Every time I go to Montreal, and I go there often, I pass through Jean-Pierre Ferland’s hometown, Saint-Norbert, in Lanaudière. Taking route 347, I come across the old and noble church of the small village of around 1000 inhabitants which is home to the Espace Jean-Pierre Ferland. But as there is nothing to indicate the existence of this place near the church, I had to wait for the singer-songwriter’s death to find out that he lived in this town. Nothing very surprising when we consider that paying tribute to our great artists is not a well-established practice in public space in Quebec.
Of course, the fact that I unknowingly passed by the kingdom of Ferland is only anecdotal. What bothers me more is to imagine all the Quebecers who will miss out on this great genius of song. I think of all those young people who have never heard the moving I’m coming back homedisconcerting her When we love we are always 20 years old nor the bewitching On route 11. I also think of all those who only care about Taylor Swift, Beyoncé and company and who will never know Ferland’s poetry. Well, to them, I dedicate one of my favorite Ferland tunes: God Is An Americana song which, in my opinion, has lost none of its relevance…
Which brings me to this observation: at a time when we deplore the decline of French and our culture every day, we must give Jean-Pierre Ferland, a Montrealer by birth, more than a piece of tarmac in the middle of the Plateau-Mont-Royal, as beautiful as this place can be. Ferland must be as visible as Leonard Cohen, whose portrait painted on a downtown skyscraper dominates the Montreal panorama and is visible to all visitors from the Mount Royal lookout.
Precisely, isn’t the mountain the mythical place where Ferland sang on June 24, his birthday and the celebration of all Quebecers, almost half a century ago? And why not pay tribute to all these immortal Montrealers at the same time? Mount Royal, loaded with symbols, could very well house a little Quebec Rushmore where all the immortals of our song would be painted (or sculpted?) I also think of all those native Montrealers, Robert Charlebois, Claude Dubois, Ginette Reno and many others, who could take their place alongside Jean-Pierre on a mountainside.
In the 1970s, Camille Laurin understood that the future of French rested on its presence in the Montreal landscape. Culture requires the same intervention. Its promotion requires that our artists be present and visible in this same landscape. Let’s give the greats like Ferland this visual recognition. So that we can never pass by her again without knowing them. Without “recognizing” them…