Daniel Lavoie: the official website

My happy childhood memories

7-jours, December 1990 by Pierre Plante

He has the reputation of being secretive, mysterious and a bit tight with the facts, especially when they are of a personal nature. It’s also said that it’s difficult to see through him and to work out his personality. Nevertheless, when you take the trouble to win his trust, it’s a fairly easy exercise. Anyway, today the popular singer is full of words. The interview reveals someone who, despite his successful career, remains an ordinary man … with the strengths and weaknesses of his countrymen.

PP: You were born in the village of Dunrea in Manitoba. Have you got some good memories of your childhood there?
DL: To be quite honest with you, I had an extremely happy childhood. Dunrea was a tiny village of 200 inhabitants, 200 French speakers surrounded by English speakers. Over there we all knew each other and we all felt very secure. I lived in a very warm, welcoming and cosy little community. I can remember all the social activities that were arranged each week. In those days the church arranged everything, popular gatherings, the festivals of the little community and numerous entertainments. Everyone took part and the atmosphere was amazing. For a long time I as too young to play bingo or cards with the grown-ups but, all the same, I found a way of having fun by running under the tables with the other village children. Life was good when I was young! We were little nutters and everything was good. Nature was very important there at that time. Personally, I grew up close to the soil and the wide open spaces, it was so beautiful … and then it seems to me that there were never any problems, no stress in those days. Our parents taught us that happiness really did exist. Happiness was part of life. So that was our happiness, it wasn’t anything complicated.

PP: Do you come from a big family?
DL: My mum had four children before adopting two little Red-Indian girls, so I had two brothers and three sisters.

PP: Did you leave your village for secondary education?
DL: Yes, I reached 13 and I went to study with the Jesuits. So I left the village to go and live in town at Saint-Boniface. To begin with I felt quite lonely, far away from my family. Let’s say I arrived there feeling like the big dummy. I didn’t know how to fit in with all these people. It was at that time that I began to gain some self-confidence and become a bit more self-disciplined. At that time I also discovered my enthusiasm for music and the possibilities of becoming a musician. The piano quickly became my best friend. I was more enthusiastic about it than my mates at school who had to tear me away from the piano to go and play football with them.

PP: When you left for Saint-Boniface were you excited by the idea of living in a town?
DL: Not really. I must say that the town was 150 miles from our house and we didn’t have a car. We went there once a year or every other year. We said there had to be a jolly good reason to go there. So I left home to go and study, it was because my Dad insisted that I got my secondary education in French. At primary school I was educated in English but, when I was old enough for secondary education, my Dad insisted that I study in my own language. It was important to him. In fact it was such a matter of principle for him, that he made a lot of sacrifices to pay for my studies. I was very conscious of this and didn’t forget it.

PP: You talk about your Father’s principles. Were you brought up very strictly?
DL: I don’t say I was brought up strictly, except at home there was never any hanky-panky. We lived by frankness, honesty and sincerity. Mum and Dad were of one mind, just as they are today. They still live in Manitoba, though they left the little village where I grew up years ago. Besides, Dunrea has almost disappeared. It’s said that the prairie has reclaimed its own. Now there’s just one garage, open two or three hours a day. The restaurant is about to close down, whilst the house I grew up in is abandoned. Things have really changed.

PP: Are you sometimes worried about the pattern of life which your career forces on you?
DL: Sometimes I give it a good cussing. Life seems quite hard but that’s not just for me, it’s the same for everyone. You have to go into battle each day and that is exhausting. In earlier times, happiness was simply having a roof over your head and food on your plate. By having the bare necessities people were happy. Today, it’s so materialistic and society has created a list of artificial requirements, that it has become difficult just to have the basics. Now there are so many must-haves that it’s become completely ridiculous and silly when you think about it. People get into debt and work like madmen to pay for it, then, having got it, they move onto something else which seems to have become indispensable to them, but they are still unhappy. We must re-discover the true values and get more simple ideas of happiness. We’ve forgotten the basics. Life is so rushed and we no longer know how or where to find the basics.

PP: You’ve spoken about going into battle each day. It has to be said that you haven’t chosen the easiest of professions …
DL: Sometimes I wish I was a government employee, working from 9 – 5 and going home not having to bang my head against everything. Sometimes it seems to me that happiness is made of these things, but I like what I’m doing. To work in a creative environment is the best work in the whole world.

PP: I should think that having children was a defining factor regarding the start-up and growth of your career.
DL: I admit that the birth of my elder son, who is now age 16, turned out to be a real kick up the backside. It made me work harder. You see, I knew 10 years of hardship and it was far from being easy. When you go through two or three years of financial difficulties it’s not so bad but, after seven years you don’t find it at all funny. I had ten years of not knowing where my next cheque would come from and if I had enough to cover my bills. Fortunately, my little family never lacked a thing, but I should have behaved differently, because at that time I liked giving up work every six months. Finally, when the time came to find myself a different job, I realised that music was essential to me. So I carried on …

PP: You have three children I believe?
DL: Yes. They are 16, 6 and 2 years old. My elder son is a good lad. I’m perhaps lucky as I‘ve truly never had any problems with him. He tells me that he likes to talk with me, and if he’s not saying anything, it’s because he reckons that there is nothing important he needs to know. I see that my children are happy. I would know if they weren’t. I’m a very involved father and I’m close to my children. Besides, I’m ready to make concessions for them within my career plan, especially where that concerns my availability.

PP: It’s the right time to say that you’re happy with the success you have found and with the security you have created for yourself over the years.
DL: Yes I am but that doesn’t prevent me creating my own worries. It’s not really my fault, I’m made that way. Even when things are going well, I find a way of getting worried about something that’s lying in wait for me. Fortunately, I have a wonderful wife who plonks my feet firmly back on the ground and makes me realise the benefits of living in the present. I’ve made a lot of progress in that department over the years. I’m learning to live day by day. It’s easy to say but it’s not always easy to put it into practice.

PP: The danger of all that could be that you forget that other things exist when you concentrate on your own problems, don’t you think?
DL: Yes, it’s true. I’ve noticed over the last years that to be totally self-centred is the surest way to become unhappy. On the other hand, if you open up to other people, you learn to be aware of them, accept them and give something to them. You begin to discover a wealth of happiness and good solutions to life’s everyday problems. It’s in dealing with others that happiness is found. When you end a day, during which you have been surrounded by people and you’ve given yourself to them, you feel good and valued by them.