The Simple Things He Said
PK: As someone who sings mostly in French, what do you find are some of the
challenges of singing in English?
GY: It's strange to me because when I sing in English I feel like I've got
something missing, like a leg or a hand missing. But I like it because I've
always listened to American or English music in English music since I was a kid
and I really like the sound of the language, but honestly, I feel like I don't
have the full potential for singing in English but I know that sometimes people
like that. The songs I sing in English are very special also, because one of
them was a gift from a very good friend Richard Shindell ["You Stay Here"] -
he's a wonderful songwriter and we've been good friends for a very long time,
so it was a gift from him so I'm very proud to sing it in English. The other
one is a song that I originally wrote in French but that some Anglophone singers
wanted to sing in English. The first one to show up was Dave van Ronk, the
late Dave who was a very good friend of mine. One day he came to me and said
[deepens his voice],"I want to sing this song," but he wanted to sing it in English,
so I had it translated.
PK: In some of your songs, both lyrically and musically, you draw a lot upon
traditions and folklore. Is keeping traditions alive something that is important to you?
GY: Oh yes, definitely. To me, traditional music is something which is very
deeply rooted in me. I've been working on traditional music for almost 30 years
now, and it's one of my passions - I really love the poetry, I really love the
idioms, musically and poetically. It's also a huge part of my inspiration. When
I wrote songs about modern situations like today, the words I would find or the way
I would address that would be very strongly inspired by ancient songs, or sometimes
I would use words that no one else would use in a song because I just think they
are beautiful and they sound beautifully and they really mean exactly what I feel
and what I want to say. And also I use old instruments and things like that.
PK: There are also a lot of cultural influences in your music - does your own
cultural background influence you musically?
GY: Do you mean my own French cultural background?
PK: French, and also I understand that your father is Lebanese.
GY: That's right - to be honest, I don't feel a connection with that culture. The
only things that I learned from his culture was something from a personal
approach that I made maybe when I was a teenager, but my father never tried
to teach me the language; he didn't speak at all about it - he probably left
Lebanon because he didn't want to hear about it anymore and he kept myself and
my sister totally away from that. So, if there is any, I think it's probably
in the blood somewhere, but it is not cultural really.
Next page > Gabriel Yacoub: Part Four >
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