Je me retiens! These are definitely some of the most obscure and difficult-to-unpack lyrics that Brel had written at this stage of his career. But if I were to summarise them in four words, it would be "Love is all around".
Je t'aime This is fantastic, very passionate but with a bit of restraint. It's sounds like the stirring grand finale of a play or movie. 5/5
Yes. I saw a similar discussion. We're not the only ones intrigued by this line. How about: For the raindrop like a finger on the harpsichord of the pool, Which plays to the moon's score, and resembles your singing, I love you
That's certainly neatly phrased. I don't quite understand how Brel can just leave out (une) page de (la) lune, but obviously he can!
D'oh!!! That should read "1959" of course. While I'm here, advance warning for anyone who missed it earlier: tomorrow is "Ne me quitte pas" ("If You Go Away").
Je t'aime 3.75 / 5 A completely straight love song, which has not quite the depth or originality of other songs on this album, but the poetry is sublime. The performance is also fantastic, I like those slightly overproduced climaxes in Brel's songs of this era.
Je t'aime Ooo-er Jacques. Not heard that before, sounded a tad overheated and also reminded me of Les Biches. 2/5.
Our average rating for "Je t'aime" was 3.96 Today's song is Ne me quitte pas (Don't Leave Me) (Also known as "If You Go Away") Words by Jacques Brel Music by Jacques Brel and an uncredited Gérard Jouannest Arranged by François Rauber Recorded on the 11th of September, 1959 at Studio Blanqui, Paris with François Rauber and his orchestra. Sylvette Allart: Ondes martinet (uncredited)
The song was first recorded by Simone Langlois in January 1959, also with Rauber, not the first time she got to sing a Brel song before its author. Simone Langlois version The reason Jouannest (who was to become Brel's most frequent songwriting partner) did not receive a writing credit for this song is that he was not yet a member of Sacem (Société des auteurs, compositeurs et éditeurs de musique) which I presume is the organisation responsible for collecting distrubuting royalties. Suzanne Gabriello, Brel's on and off mistress from 1955-59, believed this song was written about her. Part of the melody is said to echo the start of the second movement of Franz Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody No. 6 This initial Brel version, as well as appearing on the album, appeared on the La valse à mille temps EP, and as the B side of the "Les Flamandes" single (Unless that was a double A side https://www.discogs.com/master/7267...-Son-Orchestre-Les-Flamandes-Ne-Me-Quitte-Pas). It finally got a spotlight appearance as the lead track of another EP, in December 1960, a year after its first release. A possible reason it was not initially used as a lead EP track is that Brel initially intended for the Simone Langlois version to be the hit version. In 1999 a CSA Institute survey in France found that 31% of those polled considered "Ne me quitte pas " the greatest song of the twentieth century. It has topped or been near the top of various other "France's Favourite Songs" polls. Brel was thought to have had mixed feelings about the song. I recall someone (perhaps his daughter France) saying he hated to expose himself as being at the mercy of a woman in this way. Brel himself asserted much later that the song wasn't a love song, but a song about the cowardice of men.
It was rerecorded in Dutch under the title "Laat me niet alleen" during sessions in Brussels on the 12th, 13th and 14th April 1961. The translation was by Ernst van Altena. This was released in Belgium and the Netherlands in 1961.
It also appeared on the 1961 Live album It was rerecorded in 1972 for the rerecordings album (often itself retitled Ne me quitte pas). We'll discuss that version separately when we get to it. Brel personally sang it in the film version of Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris (the song did not feature in the original stage show). I'll post that version when we discuss the 1970s version.
It is Brel's most performed and recorded song. Among those who have recorded the song in its original language are Nina Simone, Marlene Dietrich, Nana Mouskouri, Alison Moyet, Juiette Gréco, Sandie Shaw, Céline Dion, Natacha Atlas, Johnny Hallyday, Barbara, Ute Lemper, Sting, Belinda Carlisle, Lauryn Hill, Wyclef Jean, Angélique Kidjo, Maysa Matarazzo, and Mireille Mathieu. It was one of many Brel songs adapted into English by the prolific American poet/singer/songwriter/composer Rod McKuen, as "If You Go Away", in 1966. (McKuen's other most famous Brel adaptation was the earlier "Seasons in the Sun", ("Le moribond")). Among the artists who have recorded it in its "If You Go Away" guise are Frank Sinatra, Shirley Bassey, Al Martino, Dusty Springfield, Ray Charles, Bobby Goldsboro, Tom Jones, Glen Campbell, Scott Walker, Brenda Lee, Neil Diamond, Madonna, Terry Jacks, Marc Almond, Damita Jo, Sheena Easton, Cyndi Lauper, Barbara Striesand, Matt Monro, Emilíana Torrini, Julio Inglesias, and Jack Jones. Of his English lyric, McKuen observed that he retained the line "shadow of your dog", but every single other version of "If You Go Away" except Sinatra's, opted for "shadow of your shadow" instead. The English language wikipedia page for "If You Go Away" unfairly complains that it does not include the dog motif. (Of course, both "shadow of your dog" AND "shadow of your shadow" are used in the French lyric). McKuen also sings the original title "ne me quitte pas" several times in his versions. Momus recorded a somewhat more faithful English version of his own called "Don't Leave". It has of course been adapted into many other languages. Apologies if I failed to mention your favourite version.
Lyrics/paroles Ne me quitte pas Il faut oublier Tout peut s'oublier Qui s'enfuit déjà Oublier le temps Des malentendus Et le temps perdu À savoir comment Oublier ces heures Qui tuaient parfois À coups de pourquoi Le cœur du bonheur Ne me quitte pas Ne me quitte pas Ne me quitte pas Ne me quitte pas Moi, je t'offrirai Des perles de pluie Venues de pays Où il ne pleut pas Je creuserai la terre Jusqu'après ma mort Pour couvrir ton corps D'or et de lumière Je ferai un domaine Où l'amour sera roi Où l'amour sera loi Où tu seras reine Ne me quitte pas Ne me quitte pas Ne me quitte pas Ne me quitte pas Ne me quitte pas Je t'inventerai Des mots insensés Que tu comprendras Je te parlerai De ces amants-là Qui ont vu deux fois Leurs cœurs s'embraser Je te raconterai L'histoire de ce roi Mort de n'avoir pas Pu te rencontrer Ne me quitte pas Ne me quitte pas Ne me quitte pas Ne me quitte pas On a vu souvent Rejaillir le feu De l'ancien volcan Qu'on croyait trop vieux Il est, paraît-il Des terres brûlées Donnant plus de blé Qu'un meilleur avril Et quand vient le soir Pour qu'un ciel flamboie Le rouge et le noir Ne s'épousent-ils pas? Ne me quitte pas Ne me quitte pas Ne me quitte pas Ne me quitte pas Ne me quitte pas Je ne vais plus pleurer Je ne vais plus parler Je me cacherai là À te regarder Danser et sourire Et à t'écouter Chanter et puis rire Laisse-moi devenir L'ombre de ton ombre L'ombre de ta main L'ombre de ton chien Mais Ne me quitte pas Ne me quitte pas Ne me quitte pas Ne me quitte pas English paraphrase (thanks as always to spondres) Don't leave me. It must be forgotten, Everything that can be forgotten, All that has already flown. Forget the times where we misunderstood each other, And the hours lost Learning how to forget these hours That can strike with blows of "why" At the heart of happiness. Don't leave me. I'll give you raindrops From a country where it never rains I'll dig up the earth Even after I die To cover your body In gold and light. I'll create a kingdom Where love will be king, Where love will be the law And you will be queen. Don't leave me Don't leave me. I'll invent for you Nonsense words That you'll understand I'll tell you of those lovers Who saw their hearts come aflame anew. I'll tell you the story of this king, Who died of not being able to meet you. Don't leave me. We have often seen dormant volcanoes erupt again into flame when we thought them too old. There are, it seems, burnt lands that produce more corn than the most fertile April. And when the night comes, when the skies are aflame, do they not wed, the red and the black? Don't leave me. Don't leave me. I won't cry any more. I won't talk any more. I'll hide myself over there And watch you dance and smile And sing and laugh. Let me become the shadow of your shadow, The shadow of your hand, The shadow of your dog. Don't leave me.
Out of the hundreds of cover versions, I have selected just three to post, that I think are hard to ignore. Simone:
Ne me quitte pas I do believe this is one of the greatest songs ever written, and the original Brel studio recording one of the greatest recordings. The depth of feeling, the vulnerability, the anguish in the vocal, The beauty and imaginativeness of the lyrics and the melody. The eerieness of the sound. The Dutch version is also great, though if I had to choose I'd still stick with the French version. The 1961 live version is also wonderful but lacks that otherworldly ondes martinet. Of the covers, the first two versions I ever heard witll always mean a lot to me: Dusty Springfield and Nina Simone, two of my favourite singers. I find McKuen's lyrics feeble in comparison to Brel's, but if I wasn't comparing them to anything else, I'd like them well enough. 5/5 (just a formality, of course. Actually I may soon be wearing out the "5" key on my keyboard.)
Ne me quitte pas Absolutely one of the greatest French-language songs of all time, if not the greatest. The original version is musical perfection, from the evocative opening moments with tinkly piano and the best ondes martenot ever onwards. Later the sparse backing is delicately augmented with some understated strings and elegiac woodwind (clarinet? oboe?). A propos of cover versions: the Terry Jacks rendition of 'If You Go Away', hot on the heels of his number one hit with 'Seasons in the Sun', reached number 8 in the UK singles charts in 1974. 5/5 (obvs)
Ne me quitte pas - First performance : First performed live by Brel on 5 November 1958 at Théâtre Bobino, Paris. Written shortly before that together with Jouannest soon after the pianist replaced Rauber "on the road". - B-side : The controversial, masochistic text initially causes a mild panic at Philips. Canetti explicitly warned Brel to temper his optimism about this song: "The ladies will gloat and laugh at you." Edith Piaf agreed when she heard the song in a live performance. According to her, "a man is not allowed to sing something soft/weak like that" [! different times; ed]. Canetti and Piaf initially got their way as Philips put the song on the B-side of the La Valse à Mille Temps EP and Les Flamandes single, while giving both those titles preference on the album cover too. When Brel's kneel before a woman conquered the French-speaking world, the error was corrected by Philips and Ne Me Quitte Pas was released again, now as an A-side on an EP. [Extract from René Segher's biography] - ondes-Martenot : As mentioned earlier in this thread it is unclear who's playing the ondes-Martenot: Jeanine de Waleyne or Sylvette Allart. I myself said it was probably Allart (see analysis somewhere earlier in this thread), however I have since learned that Allart played the ondes-Martenot during Brel's live performances while it may have been de Waleyne after all who played on the studio recording. Apologies. Personally (and I may be in a minority here ), I regard the ondes-Martenot as a fad, and while it produces an eerie sound indeed, I think it is very much of it's time and dated now (like early 70's Minimoogs/synthesizers and grated drums in the 80's). Therefore, I prefer the 1972 remake of Ne Me Quitte Pas musically, and the original 1959 version vocally because of Brel's innocent and vulnerable performance (and less dramatic than the 1972 version). - Covers : Nina Simone's cover is indeed one of the best, emotionally at least as her French is cringeworthy. For the same reason, being Dutch myself, I don't like Brel's Dutch version (of this and the other songs he did). The translated lyrics are great, but his pronunciation is mediocre at best, emphasising the wrong (parts of) words etc. Clearly he hardly ever spoke Flemish or Dutch normally. Finally, I'd like to mention Marlene Dietrich's cover in German (Bitte geh nicht fort). Another great one, imho.
Je T'aime. Very romantic, but a bit over the top for my liking. Magnificent performance, though. 3.4/5 Ne me quitte pas: 5/5 Monumental. It goes full-bore into malancholy emotionalism. Gorgous lyrics, by the melody just kills me. It's so good. And I think it definitely has a lot of Brellian melodic signatures.
Ne me quitte pas Best cover version? Dusty, obviously. But no version is better than the original. 10/10 Don't leave me. It must be forgotten. Everything can be forgotten, Everything that's already slipping away. Forget the times of misunderstanding and the lost time learning how to forget those hours That could kill with too many "whys" the heart of happiness. I'll give you a raindrop necklace from countries where it never rains I'll dig up the earth even beyond death to cover your body in gold and light. I'll create a kingdom where love will be king, where love will be the law And you will be queen I'll invent for you meaningless words that you'll understand I'll tell you of those lovers who saw their hearts come aflame anew. I'll tell you the story of this king who died of not being able to meet you. We have often seen dormant volcanoes erupt again into flame when we thought them too old. There are, it seems, burnt lands that produce more wheat than the most fertile April. And when evening comes, for the skies to be ablaze, do they not wed, the red and the black? I won't cry any more. I won't talk any more. I'll hide myself over there Watching you dance and smile. Listening to you sing and laugh. Let me become the shadow of your shadow, the shadow of your hand, the shadow of your dog. Don't leave me.
