I wrote this song in 1998 after moving to Japan from Canada for my Album: Lone Cut Raw Fish(2001). The Album cover refers to both the recording technique (one cut on every instrument used, no takes, all by me alone) and to my emotional state, feeling alone and raw after having left Canada and cut my ties.

The song title is Voltaire's quip about Canada after his visit in 1959: "Quelques arpent de neige," A few acres of snow. The lyrics also include a play on Gille Vigneault's song title "Mon Pays, C'est l'hiver" (My country is winter), as well as plays on Antoine Gerin-Lajoie's song Un Canadien Errant (A Lost Canadian). The Spanish words are a common complain of Latin immigrants: There are only two seasons in Canada, winter and the train. The Spanish word for both being the same: estacione.