When it comes to sad love songs, Arly Lariviere seems to have written the book on the topic. The Maestro wears many hats in the Haitian music industry, aside from leading one of the most popular bands in the industry; he’s also a producer, song writer, keyboard player, and singer. But his best attribute is his ability to touch the most delicate of love situations. His lyrics are so real and easy to relate to one, might think he either hid behind closed doors listening in and collecting relationship secrets or he’s just really unlucky in love, however, we doubt it’s completely the latter.
Arly is credited with love song hits such as; Avenue de la Passion, You and I, Loving You, Souvenirs, Why do you say you love me? Is It Real, Illusion, A Qui la Faute, Notre Histoire, Lanmou Pap Fini, Confessions, and Rien Que Toi to name a quite a few. In his many hits, you can hear him capturing the essence of love lost. He admits to writing songs about his own personal heartbreaks, however, which songs, he wouldn’t tell.
Arly has been compared to one of Haitian music’s most prominent singer, Alan Cave. While the comparison sounds reasonable on the basis, Alan is a very talented artist with a great voice and exceptional lyrics but they’re two completely different artists. Alan sings more about young love, the love you experienced in high school or freshmen year in college when you were innocent but Arly on the other hand sing about more seasoned couples who most likely have more invested in their relationships.
Prior to writing this article, I revisit an interview I did with the Maestro back in 2005 where I asked him the question; why does he focus so much on failed relationships rather than relationship flourished or both and he responded:
“For two people to be happy together they have to face and overcome their issues”. He continued, “I don’t believe there’s one relationship out there that didn’t face a single problem. The problem might be jealousy, deceit or mistrust, some times all of the above. For example, a man can sit down innocently having a conversation with few friends and his woman is at home, assuming he’s out there cheating. Once you’ve entrusted the most fragile part of you, your heart to someone, you automatically become vulnerable. When you love someone you tend to hand out your trust before it’s earned, often a recipe for disaster. If you play close attention you’ll realize what I sing about most of the time are based on my own personal experiences.”
Today, twelve years later, I called the maestro and asked him; What do you think is the main ingredient to his success today?
