Georges Brassens was a French singer and songwriter known for accompanying … Read Full Bio ↴Georges Brassens was a French singer and songwriter known for accompanying himself with his acoustic guitar. He wrote some extremely controversial, yet poetic songs. In doing so, he managed to change attitudes across France.

He was uncompromising when composing his songs. His tactical method of addressing issues was profound and often humorous, making him a unique and effective figure in the French community.

Brassens, born in 1921 in the small Mediterrenean port of Sete, wanted to be a poet. He realized very early however that poetry in the 20th century could hardly put bread on the table and instead set himself to become a singer.

He is much less famous internationally than contemporaries like Charles Aznavour, Edith Piaf and Yves Montand, as much of the impact of his songs came from the lyrics, which proved difficult to translate into other languages. He loved the Middle Ages and used a great deal of Old French vocabulary, as well as many classical - ie., Latin and Greek - references. Few people, even in France, possess the background to fully understand his songs.

Yet he was at the same time a hugely popular singer and many of his songs still carry a lot of appeal and relevance. In this sense, he can be compared to Boris Vian, to Jacques Brel, and to a lesser extent to Serge Gainsbourg.

He was very sophisticated, yet at the same time used profanity liberally. While he wasn't politically engaged, he was nevertheless unambiguously a leftist, many of his songs carrying blatant and buoyant anarchist overtones.

While his music was initially quite primitive, the 1950's St-Germain-des-Pres influence quickly made itself felt and while subdued and - in his mind - always secondary to the lyrics, it became increasingly sophisticated - to the point that many of his songs have been covered and reinterpretated by jazzmen (see for instance this UK site: www.projetbrassens.eclipse.co.uk)

He died in 1981, but up to this date (2006) there are few French people - including most of those born since - who can't sing along to his most famous song, Les Copains d'abord ("Friends foremost") or his "Bancs public" ("Public Benches").

For those interested, this site carries a number of (quite good) English tranlations of his songs: www.brassens.org

Brave Margot
Georges Brassens Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Margonton la jeune bergère
Trouvant dans l'herbe un petit chat
Qui venait de perdre sa mère
L'adopta
Elle entrouvre sa collerette
Et le couche contre son sein
C'était tout c'quelle avait pauvrette
Comme coussin

Le chat la prenant pour sa mère
Se mit à téter tout de go
Émue, Margot le laissa faire
Brave Margot
Un croquant passant à la ronde
Trouvant le tableau peu commun
S'en alla le dire à tout l'monde
Et le lendemain

Quand Margot dégrafait son corsage
Pour donner la gougoutte à son chat
Tous les gars, tous les gars du village
Étaient là, la la la la la la
Étaient là, la la la la la
Et Margot qu'était simple et très sage
Présumait qu'c'était pour voir son chat
Qu'tous les gars, tous les gars du village
Étaient là, la la la la la la
Étaient là, la la la la la

L'maître d'école et ses potaches
Le maire, le bedeau, le bougnat
Négligeaient carrément leur tâche
Pour voir ça
Le facteur d'ordinaire si preste
Pour voir ça, n'distribuait plus
Les lettres que personne au reste
N'aurait lues
Pour voir ça, Dieu le leur pardonne
Les enfants de cœur au milieu
Du Saint Sacrifice abandonnent
Le saint lieu
Les gendarmes, même mes gendarmes
Qui sont par nature si ballots
Se laissaient toucher par les charmes
Du joli tableau

Quand Margot dégrafait son corsage
Pour donner la gougoutte à son chat
Tous les gars, tous les gars du village
Étaient là, la la la la la la
Étaient là, la la la la la
Et Margot qu'était simple et très sage
Présumait qu'c'était pour voir son chat
Qu'tous les gars, tous les gars du village
Étaient là, la la la la la la
Étaient là, la la la la la

Mais les autres femmes de la commune
Privées d'leurs époux, d'leurs galants
Accumulèrent la rancune, patiemment
Puis un jour, ivres de colère
Elles s'armèrent de bâtons
Et farouches, elles immolèrent le chaton
La bergère après bien des larmes
Pour s'consoler prit un mari
Et ne dévoila plus ses charmes
Que pour lui
Le temps passa sur les mémoires
On oublia l'événement
Seul des vieux racontent encore
À leurs p'tits enfants

Quand Margot dégrafait son corsage
Pour donner la gougoutte à son chat
Tous les gars, tous les gars du village
Étaient là, la la la la la la
Étaient là, la la la la la
Et Margot qu'était simple et très sage
Présumait qu'c'était pour voir son chat
Qu'tous les gars, tous les gars du village
Étaient là, la la la la la la

Étaient là, la la la la la
Étaient là, la la la la la la

Overall Meaning

Brave Margot is a song by Georges Brassens that tells the story of a young shepherdess named Margot who adopts a kitten she found in the grass after it had lost its mother. Margot places the kitten against her breast, and the kitten begins to suckle. A passerby, seeing the sight, tells everyone in the village, and soon everyone, including schoolteachers, the mayor, and even the police, comes to watch Margot breastfeed the kitten.

Margot, being a simple and naive young woman, believes that everyone has come to see her because of the kitten, not realizing that the men of the village are instead there because they are fascinated with her breasts. The women in the village begin to resent Margot, so much so that one day they gather together and kill the kitten that Margot had been taking care of. Margot is heartbroken but eventually marries and never again reveals her charms to anyone but her husband.

The song is a commentary on the objectification of women and how a woman's body can be used to distract and control men. It also highlights the double standard that exists between men and women when it comes to nudity and sexualization.

Brave MargotGeorges Brassens Lyrics

Brave Margot
Georges Brassens Lyrics