Stéphane. Bruno. Patrick.

 

By Reut Golinsky
Photos © Reut Golinsky

Sometimes I think it happens to a few of us, when we listen to a melody or a song and we imagine our favourite skater skating to this music, when we listen to the words and we understand that those words are completely about him.
During my chat with Stéphane Lambiel, I had a unique opportunity to discuss with him the songs I love, songs which are... about him. Those were songs about an artist (and who among skaters is more artistic than Stéphane?) and about his feelings for the public - sometimes sad, sometimes grateful.
I hope you'll find this interview different from the usual formal format as it shows interviewee from a bit different angle.
It was also a rather special moment for me and I was really touched by the reaction I got from him.

I have two poems here, which are actually songs. They are in French and they are of two of my favourite Francophone singers. I thought that both of those poems are about you. Please, could you read them?

I know both of them.

Really - you know them? Because I wasn't sure you'd know Bruno Pelletier, and he is my favourite singer.

I know him because he was singing in the musical "Notre Dame de Paris".

Yes, me too, I know him from "Notre Dame", from the first song "Il est venu le temps des cathédrales", but after that he did so many other things, solo albums, so this song is from one of them.

OK, I'll read this...

Le clown/The clown Roger Tabra, Claude Pineault
Le clown est fatigué de faire le clown ce soir Et il en a assez de masquer son regard Il en a trop fait rire des hommes et des enfants Qui viennent l'applaudir pendant qu'il perd son sang Ce soir, je ne joue plus la divine comédie Ce soir, je suis tout nu au milieu de ma vie Ce soir, le clown a peur d'être tout seul, il pleure Ce soir, il redevient un homme et son chagrin Ce soir, il est humain Ce soir, devant vous il a peur Il en a vu des villes, il en a fait des tours Mais que lui reste-t-il d'amour après l'humour La nuit est revenue, la foule est repartie Et je reste tout nu au milieu de ma vie Qu'importent les bravos, ils ne remplacent pas Les gestes ni les mots que tu avais pour moi Ce soir, le clown a peur d'être tout seul, il pleure Ce soir, il redevient un homme et son destin Ce soir, il est humain Ce soir, devant vous il a peur		The clown is tired to make clownery this evening And he is fed up with hiding his glance He too often made the people and the children laugh Who come to applaud him while he is bleeding This evening, I do not play any more the divine comedy This evening, I am all naked in the middle of my life This evening, the clown is afraid to be all alone, he cries This evening, he becomes again a man with his sorrow This evening, he is human This evening, facing you, he is afraid He saw so many cities, he made so many tours But if the love remains for him after the laugh ends The night came again, crowd went away And I remain all naked in the middle of my life Cheers are not important, they can not replace Neither gestures nor words you had for me This evening, the clown is afraid to be all alone, he cries This evening, he becomes again a man with his sorrow This evening, he is human This evening, facing you, he is afraid

(You can listen to this song here)

Do you feel something like this? Sometimes?

Sometimes...

I hope, not always!

No!

It's about the actor, about the artist, about someone who is coming out to the stage, to the audience...

It's like you come out to the stage and you don't know if it's good or bad for you. And to be someone who shares his emotions that means you share them not only at your good times, but also at times when everything doesn't go well. And everybody knows that, everybody can see it. For someone who is not in the public eye, when he does a mistake nobody knows, but when he does something good, nobody knows either. There are more risks being well known, but I think, my character is like that...

You want to be a public person.

I like... I love extreme, so when I'm sad I'm really sad, when I'm happy I'm very happy and I think that goes well with the fact that I'm a public person, because when it's great there's no frontier and everybody is happy for me - and that's great, it's a big happiness. When I do something bad, everybody is sad for me, and I'm sad too. So it's part of my character. It's hard; it's really hard to be that kind of person, it causes a lot of emotions. I think I'm a very sensitive person, but I'm happy to have my family, because they are helping me and supporting me. My family, they are very close to me. And I think family is the most important thing in your life, without them everything would be a lot harder.
And Patrick Bruel... What he is telling me...

Vous/You Marie-Florence Gros, Patrick Bruel
Vous, Etes-vous là ce soir? Un taxi, je descends La porte grince un peu, j'avance dans le noir Trois notes de piano, je souris au miroir Vous, Vous êtes là, C'est l'heure, comme au premier moment Quand j'étais immortel quand je riais de tout Et quand seul sous la lune, J' criais contre les loups Vous, Déjà sans vous connaître, je marchais vers vous Vous m'avez pris à bout de bras Un jour enfant terrible, un jour enfant perdu J'ai gagné pas à pas, de pouvoir être moi De pouvoir être libre, pour un regard de vous Quand est venu le vent qui fait tomber les chênes J'ai vu saigner le temps, rire les oiseaux jaloux Quand pour me mettre en pièce, Ils s'en prenaient à vous Vous, Vous étiez déjà là quand j'ai cassé ma voix Quand j'ai vidé mes larmes Au fond des derniers verres Ces soirs où dans vos yeux, J'ai séché ma colère Vous, Vous croyez que j'ignore votre sourire là-bas? Vous m'avez pris à bout de bras Un jour enfant terrible, un jour enfant perdu J'ai gagné pas à pas, de pouvoir être moi De pouvoir être là quand je marche vers vous La ronde continue La ronde continue et vous êtes restés Toujours au bout du jour, derrière le rideau rouge L'aventure continue et nous avons gagné De faire danser le rêve en robe de velours Et je chante pour vous Vous savez tout de moi, Tout c' qu'on ne se dit pas Vos lèvres bougent à peine, On manque de lumière Mais le noir nous unit et d'ici je vous vois Moi, Je retrouve mon rire, je retrouve ma vie Dans vos mains qui s'agitent, Aux mots que je répète Ce soir il est huit heures, nous avons rendez-vous Et le rideau se lève... aujourd'hui j'ai quinze ans Quand je me donne à vous... Quand je me donne à vous...		You, Are you there tonight? Taxi, I go out The door is creaking a bit, I proceed in the dark Three notes on piano, I smile to the mirror You, You're there, This time, as at the first time When I was immortal and laughed at everything And when all alone in the moonlight, I cried out against the wolves You, Even without knowing you, I was walking toward you You took me into your hands Sometimes like enfant terrible, sometimes like lost child I merited step by step, to be myself To be free, just for one of your glances When came the wind, which put the oaks down, I saw the time shedding blood, laugh of jealous birds When they wanted to tear me to pieces They started from you You, You were already there when I broke my voice When I emptied my tears From the bottom of the last glasses At those nights where in your eyes, I dried my anger You, You think, I ignore your smile over there? You took me into your hands Sometimes like enfant terrible, sometimes like lost child I merited step by step, to be myself To be there when I walk towards you The round continues The round continues and you stayed Always at the end of the day, behind the red curtain The adventure continues and we won To dance with the dream in a velvet dress And I sing for you You know everything about me, Everything that can't be said Your lips are hardly moving We lack the light But the darkness unites us and I see you from here Me, I found my laughter, I found my life In your hands which are trembling, In words that I repeat Tonight it's eight o'clock, we have a rendezvous And the curtain rises ... Today I am fifteen When I give myself to you ... When I give myself to you ...

(You can listen to this song here)

Wow, it's incredible. I would love to listen to it.

Beautiful, isn't it?

Wow, that's completely me. I mean... when you are on the ice you are naked, you know... That's a really beautiful text, that's incredible. Wow...

So we watched this video clip together. And while we were watching Stéphane told me that he loves Patrick, and his favourite song is "Au Café de Delices". I was really suprised, beause he almost never used French songs for his programs, but now, well, who knows... I certainly hope he will. ;)