Jacques Brel: Difference between revisions

 

Brel came from a Flemish bourgeoisie family. He had a dull youth in the shadow of the Catholic Church and narrow minded civilians. His early work was rather naive and preachy and in Paris people ridiculed his Belgian accent. Brel then changed his style by switching over to more mature subject matter and a standard French pronunciation. This made him a success both in his own country and soon in the entire world. Despite often referring to his fatherland Brel's music is both timeless and universal. He is probably the closest Belgium ever came to a masterful lyricist of international stature à la [[Bob Dylan]]. His native French tongue made his songs a bit more difficult to understand for other languages, but luckily his work has been [[Covered Up]] by artists as varied as [[Frank Sinatra]], [[Nina Simone]], [[Scott Walker]] and [[David Bowie]]. Most music fans in the English speaking world will known him from [[Terry Jacks]]' [[Translated Cover Version]] ''"Seasons in the Sun"'', which is a sappy English cover of Brel's powerful ''"Le Moribond"''.

Despite his wide acclaim the singer is still frowned upon in certain circles. He frequently used women, the Church, Flemings and the Bourgeoisie as [[Acceptable Targets]]. So people may either [[Love It or Hate It]].

 

* [[Age Progression Song]]: ''"Zangra", "Mon Enfance", "Au Suivant", "Les Vieux", "Vieillir", "Les Bourgeois", "Rosa, Rosa, Rosa"'',...

* [[Anti-Love Song]]: In some of Brel's songs (''"Madeleine","Les Bonbons", "Mathilde"'',...) women are dangerous seducers or just ruthlessly take advantage of men. He cherished male friendships more than romances with females in his songs, even telling his depressed friend Jef in ''"Jef"'' to cheer up and go to a brothel with him, where new girls have just arrived.

* [[Grief Song]]: ''"Fernand", "Jojo"''

* [[Growing Up Sucks]]: Songs like ''"Mon Enfance", "Rosa"'' and ''"Il Neige Sur Liège"'' mourn over the end of all the dreams and illusions the protagonist once had as a kid.

* [[Karmic Transformation]]: The three students in ''"Les Bourgeois"'' sing how they hate the bourgeoisie, but near the end of the song they have grown old and became part of the bourgeoisie themselves. In a case of [[Hypocritical Humour]] they now complain themselves that they are ridiculed by sassy college students.

* [[Large Ham]]: If you thought that the only good edible things coming from Belgium were chocolates, beer and waffles, think again because Brel could ham it up magnificently whenever he wanted to. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMzAmrNS164 Like in this rendition of ''"Amsterdam"''.]

** In ''"Voir Un Ami Pleurer"'' Brel sings that he cannot stand the sight of a friend crying.

** In ''"Les F..."'' Brel lies about being Flemish with tears between his teeth.

* [[Patter Song]]: The conclusion of the studio version of ''"Une Valse à Mille Temps"'', which has to be heard to be believed. Even during concerts he was unable to match the speed of this studio delivery.

* [[Protest Song]]: Several, often a case of [[Take That]] !

* [["The Reason You Suck" Speech]]: ''"Les Flamandes", "Les F..., F..., F..."'' and ''"Les F..."'', all targeting the Flemish (nationalists) in Belgium. Brel thought he had a right to criticize his own people, even though he mostly spoke French instead of Dutch.

* [[Romantic Hyperbole]]: ''"Ne me quitte pas"'' (''Don't leave me'') has a number of line about what the singer would do to keep their lover. Unlike other songs where this is considered completely romantic, this one is more about how the despair associated with losing love would make you do really desperate things. One example among many:

"I will bring you pearls of rain from countries where there is no rain." }}

* [[Saying Sound Effects Out Loud]]: In ''"Ces Gens-Là"'' Brel imitates a tragic family eating soup by making slurping sounds.

[[Category:Jacques Brel]]

[[Category:Music]]