I just learned about this tune and its message (see video immediately below). Apparently, the on-screen translation on the YouTube video is not very good, so below it I added a translation that purports to be better.
“Dégénération,” by Mes Aïeux is a fun bit of folk music, but the message is clearly a condemnation of what modernity has done to the people of French Canada. Some commenters pointed out that the text provided by the YouTuber during the purely instrumental part of the music shows he rather missed the point of the tune.
Even though it is not confessionally Catholic in its lyrics, the song appears to represent a rise in Catholic consciousness.
More beneath the video…
Dégénération (English Translation of Lyrics)
Your great-great-grandfather, he cleared the land
Your great-grandfather, he worked the land
And then your grandfather, he made the land profitable
And then your father sold it, to become a civil servantAnd you young man, don’t know what to do anymore
In your tiny one-bedroom apartment, way too expensive and cold in winter
You get urges to become a land-owner yourself
And you dream at night, of having your own little plot of landYour great-great-grandmother, she had fourteen children
Your great-grandmother, had nearly as many
And then your grandmother decided three was enough
And then your mother wanted none, you were an accidentAnd you young lady, you change partners all the time
When you do something stupid, you escape trouble with abortion
But sometimes in the morning, you wake up in tears
After you’ve dreamed at night, of a large table surrounded by childrenYour great-great-grandfather, lived in dire poverty
Your great-grandfather, only had pennies
And then your grandfather, a miracle! He became a millionaire
And then your father inherited it, he put it all in his RRSPsAnd you youngsters, owe your butts to government
No way to get a loan from any bank
To resist the urge to commit robbery
You read books about voluntary simplicityYour great-great-grandparents, they knew how to party
Your great-grandparents, danced a lot in night gatherings
And your grandparents, lived in the “Yé-Yé” time
Your parents had the disco, it’s where they metAnd you my friend, how are you spending you evenings?
Close your TV, one must not always stay home
Fortunately, in life, certain things will never change
Put on your nicest clothes… Because tonight we’re going dancing
Here is another, more serious, or at least more direct, expression of this condemnation of modernity in the name of Catholic tradition: two embedded YouTube videos on the same subject, an “Open Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church in French Canada.” Very encouragingly, this movement of young French-Canadian men is explicitly Catholic and traditional. The video’s description reads:
A group of young French-Canadian Catholic men are asking their bishops to teach the traditional faith and give the spiritual leadership they say is essential to combat the nihilistic culture that tempts many to despair.
That includes allowing access to the traditional Latin Mass.
Twenty-nine men between the ages of 18 to 44, including university students, a doctor and two lawyers, signed an open letter titled “We Ask for Faith: Open Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church in French Canada”
(Lifesite News ran a story on this letter.)
The first video on this subject is by the Anglo-Canadian, Faith Goldy:
The second video on the “Open Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church in French Canada” is a conversation between Dr. E. Michael Jones and one of the letter’s co-signers, Mr. Vincent Benetar. This interview gives some interesting background of the Quiet Revolution, something of which we Anglophone Americans are far too ignorant:
