I first heard about Gilles Vigneault from a Beauceronne named Catherine Jacques from St-Joseph-de-Beauce that I was courting in 1968. She would sing some of the songs written by Gilles Vigneault, whom she had met at MAGPIE on Quebec's North Shore. She also would sing other songs written by Gilles Vigneault including "Mon Pays."

The song however was made a hit by Patsy Gallant the Acadienne who was born in Campbellton, New Brunswick, the very same place the Rene Levesque was born. She made 'MON PAYS' a hit when she sang it under its English title: "MY LAND." The Quebecois were insulted that she sang the song in English. But these very same people did not find it offensive to sing Irving Berlin's WHITE CHRISTMAS under the Joual name of NOEL BLANCHE. As usual they felt that the rules did not apply to themselves.

Gilles Vigneault was certainly not in the Irving Berlin class, but in that cultural wasteland Quebec, that province devoid of any real talent, Gilles Vigneault was considered a genius. A man not known for any special talent became a song writer, because of Quebec's dearth of talent. (The old saying comes to mind: "In the kingdom of FOOLS the biggest IDIOT usually is King!")

Gilles Vigneault, like most Quebecois, was every bit a Metis but insisted on calling himself Quebecois or French (the latent inferiority complex within the Quebecois psyche). Although he looked every bit an Indian, right down to his Roman nose, Gilles Vigneault insisted on being called a Quebecois or French.

"Mon Pays" may be considered a 'national-anthem-in-waiting' but given that Quebec will never be a nation, that wait will be a long time.

If one thinks about Quebec logically, one can only conclude that the Quebecois are stuck in an era of PIPE DREAMS. Pipe Dreams may be all that they can afford, but they will have to pay for themselves, the OPIUM that they smoke in the PIPE.
 
Kenneth T. Tellis