of love
Je fly sur l’océan
I fly over the ocean
Viking de faubourg
Suburban Viking
Empereur du néant
Emperor of nothingness
Au retour des lumières
When the lights come back
les dieux me font offrande
the gods make me an offering
d’un tas d’roches ordinaires
a pile of ordinary rocks
Oui mais c’est l’Irlande
Yes, but it's Ireland
O.K., chui O.K.
OK, I'm OK
Au quai de Duncan Town
At the dock in Duncan Town
J’ai vendu l’caboteur
I sold the coastwise freighter
au gros rouquin du pub
to the big red-haired guy from the pub
Des danseuses, des chanteurs
Some dancers, some singers
du whisky Oh my God
some whiskey, Oh my God
Nous les têtes de morts
Us, the heads of the dead
trinquons avec nos os
let's toast with our bones
Salut! l’Labrador
Hello, Labrador
t’auras juste eu ma peau
You will have only had my skin
Quelle nuit
What a night
Quelle nuit
What a night
J’ai passé l’Halloween
I spent Halloween
Dans les bras d’Irene
In the arms of Irene
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA/AMCOS
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