Richard Desjardins (born 16 March 1948, Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec, Canada) is a… Read Full Bio ↴Richard Desjardins (born 16 March 1948, Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec, Canada) is a quebecois folk singer and film director.

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.

La porte du ciel
Richard Desjardins Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Laissez-moi vous raconter
Une p'tite histoire théologique
L'action commence dans un blind pig, c'est logique
Du gros fun noir à la tonne
Noir comme le fond d'un drum de rhum
Un moment d'nné
Le beau Gaston
Pose une question un peu torvisse:

« Est-ce que Dieu existe?
Je paie la traite à tout le monde
Si quelqu'un peut me répondre »

On est sortis tout en tas
Deux minutes, l'équipement était là:
Des pump action, des cagoules
Pis une grande toboggan
« Par en avant maman
Direction: firmament!
Fly! Fly! Fly! Toboggan
Sans le sky!
Plus loin qu'la lune
Et qu'les anneaux d'Saturne »

Arrivés au pont-levis
Du paradis
Trois quatre coups d'crosse de fusil
Les chérubins jouaient du fifi
Ça sentait le patchouli, oh oui
Ça fait que là on a dit:
« Où c'est qu'y est
Le vieux bouclé
Avec un œil de bœu?
On est icitte pour y faire bull's-eye »
Les anges y ont dit:

« Il s'est enfui
Au Pa… ra… guay »

Overall Meaning

The song "La porte du ciel" by Richard Desjardins tells an imaginative and somewhat comical story with theological undertones. The action takes place in a "blind pig," or an illegal drinking establishment, where Gaston poses a question to the group asking if God exists. In response, they all leave in a hasty fashion, armed with pump action guns and wearing masks, and find themselves at the gates of heaven. The scene here is surreal, with cherubs playing instruments and the air thick with the scent of patchouli. They inquire about the whereabouts of "the old curly one with a bull's eye," and are told that he has fled to Paraguay.

The lyrics use humor and absurdity to explore the theme of the search for God and the meaning of existence. The characters in the story are searching for answers to life's greatest questions and embark on a wild, outlandish journey to find them. The use of guns and masks highlights the desperation and intensity of their search, while the depiction of heaven as a hippie paradise adds a sense of irreverence.

Line by Line Meaning

Laissez-moi vous raconter
Let me tell you

Une p'tite histoire théologique
A little theological story

L'action commence dans un blind pig, c'est logique
The action starts in a blind pig, it's logical

Du gros fun noir à la tonne
Loads of black fun

Noir comme le fond d'un drum de rhum
As black as the bottom of a rum drum

Un moment d'nné
At some point

Le beau Gaston
The handsome Gaston

Pose une question un peu torvisse:
Asks a tricky question:

« Est-ce que Dieu existe?
“Does God exist?

Je paie la traite à tout le monde
I'll treat everyone

Si quelqu'un peut me répondre »
If anyone can answer me”