Il a fait partie du groupe musical québécois Beau Dommage et poursuit une carrière solo.
Discographie
* 1977 : Méfiez-vous du grand amour
* 1979 : De Longueuil à Berlin
* 1983 : Sauvage
* 1985 : Bonsoir, mon nom est Michel Rivard et voici mon album double Read Full BioAu début des années 1970, il fut d'abord comédien, chanteur et musicien pour le groupe de théâtre La Quenouille bleue de l'UQAM, où il étudiait avec Pierre Huet et Robert Léger, qui firent partie de Beau Dommage par la suite.
Il a fait partie du groupe musical québécois Beau Dommage et poursuit une carrière solo.
Discographie
* 1977 : Méfiez-vous du grand amour
* 1979 : De Longueuil à Berlin
* 1983 : Sauvage
* 1985 : Bonsoir, mon nom est Michel Rivard et voici mon album double
* 1987 : Un trou dans les nuages
* 1989 : Michel Rivard
* 1992 : Le Goût de l'eau... et autres chansons naïves
* 1998 : Maudit Bonheur
* 2004 : Bonsoir... mon nom est toujours Michel Rivard et voici mon album quadruple (en spectacle intime...)
* 2004 : Simple
* 2006 : Confiance
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Michel Rivard (born September 27, 1951), is a singer-songwriter and musician from Quebec. He was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. His father was an actor, Robert Rivard. Michel began his career at an early age appearing in a Canadian television series (Rue des Pignons) and in TV commercials.
Rivard's career as a writer and composer began in earnest when he became a member of the theatrical group Quenouille Bleue, established in 1970. Later, he became a member of Théâtre Sainfoin, when it was founded in 1973.
Beau Dommage and beyond
Four years later, in 1974, Rivard and other members of Théâtre Sainfoin, formed the group Beau Dommage (an old Québécois expression meaning "certainly" or "damn right"). Rivard wrote and composed for Beau Dommage.
Beau Dommage became a very popular group, and as a result of his songwriting ability Rivard's popularity increase as well. Perhaps his most popular song from this era is "La complainte du phoque en Alaska". Although Beau Dommage disbanded in 1978, there were reunion concerts in 1984 and 1994, both of which Rivard participated in. Characteristic of Rivard's creative energy, he also put out his first solo album in 1977, Méfiez-vous du grand amour.
In 1978, as a sign of his increased prestige, Michel opened for Maxime Forestier and was accompanist for Forestier at the Olympia in Paris. Although an unlikely pairing, it resulted in a continued friendship. Rivard released his second LP, De Longueuil à Berlin, in 1979; that year also marked the beginning of Rivard's appearance in a series of concerts in Paris.
The 1980s
The following years saw Rivard involved in various collaborations, including film collaborations. These film collaborations included roles in Les Enfants de Kennedy, and Maria Chapdelaine. He also wrote scores for films, such as André Melançon's L'Espace d'un été, and Jean-Michel Ribes's Rien ne va plus. He also acted playing the lead Yves Simoneau's Pourquoi M. Zolock s'intéresse-t-il tant à la bande dessinée? (Why is Mr. Zolock so interested in Comic Strips?) (1982). He joined the LNI (Ligue nationale d'improvisation [National Improvisation League]) in 1980 and performed for several years. Not wanting to miss an opportunity for some political humour, Rivard was a candidate for the satirical Rhinoceros Party of Canada in 1980 when he ran against former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau.
He returned to music in 1983 with the release of his third LP, Sauvage. This LP included "Schefferville, le dernier train", a tune that became quite popular and which was written for the film Le Dernier glacier. (Rivard also acted in this film). Rivard made a music video of another song on Sauvage: "Rumeurs sur la ville". It was directed by Louis Saia and André Gagnon and won the Félix Video Clip of the Year for 1985 – awarded at the ADISQ (Association du disque, de l'industrie du spectacle québécois et de la vidéo) award ceremonies.
During this time Rivard toured Quebec. He released a fourth LP, called Bonsoir... Mon nom est Michel Rivard et voici mon album double. This was a live recording made during his 1983–84 concerts. These live show recordings display his adeptness at comic improvisation as well as his musical creativity.
In December 1988 Rivard played the Convocation Hall in Toronto, Ontario. It was the first time in ten years that a Québécois sang in French there. Rivard continued to garner awards: In 1988 he won two more Félix awards "Concert of the Year" and "Male Singer of the Year." He also participated in concerts supporting political and humanitarian issues, among them: the Amnesty International concert "Human Rights Now!" along with Youssou N'Dour, Tracy Chapman, Bruce Springsteen, and others.
What was to become his most popular album, Un trou dans les nuages was issued in late 1987. It included songs that would be enduring hits for him: "Ma blonde et les poissons", "Libérer le trésor", "Je voudrais voir la mer", "Le privé", and "Un trou dans les nuages". Rivard received many awards for this album including the Charles-Cros Academie International Grand Prize.
Rivard released another album in 1989, Michel Rivard a compilation of greatest hits. He continued to perform concerts in Canada and Europe.
The 1990s
Rivard's seventh album Le goût de l'eau…et autres chansons naïves came out in 1992. It too became another award winning album for him and in 1993 Rivard performed at the Olympia theatre in Paris.
At this point in time Rivard's prominence as a creative musician and poetic lyricist with a broad humanitarian vision put him on a par with the two great performers of a previous Québécois generation, Gilles Vigneault and Félix Leclerc. Rivard's "Complainte du phoque en Alaska"' was one of the few songs recorded by Leclerc that Leclerc did not write himself. Rivard also shares with those two men, though more moderately, a concern and interest in Quebec's nationalist aspirations.
In 1998, Rivard released the haunting and personal Maudit Bonheur.
He had his own variety television show, Studio TV5, for a couple of years, where he invited musicians, songwriters, and singers that he enjoyed performing with and jammed with them.
[edit] The 2000s
Rivard's concert career continues and he also continues to perform in theatre. In 2002 his album Simple (a live concert album) came out, and in 2004 Bonsoir…mon nom est toujours Michel Rivard et voici mon album quadruple came out.
On August 5, 2007 Rivard performed the last show at the Montreal Spectrum. He had been the only act to perform over one hundred concerts at the venue.
La musique
Michel Rivard Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning | Line by Line Meaning
Je n′en menais pas large
Je m'enfargeais dans les nuages
Je me brûlais au fer de forge
J′astiquais mon revolver
Quasiment mort de rire
De rôtir en enfer
Mort, à proprement dire
De vivre ma vie sur la terre
J'étais un chien fini
Quand elle est arrivée
Je n'voyais pas
J′étais dans un piteux état
C′est probablement mon fantôme
Qui l'a touchée tout d′abord
À moins que ce soit Sodome et Gomorrhe
Qui me brûlait les yeux
Toujours, est-il qu'entre 28 plaies vives
Et 82 bosses, la voilà qui arrive
Et j′étais fait à l'os
La musique... mon amour de musique
Est-ce que tu m′aimes encore?
La musique... mon trésor
Est-ce que tu m'aimes encore?
Quand elle est arrivée
Elle m'a embrassé dans l′oreille
Et jusque sur la peau de l′âme
Dieu merci, la reine abeille
Avait du violoncelle sous le dard
La muse Euterpe m'a tiré sa flèche
La où l′amour crèche
Au creux de l'harmonie
Elle m′a sauvé la vie
Quand elle est arrivée
J'étais tout croche
J′avais les yeux en-dessous des poches
Je me saignais pour des danseuses
Je me traînais pour dix dollars
Entre deux cuites et deux plumards
La voilà qui arrive entre 28 plaies vives
Et 82 bosses
Et j'ai quitté mon boss
Pour la musique... mon amour de musique
Est-ce que tu m'aimes encore?
La musique... mon trésor
Est-ce que tu m′aimes encore?
Quand j′en ai eu plus que marre
Que la pluie pleure à verse
Quand la folie m'agresse
Lorsque j′en viens aux coups
Parce que la politique
Parce que la mer est sale
La route électronique et le papier journal
Au lieu de tomber dans l'analgésique
Avant de péter la gueule aux connards
J′époussette ma guitare
Je la prends par la taille
Et c'est sur mes genoux
Que la douleur se taille
Que les enfants s′endorment
Je ne sais pas de drame
Quand je joue
Je ne suis plus aux femmes
Je suis aux oiseaux
Entre 28 plaies vives et 82 bosses
Et je suis fait à l'os
La musique... mon amour de musique
Est-ce que tu m'aimes encore?
La musique... mon trésor
C′est gênant de te demander ça
C′est pour ça que je te l'demande tout bas
Après mes slows, me blues, les drums et
Les ordinateurs
As-tu toujours une fleur d′amour
Un fond d'emotion, une graine de douceur
Pour ton compositeur?
La musique... mon amour de musique
Est-ce que tu m′aimes encore?
La musique... mon trésor
The song "La musique" by Michel Rivard is a heartfelt tribute to the power of music in the life of an artist. The lyrics tell the story of a musician who was lost and struggling until music rescued him. The songwriter incorporates elements of mythology, religion, and personal experience to convey the transformative power of music. When the artist first encounters music, he is tormented, confused, and uncertain. He is "burning in the forge," just about to die, living his life on earth like a broken dog. However, when music arrives, he feels saved.
The arrival of music is described as a transformative experience. When the musician first encounters music, he does not see it. He is in a pitiful state of being, and it is probably his ghost that touches music first. However, music heals him, and he feels as though he has been kissed on the ear and to the soul. The muse Euterpe has shot him with her arrow where love builds, and he is reborn. The artist tells how he plays his guitar to forget the ugliness of the world around him. It is on his guitar that he finds solace and a place where he can be creative.
Overall, the song is a powerful testimony to the healing power of music. The artist declares his love for music and wonders if music still loves him back. It's a plaintive and vulnerable request that is beautifully rendered.
Line by Line Meaning
Quand elle est arrivée
When she arrived
Je n’en menais pas large
I was not doing well
Je m’enfargeais dans les nuages
I was stumbling in the clouds
Je me brûlais au fer de forge
I was burning at the blacksmith's forge
J’astiquais mon revolver
I was polishing my revolver
Quasiment mort de rire
Almost dead from laughter
De rôtir en enfer
To roast in hell
Mort, à proprement dire
Dead, to be precise
De vivre ma vie sur la terre
To live my life on earth
J'étais un chien fini
I was a lost cause
Je n'voyais pas
I couldn't see
J’étais dans un piteux état
I was in a sorry state
C’est probablement mon fantôme
It's probably my ghost
Qui l'a touchée tout d’abord
Who touched her first
À moins que ce soit Sodome et Gomorrhe
Unless it was Sodom and Gomorrah
Qui me brûlait les yeux
That burned my eyes
Toujours est-il qu'entre 28 plaies vives
In any case, among 28 open wounds
Et 82 bosses, la voilà qui arrive
And 82 bruises, there she is arriving
Et j’étais fait à l’os
And I was done for
La musique... mon amour de musique
The music... my love of music
Est-ce que tu m’aimes encore?
Do you still love me?
Elle m'a embrassé dans l’oreille
She kissed me in the ear
Et jusque sur la peau de l’âme
And even onto the soul's skin
Dieu merci, la reine abeille
Thank God, the queen bee
Avait du violoncelle sous le dard
Had a cello under her stinger
La muse Euterpe m’a tiré sa flèche
The muse Euterpe shot me her arrow
La où l’amour crèche
Where love dwells
Au creux de l’harmonie
In the heart of harmony
Elle m’a sauvé la vie
She saved my life
J’étais tout croche
I was all bent out of shape
J’avais les yeux en-dessous des poches
I had eyes under my pockets
Je me saignais pour des danseuses
I was bleeding for dancers
Je me traînais pour dix dollars
I was dragging myself for ten dollars
Entre deux cuites et deux plumards
Between two benders and two beds
La voilà qui arrive entre 28 plaies vives
And there she is arriving among 28 open wounds
Et 82 bosses
And 82 bruises
Et j'ai quitté mon boss
And I left my boss
Quand j’en ai eu plus que marre
When I had enough
Que la pluie pleure à verse
When the rain weeps in earnest
Quand la folie m’agresse
When madness attacks me
Lorsque j’en viens aux coups
When I come to blows
Parce que la politique
Because of politics
Parce que la mer est sale
Because the sea is dirty
La route électronique et le papier journal
The electronic road and the newspaper
Au lieu de tomber dans l’analgésique
Instead of falling into the painkiller
Avant de péter la gueule aux connards
Before beating up on jackasses
J’époussette ma guitare
I dust off my guitar
Je la prends par la taille
I take it by the waist
Et c’est sur mes genoux
And it's on my lap
Que la douleur se taille
Where the pain is made to flee
Que les enfants s’endorment
Where children fall asleep
Je ne sais pas de drame
I don't know any drama
Quand je joue
When I play
Je ne suis plus aux femmes
I am no longer with women
Je suis aux oiseaux
I am with the birds
C′est gênant de te demander ça
It's embarrassing to ask you this
C’est pour ça que je te l'demande tout bas
That's why I ask you softly
Après mes slows, mes blues, les drums et les ordinateurs
After my slow dances, my blues, the drums and the computers
As-tu toujours une fleur d’amour
Do you still have a flower of love
Un fond d'émotion, une graine de douceur
A depth of emotion, a seed of tenderness
Pour ton compositeur?
For your composer?
La musique... mon trésor
The music... my treasure
Writer(s): Jean Francois Perrier, Julie Budet, Moritz Friedrich
Contributed by Julia L. Suggest a correction in the comments below.