Our average score for "Casse-Pompon" was 1.6 Today's song is Rosa Words and music by Jacques Brel Video: Arranged by François Rauber Recorded on the 7th March 1962 at the Barclay-Hoche studios, Paris with François Rauber and his orchestra It featured on both the 10" ("Madeleine") and 12" ("Les bourgeois") versions of the 1962 Barclay album. It was also on the "Les paumés du petit matin" EP (of which the hit track was "Madeleine". The EP was listed on the clart as "Madeleine - Rosa") It was also the b-side of the "Une île" single.
A Dutch language version was recorded (vocal only) March 1962. A rare alternative version was recorded on February 1965. Translation by Ernst van Altena
Rosa rosa rosam Rosæ rosæ rosa Rosæ rosæ rosas Rosarum rosis rosis C'est le plus vieux tango du monde Celui que les têtes blondes Ânonnent comme une ronde En apprenant leur latin C'est le tango du collège Qui prend les rêves au piège Et dont il est sacrilège De ne pas sortir malin C'est le tango des bons pères Qui surveillent l’œil sévère Les Jules et les Prosper Qui seront la France de demain C'est le tango des forts en thème Boutonneux jusqu'à l'extrême Et qui recouvrent de laine Leur cœur qui est déjà froid C'est l'tango des forts en rien Qui déclinent de chagrin Et qui seront pharmaciens Parce que papa ne l'était pas C'est l'temps où j'étais dernier Car ce tango rosa rosae J'inclinais à lui préférer Déjà ma cousine Rosa C'est le tango des promenades Deux par seul sous les arcades Cerclés de corbeaux et d'alcades Qui nous protégeaient des pourquoi C'est l'tango de la pluie sur la cour Le miroir d'une flaque sans amour Qui m'a fait comprendre un beau jour Qu'je n's'rai pas Vasco de Gama Mais c'est l'tango du temps béni Où pour un baiser trop petit Dans la clairière d'un jeudi A rosi cousine Rosa C'est l'tango du temps des zéros J'en avais tant des minces, des gros J'en faisais des tunnels pour Charlot Des auréoles pour Saint François C'est l'tango des récompenses Qui allaient à ceux qui ont la chance D'apprendre dès leur enfance Tout ce qui n'leur servira pas Mais c'est l'tango que l'on regrette Une fois que le temps s'achète Et que l'on s'aperçoit tout bête Qu'il y a des épines aux Rosa
English paraphrase, with thanks to spondres Rosa rosa rosam Rosæ rosæ rosa Rosæ rosæ rosas Rosarum rosis rosis It's the oldest tango in the world That which the blond heads Stammer out like a round When learning their Latin It's the secondary school tango Which puts dreams in a trap From which it's sacrilege To not go out clever. It's the tango of good fathers Who watch with a stern eye The Juleses and the Prospers Who will be the France of tomorrow. It's the tango of those good at translation [into a foreign language, not into French. We used to say 'prose' for this - and 'unseen' for translations into one's mother tongue -spondres] Spotty to an extreme Who cover up with wool Their heart which is already cold It's the tango of those who are good at nothing Who miserably decline And who will become pharmacists Because their dad wasn't one The time when I was last In this tango "rosa rosæ" I was already inclined to prefer My cousin Rosa It's the tango of promenades In pairs and singles under the arcades Encircled by ravens [also = priests] and officials [magistrates Alcalde - Wikipedia ] Who protected us from "whys" It's the tango of the rain on the courtyard The mirror of a loveless puddle Which made me understand, one day That I wouldn't be Vasco de Gama But it's the tango of a blessed time When for a too small kiss In the glade of a Thursday Cousin Rosa rosed [blushed] It's the tango of the zeros I've had so many, thin and fat I made them into tunnels for Charlie Chaplin Or halos for St Francis It's the tango of the rewards Which went to those who had the luck To learn from childhood onwards Everything that wouldn't be of use to them But it's the tango that we miss When time becomes money And when we stupidly notice [fools that we are] That roses have thorns
Rosa A wry and very clever song, I think, with Brel's allusions and leaps of imagination bringing many an appreciative smile to the ladies in the audience on the TV version. At school we used mensa (table) for Latin 2nd declension feminine nouns - which probably wouldn't have worked as well for the femme fatale cousin bit. As you need groups of three words for the metre, six cases is ideal (nominative, vocative, accusative, genitive, dative and ablative - singular and then plural - just in case anyone needs to know). 4/5
Rosa Very enjoyable and melodic song, with a lot of words crammed into two and three quarter minutes. It was fun translating it though some of it still is a bit over my head. Brel's only song about schooldays that I can think of. 4/5
You really need to understand the words and the context to appreciate this song. In Brel's day in France (and maybe in Belgium too) there was school six days a week - Monday to Saturday with the Thursday as a day off. That's why in the song the singer gets to kiss his cousin Rosa outside school on a Thursday. In modern France if there's a day off it's on a Wednesday and most schools no longer work on a Saturday. If you were a boarder in a Catholic school, as seems to be the case in the song, then your teacher may well have been a black-robed priest or a 'crow'. Boarders obviously needed to be occupied on the Thursday, so the tradition was to take them for a walk. Often the same walk to the same place, maybe a park for example. These walks would be disciplined affairs with pupils walking hand in hand by pairs, possibly paired off with someone you didn't like (hence paired but alone as in the song). And back at school you'd be left alone to look at the puddles in the playground (la cour = la cour de récréation). For the needs of the song, the singer gets to kiss his cousin on a Thursday. But for a true boarder this wouldn't have been possible since your school would have been same sex, so boys or girls only. Or maybe Brel is suggesting that by some miracle he's managed to momentarily escape the surveillance of the crows.
I like the words. But I'm afraid the song doesn't work for me altogether -- perhaps not understanding FRench is more of a hindrance than usual. 2.5/5
Rosa A delightful and clever look into Brel's schoolboy past. It also helps to know some Latin and understand why you had to learn your declensions (noun endings) in this rather boring way. The "rosa" here is the Latin for a rose but also the name of the cousin in the song. And Brel is trying to learn about Latin while at the same time working out how the opposite sex works - something much more complicated and thorny. 5/5 When I say the song is clever here's a good example. When Brel sings "C'est l'tango des forts en rien qui déclinent de chagrin" there's a triple pun on the word "déclinent". He's miserably reciting or declining his boring Latin word. Because of his miserable time at school he's slowly declining in his results and in his self-esteem. And he's also DEclining the education being offered to him because he's more INclined to try and kiss his cousin. A lot of good things in the proposed paraphrase. Here's my offering: It's the oldest tango in the world, that which our little wonders Stammer out like a round when learning their Latin. It's the secondary school tango which puts dreams in a trap From which it's sacrilege not to leave clever. It's the tango of holy priests who watch with a stern eye Those Jules and the Prospers who will be the France of tomorrow. It's the tango of those good at translating, spotty to the extreme, Who cover up with wool their heart which is already cold. It's the tango of those who are good at nothing, who miserably decline And who will become chemists because their dad wasn't one. The time when I was last because, compared to this "rosa rosæ" tango, I was already inclined to prefer my cousin Rosa. It's the tango of the weekly walk, in pairs but alone under the arcades, Encircled by religious crows and officials who protected us from "whys". It's the tango of the rain in the playground, the mirror of a loveless puddle, Which made me understand, one fine day, that I wouldn't be Vasco de Gama. But it's the tango of the blessed moment when, for too small a kiss, In the glade of a Thursday, cousin Rosa blushed rose pink. It's the tango of the age of zeros. I had so many both thin and fat. I made them into tunnels for Charlie Chaplin or halos for St Francis. It's the tango of the rewards which went to those lucky enough To learn from early childhood everything that won't be of use to them. But it's the tango that we miss, when reclaiming the past, And foolishly realising that Rosas have thorns.
Our average mark for "Rosa" was 3.5 Today, the albums [Untitled] and [Untitled] AKA "Les bourgeois" and "Madeleine" Brel's first albums for Barclay records. [Untitled]"Les bourgeois" was Brel's first 12" studio album Side one Les bourgeois Les paumés du petit matin Le plat pays Zangra Une île Madeleine Side two Bruxelles Chanson sans paroles Les biches Casse pompon La statue Rosa
[Untitled] "Madeleine" was the 10" counterpart. At the time I understand this was still the preferred album format in France, so this is the version more people probably heard at the time. Side one Les bourgeois Les paumés du petit matin Le plat pays Madeleine Side two Bruxelles Chanson sans paroles Casse pompon Rosa The four omitted songs are "Zangra", "Les biches", "La statue" and "Une île". So if you had also bought the live album the only song you wouldn't have in your collection would be "Une île"
Associated EPs and singles Les bourgeois La statue Bruxelles Une île Madeleine Zangra Les paumés du petit matin Rosa Le plat pays Casse pompon Les biches The only track not to appear on an EP was "Chanson sans paroles" Singles (purely for jukeboxes, according to peerke) Les bourgeois/Les paumés du petit matin Madeleine/Bruxelles Une île/Rosa
Here's how we rated the tracks (number of scores in brackets) Le plat pays 5 (6) Les bourgeois 4.83 (6) Madeleine 4.75 (6) Bruxelles 4.25 (4) Les paumés du petit matin 3.96 (6) La statue 3.6 (6) Les biches 3.58 (6) Rosa 3.5 (5) Une île 3.4 (5) Zangra 3.18 (6) Chanson sans paroles 2.25 (4) Casse-pompon 1.6 (5) And here's our top ten of all songs covered so far =Le plat pays 5 (6) =Ne me quitte pas 5 (7) Marieke 4.96 (10) Je ne sais pas 4.92 (6) Le moribond 4.91 (8) Les bourgeois 4.83 (6) Madeleine 4.75 (6) =Quand on n’a que l’amour 4.67 (9) =Sur la place (remake) 4.67 (6) On n’oublie rien 4.66 (6) Here's a spotify playlist I''ve started of all songs that have scored 4 or higher: Brel Our bottom ten, starting with the lowest: Dites, si c’était vrai 1.25 (6) Casse-pompon 1.6 (5) L’aventure 1.91 (7) Clara 1.92 (6) Voir 2.07 (8) Les pieds dans le ruisseau 2.18 (7) Qu’avons-nous fait bonnes gens 2.21 (8) Le diable (Ça va) 2.22 (5) Chanson sans paroles 2.25 (4) Les blés 2.41 (7)
Most people don't comment on the albums, which is fair enough. If anyone wants to use today to pre-familiarise themselves with the obscurites we'll be covering in the next two days, here are the links: "Le pendu" "Les crocodiles" Prochaine rentrée de Sacha Distel | INA (skip to 3:51) "Dis-moi tambour" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yq-RNoE2rUY Edit. Huh, I didn't know youtube links automatically show up as embedded videos. All the time I've been wasting clicking on "media".
1962 album ("Les bourgeois") I hold this album in less affection than the two previous ones, despite several outstanding songs. It's not my favourite era for his vocals, which can sound unpleasant in a way I can't quite articulate. By 1963, I'm fine with the vocals again. More than fine. This is particularly a problem on "Une île". Also we have the version of "La statue " which is a version I always avoid, preferring the live version. We have some of Brel's weakest material in my opinion with "Casse-pompon" and "Chanson sans paroles" but I do find things to like in both of them. I look at our bottom ten list of lowest-rated songs and think, "Mmm, I wouldn't mind listening to that once in a while. Then again, we have "Les bourgeois", "Madeleine", "Le plat pays" and "Bruxelles" which is a dazzling array of highlights. (Even if I don't like "Le plat pays" quite as much as everyone else). 4/5 My album rankings "Marieke" "La valse à mille temps" "Les bourgeois" "Au printemps" Jacques Brel et ses chansons "Quand on n'a que l'amour"
Another couple of things about Rosa. As we can see here, the two featured tracks on this EP are Madeleine and Les Paumés du Petit Matin (slightly bigger lettering and coloured in blue). But on the charts the single is listed as Madeleine - Rosa. So maybe the juke box single was Madeleine - Rosa. Or maybe the charts took into account that Rosa got a great deal of radio play and was a very popular song in France. Concerning the lyrics of Rosa, my wife, who was at a French boarding school in the fifties, has confirmed that the 'crows' are indeed the priests. On the Thursday, which was the 'day off' in the week, she would have catechism given by a priest in the morning, and then the ritual accompanied walk in the afternoon. On Sundays, the other 'day off', she would have to go to mass at church. And she would only go home at the end of each term .
1962 album ("Les bourgeois") A great album. I gave full marks to 5 of these songs. The album is also well thought-out. Each side begins and ends with an excellent track. The other songs are distributed fairly evenly and there's only one song I could really do without. All in all the best album so far. 4.5/5
For me the juke box singles were mainly for juke boxes, though they could possibly be obtained by a minority of individual buyers. Occasionally, the juke box single was also the official general public release as with the Beatles We Can Work It Out/ Day Tripper. But, generally speaking, the charts , I think, reflect the sales for the EPs not for the juke box singles. Each EP would contain a stand-out track, but now and again the chart compilers would allow themselves to show if two songs on the EP were sharing the limelight as it were. So the chart listing would be for the EP with Les Paumés du Petit Matin and Zangra, but it wasn't for those songs that people were buying the EP, so they're not mentioned in the listing.
Bibliothèque Nationale de Paris has downloads of the Madeleine/Bruxelles single plus Une île/Rosa and Les bourgeois/Les paumés. On Qobuz (perhaps we should call it Gibus now) and of course other providers.
To follow on from what I was saying about EPs on the French charts. First, it must be noted that juke-box singles would sometimes have the caveat saying they must not be sold to the general public. That's why they shoudn't be taken into account for the general chart. Second, since the main song was usually self-evident there was no need to specify any of the other songs on the EP . For example, the biggest Beatles hit in France was Michelle (for obvious reasons). It was on an EP along with Run For Your Lfe, Drive My Car and Girl, but the only song that mattered was Michelle. And this is made very clear by the presentation of the EP sleeve. So Michelle is accepted as the song that made it to number one in the charts.
