"''Complainte pour Ste. Catherine''" is a song written by Canadians

Philippe Tatartcheff Philippe Tatartcheff (born in Geneva, Switzerland) is a Canadian poet and songwriter. He is best known as the lyricist who wrote French language songs recorded by folk duo Kate & Anna McGarrigle. Origins and early life Tatartcheff's family was or ...

and

Anna McGarrigle Anna McGarrigle, CM (born December 4, 1944) is a Canadian folk music singer and songwriter who recorded and performed with her late sister Kate McGarrigle. Early life Anna McGarrigle studied at the École des beaux-arts de Montréal (1964-1968) ...

. It was originally used as a B-side to another single, "''Hommage à Henri Richard''", which was written by McGarrigle and Richard Baker, and released in April 1974. It was intended to coincide with the ''

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal Canadiens (), officially ' ( Canadian Hockey Club) and colloquially known as the Habs, are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal. The Canadiens compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic D ...

'' entry into the 1974

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

playoffs, but failed to succeed commercially after the Canadiens lost to the

New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in New York City. The Rangers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The team plays ...

Kate & Anna McGarrigle Kate McGarrigle (February 6, 1946 – January 18, 2010) and Anna McGarrigle (born December 4, 1944) were a duo of folk rock and country folk Canadian singer-songwriters (and sisters) from Quebec, who performed together until Kate's death in 2010 ...

then reused it for their debut album, ''

'', released in December 1975, where it became a smash hit.

Meaning

The lyrics are politically jokey, sung in the persona of a poor girl hanging around

Sainte-Catherine street Sainte-Catherine Street ( ) () is the primary commercial artery of Downtown Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It crosses the central business district from west to east, beginning at the corner of Claremont Avenue and de Maisonneuve Boulevard in Wes ...

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, where in winter she and her buddies take advantage of the rising heat from the

metro Metro may refer to: Geography * Metro City (Indonesia), a city in Indonesia * A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center Public transport * Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urban area with high ...

tunnel outlets, and in summer they continue the endless battle against

mosquito Mosquitoes, the Culicidae, are a Family (biology), family of small Diptera, flies consisting of 3,600 species. The word ''mosquito'' (formed by ''Musca (fly), mosca'' and diminutive ''-ito'') is Spanish and Portuguese for ''little fly''. Mos ...

es. The Piaf-style plangent tune and heartrending harmonies undercut the devil-may-care tone of the lyrics, giving the song a tone of acerbic sweetness.

Other versions

The original French version was covered by

Kirsty MacColl Kirsty Anna MacColl (, ; 10 October 1959 – 18 December 2000) was a British singer and songwriter. The daughter of folk singer Ewan MacColl, she recorded several pop hits in the 1980s and 1990s, including "There's a Guy Works Down the Chip Shop ...

as a bonus track on the CD edition of her 1989 album ''Kite''. ''Les Country Girls'' covered the song on their 2013 album ''Parties pour la gloire''. It was covered in Danish by the singer

Anne-Grete Anne-Grete Rendtorff (born 1947) is a Danish singer, who was most popular in the 1980s. She was a member of Van Dango in the period 1975-1981.''Varm og dejlig. Portræt: Anne Grete'' Portræt: Anne Grete 27.07.1991 In 1980 she launched her solo ca ...

on her debut album in 1980 under the title "''Vintertur på strøget''". With lyrics in Swedish by

Ola Magnell Nils Olaus Lennart Karl Magnell (20 January 1946 – 6 February 2020) was a Swedish pop-rock singer and guitarist. His works were first put out by Metronome Records in the 1970s. References External links

* 1946 births 2020 deaths ...

as "''Ingen kommer undan politiken''" ("No-one escapes politics"), the song was recorded by

Marie Bergman Marie Bergman (born 21 November 1950) is a Swedish singer. Between 1969 and 1972, she was a member in the pop group Family Four, which represented Sweden at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1971 and 1972. She started her solo career in 1974. Sh ...

on the

1977 Events January * January 8 – 1977 Moscow bombings, Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (no ...

album '' Närma mej'', and by

Marie Fredriksson Gun-Marie Fredriksson (; 30 May 1958 – 9 December 2019) was a Swedish singer, songwriter, pianist, and lead vocalist of pop-rock duo Roxette, which she formed in 1986 with Per Gessle. The duo achieved international success in the late 1980s an ...

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

on the album ''

Min bäste vän ''Min bäste vän'' (''My Best Friend'') is the seventh studio album by Swedish singer-songwriter Marie Fredriksson, released on 14 June 2006 by Capitol Records in conjunction with Fredriksson's own independent record label Mary Jane/Amelia Music ...

''.Svensk mediadatabas, accessdate: 22 November 2013
/ref> The Marie Fredriksson version was also released as a digital single on 25 July 2006. It was the second

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

released from

's cover album ''

'' (My best friend), on both physical and digital formats. A

promotional single A promotional recording, promo, or plug copy is an audio or video recording distributed free, usually in order to promote a recording that is or soon will be commercially available. Promos are normally sent directly to broadcasters, such as mu ...

(0946 3707622 4) was also released. "I owned the record by Kate and Anna McGarrigle and I was blown away by the way they sang it", Marie says. The Marie Fredriksson version was also released as both a CD and digital singles on 25 July 2006.

Format of Fredriksson's version

Digital download
(July 25, 2006) #"''Ingen kommer undan politiken''" - 3:44 Swedish promotional CD
(0946 3707622 4; July 25, 2006) #"''Ingen kommer undan politiken''" - 3:44

Personnel on Fredriksson's version

*Vocals: Marie Fredriksson *Keyboards and backing vocals: Mikael Bolyos *Guitar: Jokke Pettersson *Accordion: Bengan Jansson *Violin: Kalle Moraeus *Banjo: Edmund Benjamin *Drums: Per Lindvall *Bass: Sven Lindvall *Backing vocals:

Vincent Pontare Fred Vincent Pontare (born 13 May 1980) is a Swedish songwriter, producer, and singer. He is also known by the mononym Vincent. He regularly collaborates with Salem Al Fakir as songwriting, producer, and duo Vargas & Lagola. Together, they have ...

*Produced and arranged by: Mikael Bolyos *Recorded by: Mikael Bolyos at Studio Vinden, and Roger Krieg at Cosmos Studio

References

{{authority control French-language Canadian songs Marie Fredriksson songs 2006 singles 1974 songs Kate & Anna McGarrigle songs