Enrico Macias “One must forgive but not forget”

“Enrico! Enrico!” People are getting impatient, stirring at the Fnac forum in Nice. Then, the elevator on the 4th floor opens its doors: the man committed to peace whom we have always respected appears. A wave of applause accompanies him to the stage. Childhood friends, family of the heart, people from “back there” have come to see him, talk to him, thank him for existing. Someone will offer him a class photo from when their youth ran through the courtyard of a secondary school in Constantine, another will remind him of a forgotten memory, others will ask him for a dedication on his new album “Popular Life”…

Today, December 11, 2006, this great variety singer with Arab-Andalusian musical colors celebrates his 68th birthday, and in his eyes still shine that hope that one day the entire world will live in peace, that one day the doors of his country, Algeria, will finally be open to him.

In the meantime, it is with wide-open doors that Enrico Macias entered the Fnac in Nice to discuss in all friendship with the people of Nice without forgetting to spread a message of hope.

Interview conducted by Avraham Vanwetter.

**Avraham Vanwetter: Tell us first about your beginnings?**

**Enrico Macias**: The first professional show I gave as a star was here at the Théâtre de Verdure in Nice. There was Pierre Blanchard, Jean Jacques Debout… I remember very, very well. It was for me and for everyone around me a won challenge. Each time I come to Nice, it pleases me to see my audience, who has accompanied me for 45 years – young people and older people, people of a generation older than me or the same age, children, grandchildren… It’s wonderful that after 45 years I can find myself before you, be able to sing new songs, especially sing my first hits that I always perform with great emotion. I am happy to be among you!

**A.V.: When we become attached to people, we become attached to the whole person. There is also an aspect of Enrico that has always accompanied him: being an ambassador for peace.** (Applause)

**E.M.**: When I was appointed ambassador for peace, especially for the defense of children in the world, in 1997 in New York, Kofi Annan officially “installed” me before a panel of journalists and representatives from all countries of the entire world. Kofi Annan said: “This is what you have always done all the time. Now we offer you the structure of the UN to continue your path.” It’s more important than before, certainly, but for me it’s the same thing. My fight is for peace. I always accompany what I say in my songs or interviews with actions. I don’t simply interpret feelings, even if that’s already quite a message. It’s not because other singers express things and send messages that they don’t have the possibility to accompany them with actions, it’s not a criticism. But me, it’s my temperament that is like this. If I tell you: “I’m going to serve you water,” I will do it! I won’t tell you: “one day I’m going to serve you water.” I do it! I go to Africa, the Middle East, all over the world to save children. Recently, I realized there were French children whose parents have papers but are not regularized. They are therefore threatened with expulsion. I did not fail to confront the Minister of the Interior, Mr. Sarkozy.

And I told him what I think. I take risks. Some people tell me: “But why do you do all this, you don’t need to!” No, I do need to! You gave me fame. So I try to defend you as much as possible. (Applause)

**A.V.: In the song “My Story, It’s My Story,” you say: “My story is your story. The sun makes us alive. Nights and fogs are rare. It’s that we simply say that everyone is on earth to breathe the same air.” Where does this come from? From this experience of having a foot on two shores of the Mediterranean? From wanting to create a bridge between two worlds: the Arab world and the other world, whether Jewish, Christian, Buddhist?…**

**E.M.**: Yes, the fact of having left my country, of not being able to return to it… It’s a very, very great wound. But I manage to heal this wound through music and through people’s love. I know that sooner or later the will of the people will be expressed and this wound will be healed…

**A.V.: You also created this sacred music festival in Fes.**

**E.M.**: Yes, listen, it’s not to engage in demagoguery. I went to Morocco. I know there are criticisms to be made about human rights, but in any case, as far as I’m concerned, I found a country of extreme tolerance, incredible tolerance where I was never prevented from singing in Hebrew, where I was encouraged to sing in Arabic, French, Spanish… In all languages! And also to sing prayers, sacred music of my own religion. We venerate the same God and the love we have for humanity, it’s the same thing, so that’s why I believe we all have the same religion. The true religion is that of tolerance. Religion is love in general. That’s why each religion has its credentials. We are the champions of freedom because Moses freed an entire people: he made freedom a state institution. Jesus was the prophet of love. Islam is the synthesis of Judaism and Christianity since they integrated the 5 sacred books including the Gospel. In the word Islam, there is the word “Peace,” salam. Islam is the symbol of tolerance. The Prophet Mohammed, who is being criticized right now because of certain caricatures, is the Prophet of tolerance. It’s quite an ineptitude and a historical error to think it’s a holy war. It’s not true. It’s a period in the history of Islam that imposed holy war to receive maximum adherents, but it has nothing to do with the Quran, which is an exact copy of the Old Testament. That’s why we shouldn’t lump together everything we find in the world. People who use religion to kill other people. I don’t believe there is a religion that encourages doing things through struggle. (Applause)

**A.V.: Your son is a songwriter on this album. How did you achieve this alchemy? That the lyrics fit so much, not just the father but also the man you are, the one who has traveled with this outlook somewhat like Abraham’s tent open on all four sides.**

**E.M.**: My son doesn’t do everything on this record, but it’s thanks to him that I met new songwriters. By the way, I never abandoned the first ones who worked with me, we work together all the time. My son was the trigger for a new youth in inspiration. I’m very proud that young people are interested in me with great love and they don’t have this complex at all of saying: “Well, Enrico Macias, that’s enough. He’s been singing for 45 years.” On the contrary, they know I have other things to say and do.

**A.V.: How does it go with Enrico Macias? Is it a clan? A tribe that moves around, that accompanies you?**

**E.M.**: My musicians are even more than my family. Since they’re often with me, more than my own family. We’re together. There’s a primordial state of mind. I don’t accept a musician on my team just because he’s talented, it’s the state of mind that matters most. It’s the spirit that comes together around me, not like a leader or a champion, not at all, everyone is in their role. They know I respect their competence and I know they bring it to my service, so we can only respect them. There’s an osmosis between us. I don’t like the words “clan,” “tribe.” It’s a family that is open to the public and there are thousands of people all over the world who adhere to our state of mind.

**A.V.: In this album, there’s a connecting thread: memory. Was it a personal choice to want there to be a bridge between yesterday’s memory and today’s memory and this hope for tomorrow?**

**E.M.**: What pains me most in the world is when people forget what happened 30 years, 50 years, or 100 years ago. It’s a sacrilege, greater than if we blasphemed God. Because respect for memory is respect for the past, it’s also respect for those who were victims of that past, and for me respect for memory leads us to correct the future too. For me, memory is God. God transformed himself into memory, and I think that to believe in something, you must remember it. So if we always remember memory, it’s because we remember God.

**A.V.: When you say in the excerpt I cited earlier, you speak of “nights and fogs.” Does that mean there are still risks we’ll forget? Is it a way of reminding us that it’s always alive?**

**E.M.**: We must always be vigilant about people’s madness. There are people who are followers of the Devil and they’re against Love. They’re followers of hate! For me, the Devil is Hate, Love is God. I can’t stand that there are still things now that we thought we had resolved after the end of the Shoah tunnel. We must remain vigilant, because we never know, it could come back. But I don’t want to play the bad prophet, I think we will know how to learn lessons, that’s why memory is important to prevent it from happening again. There have been attempts. If I haven’t been to Nice in a long time, it’s because I was somewhat blocked by people who spread these ideas and who want to forget memory and the Holocaust. We must remember everything. We must forgive but without forgetting. That is, sometimes, we must not forgive, we must anticipate. (Applause)

**A.V.: Your family, when they saw you give another aspect of your personality, especially in cinema, weren’t they afraid that music would take a back seat?**

**E.M.**: Music will never take a back seat! I will never abandon music. But the fact of acting is another music in which I feel good. I have a principle: if someone tells me tomorrow to put on a dance show, even if they give me billions, I couldn’t because I know I’m not capable. Talent is knowing how to say “no, I’m not capable of doing that.” Talent is also knowing how to say: “Yes, I’m capable of going to the end.” I knew in my innermost heart that I had the makings of an actor: it’s a great recreation for me. I don’t forget music. Between takes, I always have my guitar with me, it never leaves me. (Applause)

**A.V.: In “If the Truth Were Told 2,” we indeed saw you unable to resist breaking into song.**

**E.M.**: Ah! Yes, but then that’s the fault of the director (smiles). Because it wasn’t planned at all. I was supposed to be the father of the bride, I was supposed to get drunk to music and the orchestra that was there. And then he told me: “You know, people would be disappointed, Enrico. You’d have to sing a song anyway. Try to make it so you’re not completely Enrico Macias.” Obviously I get on stage, I sing, and suddenly they want me to be Boudboule, even after 30 years, that’s not possible. So I deliberately sang sometimes off-key, I made up words, I was a very bad singer to be Boudboule. Everyone was caught up in the mood, they were clapping their hands, one person even shouted: “Go for it, Enrico!” (Laughter) I said: Stop! I’m no longer Enrico. I’m Boudboule! Are you crazy or what?!” (Laughter) In the end, we didn’t keep it, but I found it was the best moment of the film. (Smile)

**A.V.: In a song you say: “And when we tell our dramas to our holy women, we’re all the same. In this story that ends in darkness, I say the same. It’s not sure we look alike but we’re together”.**

**E.M.**: Of course, my philosophy is difference. We can’t say we’re all the same thing, like robots, like the most beautiful race Hitler dreamed of making by eliminating other races. No, I’m for diversity, for difference: difference is a great wealth for France, for all humanity. The earth belongs to everyone! Just because men determined a border doesn’t mean we don’t have the right to live on a border and to eat and drink properly. We feed a cat or a dog that comes on our property to refresh themselves. Why don’t we practice this with other men who don’t live on the same border as us? The discourse of politicians who are currently campaigning is quite dangerous and even super stupid, I apologize, because if they spoke honestly and truly, if they were less nationalistic than that, if they were a little more open to the true interests of human beings, I think they would have more supporters. (Applause)

Where to get the album? Fnac

Official website: https://enricomacias.artistes.universalmusic.fr/