Roger Federer in your album, what a surprisingly obvious choice, Monsieur Lama!

Dear Serge,

For far too long, this physical suffering that now prevents you from standing in front of your most loyal admirers has never ceased to move you. It has never ceased to bring you closer to people, their singularities and even their simplest details.

Perhaps that's why you're taking your leave. Haven't we finally reached our full potential when we show such wisdom towards others? Isn't that what our lives are all about?

A man who suffers is undoubtedly the one best able to understand the sacrifices, the pain, but also all the distinctive signs of love. And yet, how can we express to you today, in the twilight of a very long and trying career, and whose desire to love is clearly stronger than ever, our surprise at seeing the name Roger Federer appear in the course of your final musical creations.

A story of admiration

At first glance, its place in the repertoire is surprisingly intrusive. Then, the further into the album Loving, the better we understand your choices.

The men you love are really the ones you admire. The ones you respect, let alone the ones you want to be like. It's a completely different kind of love, but one that's no less sincere. No wonder, then, that it features on your album alongside your more carnal loves.

You also admire others for their talent: Michelangelo, Camus, the kings of Mesopotamia and Victor Hugo. We also understand that you are less fond of Sartre. Normal: you don't like dirty people.

The most touching part of this story is your admiration for Roger Federer, a man you wish you were. That great lord for whom you confessed to arriving late at your concerts to watch his matches, and who has now retired too. The evocation of tennis balls in the musical arrangements of this unifying song is also magnificent and surprisingly obvious.

A gathering of loves

Then there's a sense of personal incompleteness that serves as a link between the different loves you show to the different people in your life.

Here you bring together maternal love, filial love, love of the heart - your wife sings affectionately with you on this farewell album - and love of the intellect. Depth is emotion here, and when you put it like that, you couldn't have gone any deeper.

Read also | Serge Lama and his memories of Geneva

It's clear that this is your last album, because deep down, you're no longer trying to please anyone but the only people who share the verses of this ultimate poetry, your ultimate journey. Thank you for all the generosity, resilience and humanism borrowed from your arpeggios. Thank you for your greatness of spirit and soul. So this is what it means to know how to wield a calamus.

Write to the author: yves.dicristino@leregardlibre.com

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Serge Lama
Loving
Warner
14 titles
2022

Listen to the album