Lyrics to
Un Canadien Errant (The Lost Canadian)

This version of Un Canadien Errant (The Lost Canadian) was released by Leonard Cohen in 1979.

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Un Canadien Errant (A wandering Canadian,)
Banni de ses foyers, (banned from his hearths,)
Parcourait en pleurant (travelled while crying)
Des pays etrangers. (in foreign lands.)
Parcourait en pleurant (travelled while crying)
Des pays etrangers. (in foreign lands.)
Un jour, triste et pensif, (One day, sad and pensive,)
Assis au bord des flots, (sitting by the flowing waters,)
Au courant fugitif (to the fleeing current)
Il adressa ces mots: (he addressed these words:)
Au courant fugitif (to the fleeing current)
Il adressa ces mots: (he addressed these words:)

“Si tu vois mon pays, (If you see my country,)
Mon pays malheureux, (my unhappy country,)
Va dire a mes amis (go tell my friends)
Que je me souviens d’eux. (that I remember them.)
Va dire a mes amis (go tell my friends)
Que je me souviens d’eux. (that I remember them.)

O jours si pleins d’appas, (O days so full of charms,)
Vous etes disparus… (you have vanished…)
Et ma patrie, helas! (And my native land, alas!)
Je ne la verrai plus. (I will see it no more.)
Et ma patrie, helas! (And my native land, alas!)
Je ne la verrai plus. (I will see it no more.)

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Leonard Cohen has released many songs over the years besides Un Canadien Errant (The Lost Canadian). Leonard Cohen released songs from 1967 to 2004 spanning across albums like Songs Of Leonard Cohen, Songs From A Room, Songs Of Love And Hate, New Skin For The Old Ceremony, Death Of A Ladies' Man, Recent Songs, Various Positions, I'm Your Man, The Future, Ten New Songs, and Dear Heather. Decade Lyrics has over lyrics & songs by Leonard Cohen.

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About Lyrics and Un Canadien Errant (The Lost Canadian) by Leonard Cohen

The lyrics for Un Canadien Errant (The Lost Canadian) are defined as the words making up the song released by Leonard Cohen in 1979. It also includes the verses and words used by the background chorus in the song. Like many hit songs, the lyrics to Un Canadien Errant (The Lost Canadian) have different meanings to different people. While it is clear in some of the lyrics what the artist is trying to really say, only Leonard Cohen and those working with them know all of the meanings behind all of the lyrics to their songs.

Some folks are interested in word and phrase etymology. It is easy to understand the lyrics to Un Canadien Errant (The Lost Canadian) by Leonard Cohen if you think through it. The word "lyric" itself derives from the Latin word lyricus, with the actual English word lyrics applied to the definition "words set to music" listed in Stainer and Barrett's 1876 Dictionary of Musical Terms. Continuing the chain, the Latin word lyricus derives from the Greek word λυρικός or lyrikós. This somewhat means "poetry accompanied by the lyre" or "words set to music." You can easily see that by looking at the background of the word lyric, that the "lyrics to Un Canadien Errant (The Lost Canadian)" means the words set to the music of Un Canadien Errant (The Lost Canadian), or poetry accompanied by the lyre played by Leonard Cohen. The singular form "lyric" is still used to mean the complete words to a song. However, the singular form lyric is also commonly used to refer to a specific line (or phrase) within a song's lyrics. Hence, by this analysis of word structure, you could say that the lyric to Un Canadien Errant (The Lost Canadian) and the lyrics to Un Canadien Errant (The Lost Canadian) are both one and the same thing. None of this talk about the word Lyrics is really relevant to fans of Leonard Cohen who came here looking just for the lyrics to Un Canadien Errant (The Lost Canadian), but we feel it is still fun to learn what's behind commonly used words and lyrics in songs.

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