Tiger Lilly Road Songtext
von Ian Tamblyn

When I was a younger man
I traveled where the compass spanned
The cobbled streets of Baie St. Paul
And Tiger Lily Road
The narrow street, sloping room
The fishing weirs and the horses′ hooves
The gold dust light on the purple hills
Always the river
I was sent on some exchange
To learn the language, I got paid
Doing dishes in a waterfront café
Evenings, I would wander home
Past rocking chairs, hushed Gallic tones
The knitting needles click the Rosary


What was it about those times?
I seemed to have a clearer mind
My footsteps knew their purpose then
Down Tiger Lily Road
Perhaps it was the known routine
The simple work, my thoughts were free
To roam the hills of mon pays
Always the river
Perhaps it was the vesper hymns
The priests who prayed for my sins
The golden light upon the rim of hills
The steeple cast its shadow long
The afterglow, it lingered on
I knew myself better then I know

Weekends, I would take my pack
Les Escoumins or Tadoussac
The path before me lay the world
Down Tiger Lily Road
The bold cliffs of the Saguenay
We'd watch the Fins and the White Whales play
Why you could make Ste. Rose in two days

And yet I see it clearly now
That I was ripe for a fall
No priest within his solitude
On Tiger Lily Road
I think about that time and when
Walking home one evening when
We played the game of eyes
And that was all she wrote


The name she bore – Marie Lafleur
Her father owned the corner store
At the corner of Redemption
And Tiger Lily Road
And yes, I′d seen Marie before
But dreams are hopes and nothing more
I found myself at your door
Dreams to deliver
But it seems you knew more than me
The greater fool too blind to see
That you yourself were drawn to me
As drawn to that river
That evening as I wandered home
Our steps were matched and not alone
The circumstance, it had been sown
I smile to remember

Oh, I think about those days
I wandered 'round in a haze
Somewhere above the cobbled streets
Of Tiger Lily Road
And the cook, he'd shake his spoon and laugh
I see the mouse has caught the cat
You are lost and that is that
Lost to the river
But every moment we could spend
We spent together without end
Though shadows, they were lengthening
Down Tiger Lily Road
I guess we chose not to see
That time was now the enemy
We had forever you and me
We had forever
We had forever...

So back into those hills, we tramped
Malbaie – Les Éboulements
Marie and I together off down
Tiger Lily Road
But Marie held a different key
She showed me new eyes to see
The blue and white, the fleur de lys
And always the river
As the evenings were lost to song
Leclerc, Vigneault, Harmonium
I even tried to sing along
I tried to sing along
But the more I saw, the less I knew
And a fear inside me grew
As the meteors of August flew
I could not tell you

That I am not bound to these hills
These narrow streets, your sharpened will
Ce n′est pas mon pays
This Tiger Lily Road
And as the first days of autumn turned
The wedges flew and the maples burned
With promises to return
I could not deliver
I did not know myself the truth
The shallow callousness of youth
I believed I′d see you
Come next summer
But next summer came and I moved west
The tiger lilies bloomed, I guess
Was it the same for you?
I sometimes wonder...

As I drive the north shore near your town
The radio off – the windows down
Something made me turn on down
Tiger Lily Road
That narrow street, it was unchanged
But that door – it's not the same
And suddenly, I′m lost again
On Tiger Lily Road
Why, do you know Redemption Street?
I ask the people that I meet
There is no Redemption Street
Please try to remember
But do you know Marie Lafleur?
Her father owned the corner store
Je regrette, we don't know her
Please try to remember
The river splashed a thousand suns
I cursed myself, why had I come?
The past cannot be found
On Tiger Lily Road
Searching for some speck of time
A puzzle piece – a clear through line
Something that could be defined
As yours as mine
And now, I doubt myself
These events belong to someone else
Did we ever walk down
Tiger Lily Road?
But now, I begin to see
As myth entwines our history
We have forever, you and me
We have forever
We have forever...

So, when I was a younger man
I traveled where the compass spanned
The cobbled streets of Baie St. Paul
And Tiger Lily Road