Histoire de pêche [English translation]

A small Gaspesien fisherman

Followed his dad every morning

Fifteen and a half and already has sea legs

Under the glow of an old lantern

Accompanied by the stars

Took off the wind in the sails

Every day his father would tell him

When they pulled up the nets

There are so many fish in the St. Lawrence

That we will have until the end of time

At the end of 40 seasons

The father of reason

Decided to throw the anchor for good

The small Gaspesien fisherman

That was no longer a child

Happily took over for the old man

Like the fishermen from the area

He wanted to expand

Exchanged the old boat for a bigger one

We cannot stop change

The small Gaspesien fisherman

Rolled his hump cheerfully

In the seventies and eighties

And to better run his business

He took his two sons

Just like his dad had with him before

Fishing was booming

It was the time of the great records

They came back every day at low tide

The boat filled with fat cod

Then a blow to the region

Only mist on the horizon

It looked like there were fewer fish

Everywhere we denied the obvious

But the rumor ran in the cove

That one would have overestimated the abundance

Since there are no more cod

And that the catches go down

The scientists shouted: stop there!

It was necessary to impose quotas quickly

Cod will come back soon

Repeated the most optimistic

Even if many were going straight to bankruptcy

Many young people of the town

Discouraged went off in waves

There are no jobs here what do you want us to do?

When we base an economy

All on the same industry

It's like putting your eggs in one basket

We remain surprised when the basket is empty

The small Gaspesian fisherman

Could feel the sadness fill up inside him

When he sees his boys exiled in the distance

Both have dry feet

One in Montreal the other in Quebec

Never again do they smell the oder of kelp

The fish never did return

And his beautiful boat was sold

All thats left is the beautiful landscape

And his memories somewhere at sea

• Artist:Les Cowboys fringants
• Album:L'expédition (2008)