The legendary INTENSE performer
Jacques Brel !
LIVE !
(With subtitles: in
Dutch - rhyming translation, probably by
Ernst van Altena).
(
English TRANSLATION : below HERE in description)!
Jacques Brel was a
Belgian singer, Flemish of origin, but
French speaking & singing mostly.
He is widely considered a master of the modern 'chanson', and an influential singer-songwriter.
Brel had tremendous success in
Europe and fans all over the world. He wrote a treasure of unforgettable melodies and lyrics, and was a brilliant performer.
His most famous song is "
Ne me quitte pas", covered in several other languages, like in English as "If you go away" by many artists as
Frank Sinatra,
Nina Simone,
Ray Charles,
David Bowie,
Sting,
Shirley Horn (try her version!!),
Toots Thielemans, etc.
"Jef" is the name of a friend, the song is about friendship.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_
...
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ENGLISH ====
No Jef, you are not alone
But do stop this crying
Like this in front of everyone
Just because a semi-old woman
Just because a fake blond
Has let you down
No Jef, you aren't alone
But you know, this is shameful
Sobbing like this, it's silly,
In front of everyone
Just because a three-quarter whore
Slipped out of your fingers
No Jef, you aren't alone
But one feels ashamed looking at you
People are laughing at us
Let's go away from this damned pavement
Come on, Jef, come on...
Come on,
I've got a few coins left
Let's go and drink them
At 'la Mère
Françoise'
Come on, Jef, come on, I've got
a few coins left
And if that's not enough, well,
We'll leave the bill unpaid
Then we'll go and eat
Mussels and also chips
Chips and also Mussels
And some wine from the
Moselle
And if you're still sad
We'll go and visit the girls
At that
Madame Andrée's
They say there are new girls
We'll sing again as we used to
When we were young
When those were the days
When I had money
No Jef, you aren't alone
But stop pulling these faces
Lift up your two hundred pounds
Shake up your bones
I know your heart is heavy
But you've got to lift it up Jef
No Jef, you aren't alone
But stop all this sobbing
Stop wallowing
Stop going on and on
And saying you'll drown yourself
Or you'll hang yourself
No Jef, you aren't alone
But this is no longer a pavement
Now it's more like a scene from a drama
When people come and look at you
Come on, Jef, come on ...
Come on there's still my guitar
I'll set it on fire for you
And we'll become
Spaniards,
Jef, come on, come on
Just like when we were kids
You'll make your nightingale impression, Jef
even if
I never enjoy that
Then we'll find ourselves a bench
We'll talk about
America
That's where we're gonna go you know
When we have more dough, Jef, come on
And if you're still feeling sad
Or even if just looking sad
I'll tell you how there
You'll become
Rockefeller
We'll feel good you and I
We'll sing again as we used to
When we were good looking Jef
When those were the days
Before we became drunkards
Come on then, Jef, come on
Yes, Jef, yes, come on!
___
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- published: 19 Jul 2006
- views: 1876105