Between the best and the worst of Marjo | Big songs, big looks and big falls

In Between the best and the worst, an artist revisits, one song or moment at a time, the peaks and valleys of his work. On the occasion of the release of a double vinyl compilation (also available on CD) simply entitled Marjothe queen of Quebec rock tells behind the scenes of the creation of some of her countless hits.

The most astonishing muse of song Provocative

In Provocative, there is me, but there is also Gabrielle, a very nice, very pretty prostitute, whom I met after a show and with whom I became friends. She must have been 19, 20 years old and we did the four hundred moves together. I went to see her do pole dancing, and wow! I found it beautiful, I found it provocative.

La chanson dont tu es le plus fière

Où sont ces mots, la dernière de Tant qu’il y aura des enfants, parce qu’elle est sensible. Les mots sont très personnels, ils me font beaucoup de bien : « Prête-moi la foi et le courage / Laisse-moi un coin d’ciel bleu / Laissons-nous être heureux ». C’est une très belle chanson, qui ne joue nulle part.

Extrait de Où sont ces mots

La chanson que tu as écrite le plus rapidement

Bohémienne, ç’a pris 10 minutes, bing, bang, bang ! Murray Head est un des bons amis de Jean [Millaire, son partenaire de création et ancien amoureux]. And when Murray is in town, they go out. That evening, they were at the old Club Soda and I was working from a series of chords that Jean had given me. The song appeared on its own. I called Jean at Club Soda, I played him the song on the phone and he said to me: “Don’t worry, I’m coming.” »

Murray thought it was pretty good too.

Extract of Bohemian

The song you love more now than when you created it

Impoesia. It’s an invented word which, for me, speaks of death, of the other side of poetry, where it is sad. Impoesia is not something we desire, it is something we endure. Sometimes, in shows, I say: “I’m going to make you Impoesia, but I still don’t know, a hundred years later, what that means exactly. » But it stirs something in me. Because I realize that it’s always about myself that I talk about in my songs.

Extract of Impoesia

Your worst fall on stage (or down)

In Jonquière in music, in 2007. My foot still hurts.

But with Corbeau, I often threw myself at the bottom of the sound boxes. One night at the Spectrum, I got on Willie’s amp [Michel Lamothe, bassiste], which was quite high. I wore ballet flats. Someone was doing a solo, and the solos in Corbeau were long, because there were always two. I was studying my landing strip.

And when I decided to jump, I broke my ankle. I was no longer able to walk, but I still had to change for the encore, because I had brought myself a beautiful little summer dress and I wanted it. Jean helped me change and I sat on the rise drums for the last songs. The pain is gone, thanks to the adrenaline. But after the show, I felt PAIN.

[Elle sourit.] I still liked it, doing that.

Your darkest album

It is Bohemian [1995]. It’s dark, not happy, because of the dope. When you have money, salespeople know it and they turn their attention to you. I’m not proud of that.

The item of clothing that least told the truth

My photographer friend Linda Boucher brought this to me. I was afraid of being asked a hundred million questions. I wore it to please him, but what was written on it was obviously a lie [immense rire].

Your most daring look

During my first solo show, I just wore a transparent swimsuit and I put on a fuchsia scarf that Gilles Gagné had given me [défunt costumier]. It was sickening. But the scarf always ended up getting caught somewhere and my breasts ended up coming out of my swimsuit. There is a journalist from Radio-Canada who talked about it in his report. It was so funny.

[L’animateur du Téléjournal, Charles Tisseyre, parle effectivement en mars 1987 du « spectacle de rock le plus sexy en ville ». Quant au journaliste François Harvey, il explique que « Marjo a décidé que l’histoire de son premier spectacle serait celle de son état de femme et, de fait, dans la frénésie du moment ou dans un élan de générosité, eh bien, un sein se dévoile. » À l’écran, un des seins de Marjo apparaît.]

I always considered myself to have a beautiful body. Why hide it?

Your song which would benefit from being better known

In spare parts [1979] by Corbeau, with the piano of Charles Barbeau, it’s beautiful. Or Lonely [1981], even if I didn’t write it. It is a text by Jean Genet that Pierre [Harel] had found. There is also Slow motion [1982], another song by Corbeau. There are lots, lots, lots that I love, but which have been lost in the mist.

Your song on which The Press had the most influence

There are mornings, it was the title of a column by Pierre Foglia. It took place in a cemetery, at 5 a.m., with the mist rising. I called him to ask if I could use the title and he said, “Marjo, you can take the whole text if you want.” »

Je l’aime, ce monsieur-là. Il mettait toujours le doigt sur quelque chose.

Ta meilleure chanson écrite par quelqu’un d’autre

Celle qui va. Gilbert Langevin [poète maudit, aussi auteur de La voix que j’ai d’Offenbach] comes to see me one evening at Bistro à Jojo, which was like our office. He presents me with seven or eight sheets of paper and says: “Here, Marjo, this is a gift. » I didn’t know what to do with it, it was too much. I entrusted the sheets to Pascal [Mailloux, son pianiste] and he made a song out of it, finding the essential lines.

The most important contribution of Jean Millaire

Jean always gave me the facts. When I went to see him with a song and he thought it wasn’t up to par, he would tell me. “Go back to work. » I listened to him, because I trusted him. He often asked me, pointing out a sentence: “In life, would you speak like that?” » For him, everything had to be both natural and well stated.

Your song that moves you the most

It’s again and again If needs be. For the public, she means many things, but she was speaking to Jean.

The best professional decision you made

When I left Musi-Art, the company of Michel Sabourin, who was my agent, I bought all my things [ses bandes maîtresses et ses droits d’édition, ce qui a rendu la création de cette compilation moins fastidieuse].

I saw him again recently and the first thing he asked me was: “And, have you got your money back?” » And the answer is yes. If I didn’t want to sing anymore, I could just make a living from this. It fits comfortably.

The best artistic and human decision you made

Sing.

Rock – Compilation

Marjo

Marjo

Ambiguous atmospheres