Jean-Pierre Ferland left us on April 27. Quebec is in mourning for one of its greatest artists. It goes without saying that his memory and his work will remain. Born on our national holiday, he would have been 90 years old on June 24. This singer-songwriter carried all of Quebec in “his soul and in his head”. Our great little king was and will remain a giant. He wrote true masterpieces.
So, isn’t the best way to pay tribute to him to listen to his songs over and over again? If, like me, Ferland’s songs have punctuated the path of your existence, you will want to hear or rehear his essentials, which include: I’m coming back home, When we love we are always twenty years old, The little king, You are beautiful And A chance we have. And also Macadam flowers, The immortalsetc.
And I often hum other Ferland gems, such as Ste-Adèle, PQ, If we got started, Route 11 or The world is parallel. This author-composer knew how to renew himself over the years and he knew how to dare. Dare, among other things, to sing about his love of women, and sometimes without censorship. At the time of its creation, his song Thirty year old women even caused a little scandal.
And I remember from Jean-Pierre Ferland that he already said of Félix Leclerc that he was God the Father, nothing less. This shows the admiration he had for the pioneer of our song. He even wrote a song to pay tribute to him. Because Jean-Pierre Ferland was a great lover of Quebec song. He knew how to recognize the talent of his friends. He even admitted in all humility, and with a touch of naughtiness, that he was jealous of the songs of other songwriters. Titles that he would have liked to write himself. His album Jealous songs proves it, moreover.
I will say here in a figurative way that Jean-Pierre Ferland was the great prince of Quebec song. He will have contributed to its renewal. His album YELLOWreleased in 1970, will remain, in this sense, an essential reference.
As a French teacher, I have not failed to introduce Ferland’s songs to both my French-speaking and my English-speaking students. I even made dictations inspired by his texts.
Throughout his career, throughout his life, Ferland knew how to give Quebecers the taste of going “a little higher, a little further”. It will have given me the taste of reaching for the stars, nothing less!