Serge Lama is one of the singers who marked the French scene. His career intrigues as much as it inspires. This Monday, March 14 in the columns of Parisian, his admirers were able to discover the interview he gave to our colleagues. Like many, the husband of Luana Santonino closely follows the conflict in Ukraine. A situation that upsets some of his memories. The opportunity for Serge Lama to talk about the Algerian war that he knew well. On March 18, the 60ᵉ anniversary of the Évian agreements will be celebrated. As a reminder, they allowed Algeria – a former French colony – to be completely independent in 1962.
At the time, Serge Lama was doing his military service “on the other side of the Mediterranean, in the Sahara”.“I was protected from the horrors, I was never ambushed”, confessed the star. This experience inspired him to write the title “Algeria” (1975) which is “totally autobiographical”. It highlights the youth called to “play the little soldiers” For an undetermined time. “A trip where our only glory was to be 20 years old”, “Algeria, with or without a gun, it’s still a beautiful country”, provide the lyrics of the song.
“During my concerts, this song is one of the hits, adored even by those who have not lived in Algeria. And, for the ancients, it is a hymn”, said Serge Lama who never wanted to take sides on this subject. “I tried to be unifying. It’s not a political song. I am on the side of justice”.
Flying to Algeria was not heartbreaking for him. Quite the contrary! “I didn’t want to go, but I was. I said to myself: ‘It’s like that, it’s fate’. I didn’t lie down in front of the trains, I took it as an exceptional journey”, added the artist who did not want to go to war. “I started to understand when the friends, the big brothers came back from their military service. They told of the dead, the wounded, the psychological destruction… […]. On shooting evenings, it sounded from all sides”.
The crossing of the Mediterranean Sea was not easy. “We were packed like sardines, everyone was throwing up,” added the interpreter of “Woman, Woman, Woman” who remembered his arrival at “White Algiers”.“I felt like I was discovering Italy […]. There was a great deal of recklessness, an innocence that I lost. But that was so stupid of me! I was unaware of the danger. It was beautiful, I was going there. A lot of people looked at me strangely. That day, I was very lucky”.
His stops in the country will also forge his personality. There will be a switchboard time at “launch pad telephone exchange” allowing him to be thus far from the conflicts. “On shooting evenings, you had to be quick, it sounded from all sides. But I was pretty good at it,” underlined Serge Lama not without pride
Writing.
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