Innu-aimun or Montagnais is an Algonquian language spoken by over 8,000 people, called the Innu, in Labrador and Quebec in Eastern Canada. It is a member of the Cree–Montagnais–Naskapi dialect continuum and is spoken in various dialects depending on the community.
In recent years, Innu-aimun has had considerable exposure in the popular culture of Canada and France due to the success of the rock music band Kashtin and the later solo careers of its founders Claude McKenzie and Florent Vollant. Widely heard hit songs with Innu-language lyrics have included Ish-kuess ("Girl"), E Uassiuian ("My Childhood"), Tipatshimun ("Song of the devil") and in particular Akua tuta ("Take care of yourself"), which appeared on soundtrack compilations for the popular television series Due South and the documentary Music for The Native Americans. The lyrics of Akua Tuta are featured on over 50 websites, making this one of the most broadly accessible pieces of text written in any native North American language. Florent Vollant has also rendered several well known Christmas carols into Innu in his 1999 album Nipaiamianan.
It happened once again
You did repeat the same old story
I thought I was a friend
Until we said goodbye
Well, I don't ask of any further explanation
Leave me alone and it'll heal as time goes by
Too many times I ask myself what happened
Yet not a sign to clear my mind, where I go...
Time will find an answer
Time will find an answer
It's back to status quo
I'm on my own
All alone
but I'll be fine some day
I sometimes sit and wonder
Why you're gone, and no one there
How could it go so wrong
From what we used to share
I don't pretend to be the one who understand
There's still a question mark left in an empty hand
Too many times I asked myself what happened
Yet not a sign to clear my mind, where I go...
It's back to status quo
I'm on my own
All alone
but I'll be fine some day
Time will find an answer
Time will find an answer
Submitted by Michael Hack
I try to reach out but all I can see
Is the writing on the wall which tells me
You're trying too hard to play someone's game
so who's to cry or who's to blame
Don't pretend it's such a shame
You're flying high but on your own
not on wings but dreams alone
but don't be sorry
come on come on now
Be aware the game will never share
The burden you seem to bear
Somehow, sometimes or somewhere
You will be there
The mountain is high and I'm far from the top
But miles behind I see the wall still saying stop
Don't pretend it's such a shame
You're flying high but on your own
not on wings but dreams alone
but don't be sorry
come on come on now
Be aware the game will never share
The burden you seem to bear
Somehow, sometimes or somewhere,
you will be there
It's time to wake up
And I'm the only one to stop
Face the world a new tomorrow
Forget about a play of illusions
and go back to the wall
You're flying high but on your own
not on wings but dreams alone
but don't be sorry
come on come on now
Be aware the game will never share
The burden you seem to bear
Submitted by Michael Hack
Come on with me to the centre of my dreams
Listen to the feeling of your soul
Just forget about the hard times left behind
And think of where you really wanna go
Let me show you where you wanna be
Let me show you where you can be free
Let me take you to the place I know
Let me take you with me come, let's go
Come down town
In the city there's a lot of fun
Down down town (whoa-oo-whoa-oo-whoa-oo-whoa)
Come down town
Let's go ahead don't turn around
Down down town (whoa-oo-whoa-oo-whoa-oo-whoa)
Think of all the times when you were down and out
Had no money and no place to go
Think of all the times when you were on your own
No one seemed to care no friends, no love
Let me show you where you wanna be
Let me show you where you can be free
Let me take you to the place I know
Let me take you with me come, let's go
Come down town
In the city there's a lot of fun
Down down town (whoa-oo-whoa-oo-whoa-oo-whoa)
Come down town
Let's go ahead don't turn around
Down down town (whoa-oo-whoa-oo-whoa-oo-whoa)
I will take all of the shadows right away
Into Soho and a brighter day
Loosen up (oo-oo-oo-oo-oo-oo-oo)
We can live a life of happiness in style
piano solo
Come downtown
Down downtown (whoa-oo-whoa-oo-whoa-oo-whoa)
Come downtown
Down downtown (whoa-oo-whoa-oo-whoa-oo-whoa)
Come downtown
Down downtown (whoa-oo-whoa-oo-whoa-oo-whoa)
(FADE:)
Come downtown
Submitted by Michael Hack
Time has come to let you know what's going on
what is left now there's nothing there
in my mind it is all going wrong
and what I need is someone else to care
Spend the nights with someone else than me
it's not the way I really want a man
Chasing girls was all that you could see
and now the time has come to understand
Tell me who can live with all the pain that you create
I'm leaving time has come to tell you it's too late
What I'll do I'll find myself
another man another lover
Somebody that I can hold
You're the reason that I want
Another man another love
Not anyone like you or just as cold
Oh I can move I'll be dancing in the street
but to the beat that I myself desire
Standing still is not the way to move your feet
but my heart was never there for hire
Tell me who can live with all the pain that you create
I'm leaving time has come to tell you it's too late
What I'll do I'll find myself
another man another lover
Somebody that I can hold
You're the reason that I want
Another man another love
Not anyone like you or just as cold
Submitted by Michael Hack
For each and every minute
Past and present all within it
I know what you've been hiding
Secrets of your soul is frightning
So you just disappear...
I just want to get out of here
I can feel in my heart
That I got to get out
I remember the promise made
when we try to go on
It is time to be strong, so strong
Following blind and naked
into memories, holy, sacred
But it's under control...
I just want to get out of here
I can feel in my heart
That I got to get out
I remember the promise made
when we try to go on
It is time to be strong, so strong
Submitted by Michael Hack
Can't live this kind of existence
Why is there so much resistance?
Come take my hand
I try but I can't keep tryin'
You can't catch a bird when it's flyin'
It's time to land
You're circling like a hawk on his own
You're circling like a hawk on his own
Born to be alone
You don't take the love I show you
Are you scared I may get to know you
It's time to land
You're circling like a hawk on his own
You're circling like a hawk on his own
Born to be alone
I could fly away one day
Maybe then you'll change your way
Won't you let me capture you
You're circling like a hawk on his own
You're circling like a hawk on his own
Born to be alone
Submitted by Michael Hack
You're the reason that I'm lonely
You're the reason I'm so worried
You're the reason that I'm here now
You're the reason to beware of
You're the reason that I'm fighting
You're the reason of the letters I was writing
You're the reason that I'm here now
So just tell me where am I going?
You're the reason
You're the very reason
that I'm lonely
You're the reason I was trying
You're the reason I was crying
You're the reason
you said goodbye
Come to me and stay with me once more
Come and let us once again recall that
Submitted by Michael Hack
Years ago
I set out for the real world
Friends they wished me luck and said goodbye
I've had enough
of big time and adventure
I'm longing for a home and you'll see why
I will tell you why
Come with me
Come with me
to my city
Come with me
Come with me
Welcome to my city
Welcome to my precious home
Welcome to my city
This is where I now belong
Come with me (o-o-o-oh)
Come with me (o-o-o-oh)
to my city
Come with me (o-o-o-oh)
Come with me (o-o-o-oh)
To the place we all belong
Things have changed
My neighbour just got married
She was just a kid not long ago
The milkman died
The mayor has retired
My friends are not the ones I used to know
It's not that long ago
Come with me
Come with me
to my city
Come with me
Come with me
Welcome to my city
Welcome to my precious home
Welcome to my city
This is where I now belong
Come with me (o-o-o-oh)
Come with me (o-o-o-oh)
to my city
Come with me (o-o-o-oh)
Come with me (o-o-o-oh)
To the place we all belong
Since it was built it's getting old
But people care, there is a warmth, there is a soul
It is a place where everyone will get along
for many years to come
Welcome to my city
Welcome to my precious home
Welcome to my city
This is where I now belong
Submitted by Michael Hack
I am walking, walking through the night
while I'm sleeping, sleeping through my life
Too late to stop me
Too late to stop now, cause I'm going down
Why must you always go away
when I'm nearly there
Why must you always be afraid
When I'm nearly there
I want to hold you and keep you in my thinking
Thinking all too much
but I'm trying, trying to keep in touch
Too late to stop me
Too late to stop me now, cause I'm going down
Why must you always go away
when I'm nearly there
Why must you always be afraid
When I'm nearly there
I want to hold you and keep you in my mind
Submitted by Michael Hack
See the clown on the wall
The one with the love in her eyes
My guilt and my joy
a tool and a little toy
not a word, only friendly eyes
meant for love, help and advice
Even though I'm out of the game
You're there just the same
How come that you'll understand
when I'm confused and out of hand
Oh, I'll never say goodbye
to a friend like you
Submitted by Michael Hack
I used to know, where are you coming from
this can't go on you've gotta stop
Hiding or running away
You're not my type I gotta say
You're just a man on the run
You're just a man on the run
Playing with life having fun
you're just a man, a man on the run
I hope one day, you will wake up a man
You can't go on, it's gotta stop
Face what you've done, it's a shame
Call off the game, I've gotta say
You're just a man on the run
You're just a man on the run
Playing with life having fun
you're just a man, a man on the run
Submitted by Michael Hack
Downtown
One 2 Many
Come now with me to the centre of my dreams
Listen to the feelings of your soul
Just forget about the hard times left behind
And think of where you really want to go
Let me show you where you want to be
Let me show you where you can be free
Let me take you to the place I know
Let me take you with me -- come, let's go
Come downtown -- in the city there's a lot of fun
Down downtown, wo wo wo wo
Come downtown -- let's go ahead, don't turn around
Down downtown, wo wo wo wo
Think of all the times when you were down and out
Had no money and no place to go
Think of all the times when you were on your own
No-one seemed to care, no friends, no love
Let me show you where you want to be
Let me show you where you can be free
Let me take you to the place I know
Let me take you with me -- come, let's go
Come downtown -- in the city there's a lot of fun
Down downtown, wo wo wo wo
Come downtown -- let's go ahead, don't turn around
Down downtown, wo wo wo wo
I will take all of the shadows right away
Into Soho and a brighter day
Loosen up
We can live a life of happiness and style
From: Starlawill
aol.com
Hey, guys, can't you see
rock is a crime?
We're bullets in your ears
and you will cry when we collide
You better watch out
You'll never
get better
Accept it'll last forever
You'll never
Get out alive
And if you want to join the family
You shouldn't give up that easily
Do you really want to join the family?
It's time for us to change the world,
it's time for us to change
You better run
You better hide
'Cause we're the Mafia
The rockin' Mafia
Rock drowns people
Down the river side
It´s gonna hunt you
down 'bout every single time you lie
You broke my trust
And I believed trusting you
Nothing about us
And all the things we´ve been through
So now I find it and my friends have found it, too
But today it´s gonna come all back to you
Stand up, get in line are you afraid to let go?
Stand up, get in line ´cause I am out of control!
Stand up, get in line are you afraid to let go?
Stand up, get in line are you afraid?
Don´t let your feelings dictate
What your life is
And don´t let your soul be the price
You´ve got to roll the dice!
Someone, someone will be taken abway from here
Someone, someone´s gotta go
Someone, someone will be chosen to pay the price
You´ve got to roll the dice
I think I must,
Believe in someone like you
Not left with our trust
Theres only one thing to do
So now I find it and my fools will find it, too
But today it´s gonna come all back to you
Stand up, get in line are you afraid to let go?
Stand up, get in line ´cause I am out of control!
Stand up, get in line are you afraid to let go?
Stand up, get in line are you afraid?
Don´t let your feelings dictate
What your life is
And don´t let your soul be the price
You´ve got to roll the dice!
Someone, someone will be taken abway from here
Someone, someone´s gotta go
Someone, someone will be chosen to pay the price
You´ve got to roll the dice
Someday we´ll die, someday we´ll die...
Someday we´ll die
Let´s celebrate our heartbeat
While we´re still alive
So, is it lonely where you are?
'Cause nowhere else could be that far
So you're
sittin in the bathroom,
sittin in the bathroom
all the time
And you say to yourself:
"It's gonna be all right."
Sittin in the bathroom,
sittin in the bathroom
time goes by
And you hallucinate
and dream of summertime
- gone by
You close your eyes and start to sway
As all your problems drift away
So you're
sittin in the bathroom,
sittin in the bathroom
all the time
And you say to yourself:
"It's gonna be all right."
Sittin in the bathroom,
sittin in the bathroom
time goes by
And you hallucinate
and dream of summertime
- gone by
No, you won't
No! You won't cry
You are so cold, my
personal goldmine
YOU!
And I dig, and I dig
but I just can not get
inside you
Bother
and take me away
To where I
can't go and can't stay
Break me
or break me into
Waste me
An infant stares at the sky
Covered by the Starlights
Amazement fills his sparkly eyes
An infant learns to smile again
Covered by the gentle Moonlight
All of his sorrows were not in vain
...feeling so safely naked
Finally the clouds are exploding
Down down the rain is pouring
Hearing new colored birds sing
And fantasies breathing
Landed in a dream of deep enchantments
Overwhelmed by new warmth into my chest
Feelings of pleasure running into my body
I open my eyes and forever let go
An infant bathes in the light
Covered by Moon's serenity
Feeling that with his wings, to fly, he might
...a universe where...
Wilderness is full of wisdom
And where the wisdom is wild
Where Angels are better seductress
Then Gaia's darker child's
...now that my garden richly grows
"Because the beginning of purity is too often blasphemy"
(written by: Philippe Beauvais)
I still forever remember
the first time I heard
delightful sounds of hope
and the fire burning the rope
I could not hide my tears away
from this divine beauty
it feels like I had never
lost my heart at all
(chorus)
Waves of passionate tenderness
Angel of all angels lending me her shoulder
Mystical garden growing in the Dark
I still forever remember
the feeling I had
of a new world revealing
and its dawning dream
I discovered
a very long lost child
who opened his eyes
and was inspired by the Moonlight
(chorus)
Waves of passionate tenderness
Angel of all angels lending me her shoulder
Suddenly,
The Moonlight shines to me
It reaches me, into my humble bedroom
Suddenly,
I feel that I could flee
Magically,
It seems that I can see
All the eyes, from forests that never dies
Suddenly,
The tears fall into me
Through the trees, on the ground
Lies the light sought for so long
Through the branches and the caves
Sings a voice with unknown words
Suddenly,
Seems a voice into me
Sings to me, in unspoken tongues
Magically,
Her words I can now see
Telling me,
Soon you will see the sea
Fly the sky, and ride the stars
Telling me,
She is Eternity
Suddenly,
She opened all my ears
And I heard such wonders
I have heard,
Enchanting melodies
From the roses and from the thunder
This is all,
That I can make of it
Alright, tonight we will climb to the sky
We will ride the stars tonight
I flee
And you fly
We fly
Tonight
In the sky
Tonight
We'll ride the stars
So far
Waiting
Midnight to ring
A lullaby for this wonderful night, climbing the stars
A melody that makes the big monsters sleepy
Flying
In new born spring
We sing
The hymn
Of new born stars
A melody playing with the feeling
Of when Midnight Rings
A magic kingdom
Unveils to my wide eyes
Revealing to me
How to ride the stars
Just hold on tight and
Don't close your eyes
You will soon see the Moonlight
Cruel Beauties
(written by: Philippe Beauvais)
Take my hand
I will never let you fall again
Lay your head on my breast
I need you to feel my beating heart
Closely... in you...
So many tears were shed
Like rivers who cannot find rain
So many frozen dreams
Broken by the tortured wind
But all this time it was there
The misty sounds of the deep sea
And now by the snow its melody echoes... oh oh
Making its way to my ears
Never will a snow flake
Lay again in purple gardens
Never will one living wonder
Be all alone again
Beyond this Forever-Night
The dead grey fades away
Beyond the night's crisped sky
The Moonlight gently smiles
Closely... in me...
Take my hand
I will never let you fall again
Lay your head on my breast
I need you to feel my beating heart...
Closely into your frail body
So many mysteries
Lies in the sea's Cruel Beauties
So many living wonders
Sing their dreams to others
Never will I doubt again
The return of the rain
Never will I feel again
The fear of the Crystal pain
Beyond her motherly hands
Is where all the beauty stands
Beyond her comforting breast
(by: Philippe Beauvais)
Oh what a night
Dancing with the romantic breeze of spring
Feels like I could fly with my wings
My new purple wings
Oh what a site
Dandelions play with me in the park
Feels like my eyes now hold a spark
A new mystic spark
Sing once again with me the melancholy
And all the things we cannot see
Sing once again with me just a piece of truth and then we'll see
Just how seldom is our wisdom
Oh what a smile
A child has when his daddy comes back from work
The child doesn't see he's gone berserk
There's too much work
Oh what a scream
A child makes when some monsters shakes its bed
Their teeth's are brown, their eyes are red
And I think it sounds fun
Sing once again with me the melancholy
And all the things we cannot see
Sing once again with me just a piece of truth and then we'll see
Just how seldom is our wisdom
"The romantic breeze inspires rainbow twirling petals
to dance with me where the Moonlight shines"
Oh what a spell
Changes city parks into magic realms?
Let's not say who is the lovely witch
Behind all of this
Sing once again with me the melancholy
And all the things we cannot see
Sing once again with me just a piece of truth and then we'll see
Just a walk, the one, one last hope stands
Forgetting all the rules, refusing to conform
I'm a prey in the grey
Oh why should I obey?
You're lost, in the deep disarray
One last try to one day scream victory... VICTORY!
One more lost soul
Now left with no colors
A dead flower
Who never saw summer
Where art thou hidden colors?
Thou mystic shades of life
Can a dream still breathe
after dying so many times?
Nothing left to give
All yet to be born
Dying rules from Earth
For the rise of my dreams
Seeking the Moonlight
Teachings from the sea
Listen to thy heart
And claim thy glory, and sing this song
One fantastic Quest for a new paradise
One day, no more I could give
To this world, like an empty bottle
Tearing my heart for this song
Is just not a routine
One day, no more I could feel
For this world, when the last hope shall die
The final countdown has begun
But how long will it last?
For the love and for the passion beyond the skin
For the burning desire to unveil the mystery
From all the pain left with only a stain
Could only be cleaned by the truest lover's kiss
One last dream to share
One more soul to harvest
One more try to
One day scream victory
Breathing honesty
Bring me close to thee
Dying rules from Earth
Beyond desertic fields of ice
Monstrous winds claim for their homeland
Defied, everything that stands still
Is hit by the cold in their hearts
Sung is this desolating
Victory, by the dead trees and the
Troubling choirs of tortured wind
Enchanting melodies of the Dark
Beyond the magnanimity
Of white snow's claimed purple gardens
One grand crystal palace was built
Symbol of the ruling of death
Hidden in a crystalline room
Stands the only living flower
Trapped in a magic box of the
Only ice beholder of a spark
Lost once more, I don't know where to go
Lost the sacred memory
I forgot, where am I from?
One broken branch from the grapevine
Lost my only heart's bed
No where can he rest all peacefully laid
Another lost wanderer was born
How could I lose myself so easily?
Behold the magic
From Gaia's darkest child's
Relentless lips
Kissing all your sins
Seduced, I finally
Stood still against the wind
My heart was not cold
My heart was no more
In the realm of Forever-Night,
My one and, one and only, my only heart is lost
The only thing for me to do is to
Free the last flower from its wicked prison
It has the power to unveil the truth and the honor
But this Forever-Night will last until Aeon's dawn
Beyond snow's invaded lands
An infant hides and stares at the sky
Covered by the dying clouds
Of greyness and of emptiness
Beyond the Forever-Night
An infant deprived from her heart
Gets up and begins his last walk
She's heading for the crystal palace
(by: Philippe Beauvais)
Stepped into a beginning tale
Where it is Forever the Night
Maybe I will live enough to tell
A story from so far so close to the heart
Rainbow petals twirling in the night
A garden growing in the dark
Responding choirs from the stars
Magical voices heard about everywhere
Hiding so softly, just for a moment
Safely away, all alone to play
Stepped into an enchanting tale
Where the wind blows into its flute
Where trees play harp so magically
Into the woods of Forgotten-Lands
A small tribe stands around a fire
Accompanying the melody
Accompanied by an unknown voice
With strange instruments from another time and place
Hiding so softly, just for a moment
Safely away, all alone to play
Far away, around the fire
(by: Philippe Beauvais)
I am not from a gutter
even though it feels like it
I do not wish to murder
so why should I sing about it?
Dragons no more ride their wings
and im not the one to lie
satellite-illusions of stars shining
makes me want to cry
(chorus)
Whats the true meaning of Pleasures and Satisfaction?
Whats the true feeling of total liberation?
Is a body deserted when it feels no more pain?
Is the heart useless when it no more longs to cry?
Can the garden of purple gloom totally be conquered?
or will there forever be a flower, somewhere, living, even if in ice?
(chorus)
Whats the true meaning of Pleasures and Satisfaction?
Whats the true feeling of total liberation?
Is a body deserted when it feels no more pain?