The Long and Windy Road
Listening Post 275. Quebec’s Route 132—stretching 1,000 miles (1,600 km), up the St. Lawrence all the way to Gaspé but skirting major cities—is a good metaphor for the journey of Erik and Sonny Caouette, who specialize in folk songs about family, friendship and small-town life. And like a highway, a thread connects the duo’s albums: Nous Autres (We Ourselves), the 2015 debut that made them an overnight sensation and earned two Félix awards (Quebec’s most prestigious music prize); La Route (The Road), asserting a commitment to constancy of style in an age of relentless change, and bringing another Félix; and now À tous les vents (Every Wind), focusing on precious time and the challenge that life on the road poses for relationships. The home-versus-away theme fits any travel-heavy career and it’s central to the 2Frères saga: They spent years on the road before their first album and until coronavirus were in almost perpetual motion, aided by artistic director Steve Marin, “the third brother,” who writes most of their songs, allowing them more time to tour. The new album’s title track describes a couple living in serenity, but a highway runs through the notes: “No matter what comes/Or whichever path we take/We will weather/Every wind” (video 1). Smooth harmonies heighten the bittersweet strains of Faut qu’j’y aille (I Have to Go, video 2), describing departure as going against gusty winds; and Pour Quelques Heures (For a Few Hours, video 3), about a fleeting homecoming. There’s joyous respite in Toute en blanc (All in White, video 4), the narration of a wedding ceremony. And on the bonus track the brothers opt for humor with Snack-bar Chez Raymond (video 5), the story of a no-star restaurant located, so the lyric says, “just off Route 132.” Much work, much rubber on asphalt go into making À tous les vents sound like a breeze. (MP3 Disques)
2 Frères: À Tous Les Vents
Erik Caouette: Vocals, acoustic guitars
Sonny Caouette: Vocals, guitars
Steve Marin: Guitars, vocals
Gautier Marinof: Guitars, keyboards, programming
Samuel Joly: Drums, percussions
Daniel Hubert: Bass
Dimitri Lebel-Alexandre: Pedal steel guitar, lap steel guitar, banjo
Daniel Thouin: Piano
Related Posts. 2Frères: Nous Autres, Listening Post 76, December 5, 2016
2Frères: La Route, Listening Post 151, May 22, 2018
À tous les vents / Every Wind
Lyrics: Steve Marin/Music: Steve Marin, 2Frères
(From the French lyrics)
We don’t fight anymore
We live in serenity/Through the ups and downs
Believing in only one law
Wishing to be moved only by what/Is perfect for one another
Even as night falls
And the wind turns/To the sound of your beating heart
No matter what comes/Or whichever path we follow
Life, death, friendship
It doesn’t matter, we will weather/Every wind
There’s an end to the world out there
But that won’t stop us/From laughing out loud
We don’t search for happiness
Because we tell other all the time/That we are already there
Even as night falls/And the wind turns
According to your beating heart
No matter what comes/Or whichever path we follow
Life, death, friendship
It doesn’t matter, we will weather/Every wind
As if everything could stop tomorrow/As if we were afraid of nothing
Let the wind rise and lift the roof
No matter what comes
No matter what anyone says/Or whatever happens
No matter which path we follow/Life, love, friendship
It doesn’t matter, we will weather/Every wind
Faut qu’j’y aille / I Have to Go
Lyrics: Steve Marin/Music: Steve Marin, Gautier Marinof
It’s on the horizon/Like another season
The kind of thing that brings/Peace into our home
We get back on the carousel/We go fishing again
Feel our hearts in every sense
I don’t have a choice/I have to go
They are waiting for me there/The routine is about to begin
I have to go/Even though I don’t like
Going against the gusty winds
I have to go/But I’ll be back
I can see us in the finals
Well, I have to go/They’re waiting for me there
I’ve gotta get on the road
I can see it on the horizon/I’m not sure why
A voice speaking softly to me/Hum this song
We’re back on the carousel/Back to fishing
Feeling our hearts in every sense
I don’t have a choice/I have to go
They are waiting for me there/The routine is about to begin
I have to go/Even though I don’t like
Going against the gusty winds
I have to go/But I’ll be back
I can see us in the finals
Well, I have to go/They’re waiting for me there
I’ve gotta get on the road
And then I see light/All life on earth
Billions of stars/Secrets of the Universe
Then I know how to make it/Until the next homecoming
Pour Quelques Heures / For a Few Hours
Lyrics & music: Reney Ray
Six hours in the car to get home/Under the moon that shines pretty much everywhere
I think about your love for me/And it pains me
Our life is complicated/You’re in school and I can’t stay
My work keeps me far away/And all this makes you cry
I tell you to stay strong/I know it’s not easy
I get to see the whole country/While you’re all alone in our apartment
I tell you that it won’t be long/But both of us well know
That it’s not the time that makes us lie to each other
But if you’re on the verge of telling me/That our love isn’t worth all this…
In few hours/You’ll see that we still love each other
When your head is resting on my heart
For a few hours/I can hold you tight
And believe that there is some happiness left/For a few hours
The road gets longer and longer/Looking like it has no end
Four hundred kilometers to go/Before I reach my sweetheart
I’d like to drop everything and stay with you
Cursed fate, or society/Make us slaves to everything we owe
But don’t let go before/I can buy us some time
For a few hours/I can forget the road
In the comfort of your scent
For a few hours/Let me love you so much
And lose myself in your warmth
For a few hours/You’ll see that we still love each other
When your head is resting on my heart
For a few hours/I can hold you tight
And believe that there is some happiness left/For a few hours
Tout en blanc / All in White
Lyrics & music: Amélie Larocque
Let hurricanes come/You are stronger than anything
You’ve wanted this for a long time and just at the right time
He got on his knees and said, “I love you madly”
It takes hard times and good strokes/To find yourself, to go further
When we find ourselves still standing/It’s not just fate
But because we to keep love alive
I’ve never seen such a beautiful church
To celebrate your big day/Surrounded by so many friends
I never thought seeing you all in white would make me cry so much
It takes so much courage these days/To make the promise to love forever
We all draw a big picture/Dreams that we throw at the universe
We’re never really sure of what’s going to happen/When we jump into the water we hold on to what is beautiful
I’ve never seen such a beautiful church
To celebrate your big day/Surrounded by so many friends
I never thought seeing you all in white would make me cry so much
It takes so much courage these days/To make the promise to love forever
Let hurricanes come/You are stronger than anything
Snack-bar Chez Raymond / Raymond’s Snack Bar
Lyrics & music: François Pérusse
Raymond’s Snack Bar/Raymond’s Snack Bar
Between two hollow villages/Just off Route 132
Everyone’s at Raymond’s Snack Bar
In the middle of nowhere/Occupying half of an old bus
In a small, small field/Dotted with poison ivy
Chubby waitress/Menu full of mistakes
An old picnic table/With splinters waiting for your ass
There’s a special of the day/I wouldn’t recommend it
There is a hair on your meatball/And the chef has a pickle tucked behind his ear like a pencil
A screen by the counter/To keep the flies out, or is it in?
Han han, han han, han
Raymond’s Snack Bar (chez Raymond)
Raymond’s Snack Bar (ti-gui-dong-di-dom-dé-dé-dong)
You risk an ordeal/For a burger that sinks like a stone
Everyone’s at Raymond’s Snack Bar
Old man, when you come back to eat there/It makes a bulge in your shirt
If you’re like Dolly Parton/Now you’ve got three
At night the sign lights up/Letters missing like a gap-toothed smile
Instead of “restaurant”/It says “rest rant”
Eat there/It could be worse
Seagulls in the trash cans/Eating the same meal as you
And, hey, they’re still alive, beating their wings
Raymond’s Snack Bar (oh boua di bi dou)
Raymond’s Snack Bar (gou-ge-nah-ah-woè-né-ga-né-king-gawn-gawn)
Come on, baby, let’s go/Let’s line up with the morons
Everyone’s at Raymond’s Snack Bar
Egg rolls/Chicken rolls
Everything goes better smothered in ketchup
It’s not hard to find, you drive, you drive/Can’t see anything on the horizon
Then all of a sudden/You’re there, at Raymond’s Snack Bar
(Oh oh oh oh oh …) drum solo
If you’re the type to watch what you eat/Keep an eye on your meatball
It might be served between two slices/Of a greasy hot dog
That tastes like eggs
Everyone’s at Raymond’s Snack Bar
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