My 2 favourite artists are Prince and Jacques Brel. Before I start summing up the reasons why I love Jacques Brel, I'm curious to know if any one knows this man...?

I'm ashamed to say I only know him through interpretations of his songs in English, principally those recorded by Scott Walker (who is one of my favourite singers). Is there a good place to start for his own interpretations ?

MarieLouise said:

Sadly I only know him through Marc Almond's covers of his songs... but from that, he sounds like a great songwriter and I'd love to hear more.

I know a few general things about him..

I should know MORE,
considering I lived in his country for almost 2 years..


waiting for your summation of why you like him, MarieLouise..
& maybe even a comparison of the 2?

Dear people, I'm so glad that some of you responded. The sad (and interesting) thing is that you can't really grip this man's essence unless you go back to the lyrics. I'm not saying that the musical arrangements aren't interesting, but it's the poetry, the going back to the basic feelings of life that gets a hold on you once you get started.
Comparison? Well let's say there both very passionate about music, and both not really concerned about how people view them. What I like more about Brel is that he takes poetry as a starting point, and that he searches his meaning in very daring ways, whereas Prince rather sees God as a dominant, onmniscent being. But I hope you understand this is no offence towards the little one, because he stays big in many ways... Both free in mind, but in a totally different way.
Brels greatest songs? Very subjective of course but I can give you some ideas if you're interested. The most famous one is 'Ne me quitte pas' (Don't leave me). My absolute favourite is 'Ces gens-la' (hard to explain, 'those people'...?). and 'Fernand', about a friend who died.

Et puis, si j'etais le Bon Dieu,
Je crois que je s'rias pas fier
Je sais on fait ce qu'on peut
mais y a la manière
(°Fernand)

(And well, if I was god,
I think I wouldn't be too proud
I know, you do what you can
but it is the way you do it...)

I really like his songs. I got a few of his CD´s. He died to early. Have you ever seen one of his performances on television? It´s so much better when you see him singing. Very emotional.

I'm not too keen on him - I prefer more melodic songs.
Speaking of gallic singers, in case you haven't noticed, Serge Gainsbourg is my other musical hero!

I know him very well, even visited his museum in Brussel.

I was part of a show that consisted of his songs. I sang Madeleine and Le Bourgeois, in Dutch.

Want to see some pics ?

He was such a true giving artist, lots of things can be learned when performing his songs

Dawntreader, where was this show? Was it in Amsterdam or somewhere in Belgium? And yes, I'd like to see some pictures... Do you know Filip Jordens? He did a fantastic interpretation of Brelsongs, saw him in Brussels some weeks ago, I don't know if he's touring in The Netherlands too.

Gainsbourg, I agree with you that Serge has also some great songs. But I wouldn't say Brel hasn't got melodic songs, do you know 'Vesoul' for example? Or 'La Quete', and many others. Even the quiet songs sound very melodic to my ears...