Quand les hommes vivront d'amour

'Quand les hommes vivront d'amour'
'Quand les hommes vivront d'amour'. A classic of 1950s chanson québécoise. Its simple melody and its humane and generous lyrics (both by Raymond Lévesque, 1956) made it a great success and ensured its survival despite changing pop styles. A testament to the unending quest for justice and brotherhood, it nevertheless faces the realities of life in which, if there are winners, inevitably there must be losers. The song has been performed or recorded in France by such stars as Bourvil, Eddie Constantine, Jean Sablon, and Cora Vaucaire and recorded in Quebec by its composer (on Chansons et monologues, Raymond Lévesque, on Raymond Lévesque chante les travailleurs, and on 5 Chansonniers - le disque d'or) and by Raymond Berthiaume, the Disciples de Massenet, the Famille Brassard, the Les Jérolas, Pauline Julien, Offenbach, Michel Louvain, and Simone Quesnel. Nathalie Simard, René Simard, Nicole Croisille, Fernand Gignac, Félix Leclerc, Gilles Vigneault, and Robert Charlebois revived the song at the Superfrancofête in Quebec City in 1974, and their performance was recorded (Productions du 13 août VLC-13). The song was published by Éditions Eddie Barclay (Neuilly-sur-Seine, France, 1956) and later by the Société d'éditions musicales internationales. The song's title is shared by a two collections of Lévesque's songs, poems, and monologues published in Quebec City (1968) and in Montreal (1989).

Author Bruno Roy