Labas au pied de la colline (MS2011-3222-061)

Labas au pied de la colline (MS2011-3222-061)

French language song text from VFC2006-0002 Beaudoin Family Collection. MS2011-3222-061 Eva Lacourse Songbook. Pp. 108-110.

“Labas au pied de la colline” [Là-bas, au pied de la colline”; “Over There at the Foot of the HIll”] is a sentimental song composed in France or Quebec some time before 1936. Commonly known in Quebec as “Grand-maman” or “Grand’Maman,” the song is commonly attributed to (and was popularized in the early 1940s by) singer-songwriter and guitar player Roland LeBrun (aka “Le soldat Lebrun, 1919-1980), but its appearance in Eva Lacourse’s manuscript songbook indicates that the song was already in circulation before 1936.

Although Lebrun performed with siblings and parents in a band which played for weddings and family reunions in the 1930s, his commercial career began only in 1941, when Lebrun volunteered to serve with the regiment des Voltigeurs, which was stationed in the Quebec City region, only to become ill for some time. While recovering, he began composing songs that reflected the hopes and anxieties, religion, patriotism and love of family felt by soldiers. His live performances of original compositions, including his hit “L’adieu du soldat,” were aired on radio station CHRC in Quebec City and led to a series of recordings and Canadian army-sponsored recruiting tours. It is possible that Lebrun composed the song prior to 1936 (he would have been in his late teens); it is more difficult to explain how the song found its way to Eva Lacourse, when Lebrun’s first recording of it dates to 1942; it is the flipside of his hit “L’adieu du soldat,” recorded on the Compo/Starr label (serie # 16457, side B).

Singer relates her courtship to her grandmother, reminding her that she too must have shared this experience.

VFC2006-0002 Beaudoin Family Collection. MS2011-3222 Eva Lacourse Songbook. Vermont Folklife Center Archive, Vermont Folklife Center, Middlebury, Vermont, United States of America.

Labas au pied de la colline

Là-bas, au pied de la colline

Over There at the Foot of the Hill

Labas au pied de la colline

1
Labas au pied de la colline
Tourne un petit sentier couvert
Ou fleuvit la blanche obepine
Ou pousse le goudrier vert
C’est la qu’un soir loin du village
En causant Pierre m’entraina

Refrain
Grand maman Grand maman
Dans votre jeune age
Vous avez du passer par la
Grand-maman grand-maman
Vous avez du passer par la

2
C’est un chemin ou l’arbre pousse
Ou les pas ne font aucun bruit
Ou l’on vous dit d’une voix douce
Des mots qui vous trouble l’esprit
A deux sous le ciel qui scintilla
Pour reve a qu’on est bien la

Refrain
Grand-maman grandmaman
Etant jeune fille
Vous avez du passer par la
Grandmaman grandmaman
Vous avez du passer par la

3
L’oiseau dormais sur le feuillage
Le parfum dormait dans les fleurs
Tout se taisais dans la nature
L’amour seul parlais dans nos coeur
Mais quand on a qu’une penser
Pour se le dire on est bien la

Refrain
Grandmaman grandmaman
Etant fiancé vous avez du passer par la
Grandmaman grandmaman vous avez du passer par la

4
Nous nous penchions de temp a autre
Sous les rameaux qui s’en lacais
Nous marchions si pres l’un de l’autre
Que nos soufflé se confondais
Enfin il faut bien tout vous dire
Dans trois jour on nous mariera

Refrain
Grandmaman grandmaman
Je vous voit sourire
Vous avez du passer par la
Grandmaman grandmaman
Vous avez du passer par la

Fin