Singer, musician, and lyricist, Victor O was born in Martinique but grew up near Paris. His creativity stems from multiple influences, especially those of the Caribbean, the cradle of his existence. His work reflects a Caribbean richness without borders; just like the neighborhood of Terres-Sainville in Fort-de-France, for which he has created a song.
ONAIR – You wrote the song “Terres Sainville” two years after your return to the island. What is your relationship to this neighborhood?
Victor O –When I arrived, I found a Martinican reality that I didn’t know, but helped make sense of my return. Running a phone store in the house of my late grandparents, I discovered my mother’s childhood neighborhood. A melting pot of many nationalities, Terres-Sainville is a snapshot of immigration in Martinique. Apart from the fact that it is a working-class area of Fort-de-France in Martinique, it’s the spot where I found a solidarity of spirit that is fading away elsewhere. This may not be the first image we have of this place, but beyond the cliché of a “hot” problematic neighborhood, here we find the kind of people who join forces in the fight to live, or even survive.
Snippet: “There is still sunshine in me. A heart that beats to the rhythm of hope…”
OA – The song is based on actual facts?
VO – Yes, in Terres-Sainville I met some extraordinary people with stories that I put in the song. For example, I mention the “Bar of Silence,” as I love the name. Located across from where I work, it was run by a very jovial Dominican woman. As soon as I arrived, she warned me: “Here, among the merchants, we are very supportive,” intimating that I should be as well.
Snippet: “Dear friend, dearly beloved, at number 23 on a sunny street.
Here runs the memory of a chorus of men at a table at the Bar of Silence.”
OA – Why did you write this song?
VO – I found myself there a little bit by accident, but it became the foundation of my return. It’s thanks to Terres-Sainville that I knew I was no longer just visiting, by really anchored in the Martinique of my roots and especially the Martinique where I wanted to be. I wanted to honor it with this song.
Snippet: “I ask myself, how I find myself here, awakened at the gates of oblivion,
I bless the day, the sign of an angel,
Where I found the trace of the moon.
I know there is sunshine here, a heart that beats to the rhythm of the city….
So let me be, yes I said, with my nights
in Terres-Sainvilles…”
Auteur : Éric Hersilie-Héloïse
