In 1984, when she was just a young teenager, Nathalie Simard released one of the flagship pieces of her career, Love took its timewhich accompanied the first Tale for All The tuque war. Almost 40 years later, the singer ends a fruitful professional year by offering a Christmas album where a reinterpretation of this powerful song shines. A song which, she explains, has repercussions more than ever on her own life, once swept away by the winds of January, but with which she has now made peace.
The one who was already a child star marked a generation with Love took its time, carried by bittersweet verses and a powerful chorus. “But I really wasn’t aware of the text at that time,” says Nathalie Simard. It was as I got older that I realized that this song has followed me all my life. Well, I didn’t compose it, but it’s really my journey! »
It’s because “it was cold in the distance there”, for Nathalie Simard, who in 2004 denounced her ex-manager Guy Cloutier, then accused of sexual assault. A time about which the singer prefers to remain discreet, while being generous about the personal journey that followed, while she had her heart on her shoulder.
“You know, I didn’t like myself for a long time. I was a long time rejecting myself. I was afraid of everything for a long time. I spent a long time not being loved, making bad choices in love. Bad choices of friends, bad choices in every sense of the word. It was war! she quips, spinning the metaphor with the song. And then, when we talked about a Christmas album, I said that I would like to cover Love took its time. »
In her ears and in her heart of 2023, the legendary piece by Robert Léger, Germain Gauthier and Danièle Faubert therefore takes on a whole new meaning “for the woman I have become”… and who took her time to remake herself.
The Nathalie Simard who is before us is sparkling, confident, comical and full of wisdom. In his eyes, the fire that burned has not dried up, on the contrary, and the work accomplished over the last few months is proof of this. “I felt like I was being transported by a wave,” she sums up.
Fight against your fears
There is this record, My Christmas, accompanied by a thematic magazine, but also conferences and business partnerships, with among others Origène beauty products. The artist also hosts on the radio in Montérégie in addition to going on stage. And above all, the star made a very notable appearance on the friendly reality show Get me out of here!which took place in the jungle and where Nathalie stood out for her kindness and resilience.
For the 54-year-old woman, the game turned out to be quite a ride, with a “total free fall” start, a regaining control, an early elimination and a surprise return after a withdrawal. “I was afraid to embark on a reality show, even though I have a lot of television experience, but for me it was really a wonderful surprise,” she explains. Everyone has their place. Everyone is unique, everyone should shine in their own way. It’s just about having strong enough self-esteem to be able to take your place. »
And taking your place also means fighting against your fears. It was true in the jungle of Get me out of here!, just as is increasingly true in the life of Nathalie Simard. Back where she is in her “life fucked — we’re going to tell each other! “, she is tired of holding herself back because she feels insufficient, for example. “I was very insecure for a long time,” says the mother of a 30-year-old daughter. But when we get closer to our fears, whether in finances or in any area of our life where we are bitchy, well, daring to do it is beautiful. That’s what it’s like to rise; that’s what growing up is; that’s what learning is; that’s what it’s like to move forward and progress. Every day there is something to learn. And that’s my mandate. »
Nathalie Simard explains that she suffered a harsh backlash after her denunciation. His return to favor has been happening quietly for several years, slowly but surely. “Everything comes in time to those who wait,” says the woman who likes this kind of wisdom. We must dare to follow the four Ps: take the smallest step possible. If you try to skip steps, you risk injury. [Avancer] one step at a time, that’s what I do. »
“Detainized”
The last few years have also allowed Nathalie Simard to get closer to a musical scene less versed in variety, as with Bleu Jeans Bleu during a special winter program on Télé-Québec in 2020 and more recently with Pierre Lapointe by participating in some evenings at his show Winter songs.
“The Simards were “dispossessed” with Turn the pageshe recalls, miming The duck dance rolling his eyes. But there is something that has set in [récemment] and I have a lot of gratitude for all of that. You know, I’m pampered, and I take care of it like a jewel. »
Speaking of new audiences, the one who led the show for a long time Nathalie’s village notes that his passage to Get me out of here! has intrigued several young people, who approach her when they come across her. “I find it very beautiful, very touching to see these young people paying special attention to me,” she said. I like to nourish my child’s heart and I think that’s what they capture. »
Childhood, in fact, is at the center of the texts chosen for his recent Christmas album, including Gift by Claude Dubois, The forgotten children by Gilbert Bécaud and First snow Chiclettes. “You make me realize it,” she exclaims. It’s beautiful because it’s instinctive. But the idea was to rediscover these beautiful texts where there is so much fragility. » Everything is delivered on a frame where the ropes shine more than the bells.
Her relationship with her own childhood is blurred to say the least, but she has made peace because she wanted to. “I accepted what was. Above all, I understood that I could not change anything about what I experienced, confides Nathalie Simard. Me, I don’t live in revenge, I don’t dwell on shit, it doesn’t nourish me. What nourishes me is beauty, strength, determination. »