Hugues, where does the energy come from to continue going on stage?
I feel like I’m a man who carries things inside him. These are memories, these are values, these are experiences. You should know that I am very Christian, and one of the essential rules is sharing. To share, you have to communicate. People like me communicate through song and first of all through life. So by being alive, I can continue to communicate with children, with adults, with girls, with boys, with my wife (Editor’s note: he married Murielle last year, 45 years his junior). We communicate. I always have things to communicate.
Pierre Perret decided to stop at the age of 90… Have you ever thought about it?
You have to stop when you can’t continue. But you can’t stop because you’re rich enough, saying to yourself, look, I sang, I made a lot of money, now I have two houses, a house in the city, a house in the country, my cellar is full, I’m stopping. There, I don’t agree. That means you’re not an artist. Django Reinhardt, he played the guitar until the end. And Stéphane Grappelli, who was with him, he played the violin at 90 years old. That’s what makes the difference between art and sport. It’s sometimes said that a footballer is an artist, but it’s not true… Because if he were an artist, he could play until the end of his life. If he’s forced to stop, it’s because sport is not art.
Your songs are always at the top of those sung in youth movements… Is that a source of pride?
Of course. Scouting is the school of listening. Listen to what your brother says. Listen to what your enemy says. Listen to what your father says, your mother says. Listen to the sound of the forest. Listen to the sound of the sea. Listen to the song of the birds, the moaning of the animals, the moaning of men. Listen, because if you don’t listen, those who have no ears, unfortunately, those who are born deaf, are mute. If you want to speak, you have to have learned to listen. I wasn’t a scout, because during the war, in the village where I was, there was no scouting. I was with Dominican monks. At the time, it was in the 40s, 42, 43, they were the Cœur Vaillants (Editor’s note: movement created in 1936 by Fathers Gaston Courtois and Jean Pihan). I have never been a scout, but I sing the values that are at the heart of scouting.
You made a lot of scouts cry too, with songs like “The Little Grey Donkey”, “Stewball”…
Yes, that’s true. For The little gray donkeyI changed the ending, added a verse and resurrected the donkey.
Why not do it with Stewball?
No, because Stewball doesn’t blow on the little Jesus in the manger. The donkey warmed Christ when he was a child. So he was useful. You have to be useful in life.
On stage, how do you choose your repertoire?
the songs that you also like to introduce? There are two camps. There are the essential songs, which are the energetic songs, like Santiano, See you later, See you later… I sing them because people expect it and I’m not a tyrant. I like to give people what they like. The craftsman must satisfy his audience. And then, the other half of the show, I sing the songs that I like, unknown songs that I introduce to people, among the 430 that I have recorded.
Do you have an album project for next year?
Yes, because there are songs that I have rightly revisited a little. Stand up guysfor example, I changed it a little because at the base, it was a song written to encourage people to build highways (smile) Today, there are enough highways in France. But not in Africa or India.
You are going to sing in Liège and Brussels. Yes. The Belgian public, have they been following you for a long time?
The Belgians are always loyal, and there were more scouts in Belgium than in France. So, I am more easily accepted.
Today, the world is crossed by many wars, many conflicts, whether in Ukraine, in Israel…
These stories between Jews and Muslims are unbearable. They have to get along. If they don’t want to get along, it will be the end of the world.
Are you pessimistic about this?
I am pessimistic because I am lucid. But we must fight against pessimism with optimism. It is a duty to be happy.
You started your career by covering “Le poinçonneur des Lilas” by Serge Gainsbourg, who was unknown at the time. Today, who do you listen to? Are there still singers who speak to you?
Slimane. When you hear Slimane, you have the right to believe in God.
Did you see him at Eurovision?
No, I didn’t see him at Eurovision. I hate Eurovision.
However, you took part in it in 1964, for Luxembourg, with “As soon as spring returns”…
Yes, but it was something else. It was okay. It was okay. It was Gigliola Cinquetti who won with the song I’m not old enough. Today, I find that this competition is nonsense.
You are known to be a great horse lover. Do you still have any?
Yes, I still have horses on the farm but I don’t ride them anymore and my daughter doesn’t want to keep them anymore because it gives her a lot of work. You should know that in Ardèche where I live, there are a lot of flies. It’s not good for the horses. We should move, but I’m too old for that…
You also started sculpting about ten years ago. Are you continuing?
I got back into it a bit for my own pleasure. I made bronzes for the first time in my life… I made a bronze which is a portrait of Bob Dylan and which is a great success…
Are you still in touch with him?
Contacts with him are difficult now, because he is too rich, too famous and surrounded by people to protect him…
Would you like to see him again?
Yes, of course, because he is a genius, he is a visionary.
Do you think your songs will stand the test of time? Will we still be singing Hugues Aufray in 50 years?
Maybe. I don’t know if the world will still exist…
Hugues Aufray in concert on Saturday 2 November at the Forum de Liège (8 p.m.) and on Sunday 3 November at the Cirque Royal in Brussels. Tickets (between €60 and €77): www.gracialive.be
