The Lebanon, a country barely visible on a world map, does not, however, pass unnoticed by most foreign artists who once had the opportunity to know him. Like Enrico Macias or Adamo who, after giving one or more concerts in Beirut, were so charmed by this region that they dedicated a work to it music, Mario Pelchat, Quebec artist, after a first show in 1996, was quick to write a song called “Les Cedars of Lebanon”.
Fascinated by the ease of exchange and contact with the Lebanese people as well as that by the warmth it gives off, Pelchat felt comfortable in this small Mediterranean country, to the point of returning there in order to satisfy its curiosity to discover Lebanese traditions and markers history and identity of the country such as Baalbeck, the Cedars, Beiteddine, etc.
Deeply marked by these discoveries, Mario Pelchat decided to write in 1999 a song for the land of cedars evoking the sad hardships endured by the Lebanese people, while emphasizing their strength, their perseverance as well as his will to live, to love and to forgive, against all odds, like its majestic symbol, the Cedar.
gaping holes
Like anthills where the homeless roam
Where once lived the people of Phoenicia
From the Orient in blood, genes and the language of Arabia
Screams, tears
And rage in the heart for so much violence
As we swim elsewhere in the rains of abundance
It’s often when we cry that we experience indifference
What are we going to say,
When danger surrounds us,
To our children who question us
To whom we try in vain to teach
The verb to love?
What are we going to do ?
Otherwise find some refuge,
Hoping for another flood
Or kill yourself to understand
And forgive
A twilight
Like the life that disappears under the rubble
Another night inventing the end of the world
A new era where we are no longer afraid of our shadow
sentries
Which remind us that we are not free
On a land we didn’t choose to inhabit
Under the anger of a god that we want to appropriate
What are we going to say,
When danger surrounds us,
To our children who question us
To whom we try in vain to teach
The verb to love?
What are we going to do ?
Otherwise trust the stars
Pray to the saints of the cathedrals
Because we are too few to understand
to forgive
A strong people
Who still believes that tomorrow will be different
Like a treasure that a giant knows how to recognize
As are, in the north, the cedars of Lebanon
(To review previous songs, please click here)