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
La ballade des dames du temps jadis
Georges Brassens Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Est Flora la belle Romaine
Archipiada, né Thaïs
Qui fut sa cousine germaine
Echo parlant quand bruyt on maine
Dessus rivière ou sus estan
Qui beaulté ot trop plus qu'humaine
Mais ou sont les neiges d'antan?
Mais ou sont les neiges d'antan?
Ou est très sage Hélloïs
Pour qui chastré fut et puis moyne
Pierre Esbaillart a Saint-Denis?
Pour son amour ot ceste essoyne
Semblablement, ou est royne
Qui commanda que buridan
Fut geté en ung sac en Saine?
Mais ou sont les neiges d'antan?
Fut geté en ung sac en Saine?
Mais ou sont les neiges d'antan?
La royne blanche comme lis
Qui chantoit a voix de seraine
Berte au grand pié, Bietris, Alis
Haremburgis qui tient le Maine
Et Jehanne la bonne Lorraine
Qu'Englois brûlèrent a Rouen
Où sont ils, ou Vierge souveraine?
Mais où sont les neiges d'antan?
Où sont ils ou Vierge souveraine?
Mais où sont les neiges d'antan?
Prince, n'enquérez de sepmaine
Ou elles sont, ne de cest an
Qu'a ce refrain ne vous remaine:
Mais ou sont les neiges d'antan?
Qu'a ce refrain en vous remaine:
Mais ou sont les neiges d'antan?
"La ballade des dames du temps jadis" is a melancholic and sentimental song by French singer-songwriter Georges Brassens. The lyrics are a series of rhetorical questions about the fates of several legendary women from history, mythology and literature. The singer asks where the beautiful Roman lady Flora, her cousin Archipiada and her rival Thaïs are now, as well as the wise Heloise, the scholar Peter Abelard, the queen who ordered the execution of Buridan, and the martyred Joan of Arc, among others. The repeated refrain "Mais où sont les neiges d'antan?" ("But where are the snows of yesteryear?") suggests that all these great people have disappeared into oblivion like the fleeting beauty of winter.
The song is rich in allusions and symbolic meanings. Flora symbolizes the transitory nature of beauty and pleasure, as well as the decadence of the Roman Empire. Archipiada and Thaïs evoke the themes of incest and sensuality, as they were two courtesans who were thought to be related to each other. Echo, the nymph who fell in love with Narcissus and wasted away, represents the voice that cannot be heard anymore, drowned by the noise of modern life. Heloise and Abelard are the quintessence of a tragic love story, in which the woman sacrifices her reputation and the man his manhood for the sake of knowledge and passion. The queen refers to Jeanne de Navarre, the wife of King Philip IV of France, who was notorious for her cruelty and her affair with the knight Buridan. Joan of Arc, the ultimate heroine and martyr of French nationalism, embodies the paradoxical fate of being burned at the stake and later canonized by the Catholic Church.
Overall, "La ballade des dames du temps jadis" is a poignant reflection on the human condition, the fleetingness of fame and glory, and the nostalgia for a vanished past. Brassens's rendition of the song, with his trademark guitar playing and deep voice, adds a sense of intimacy and sincerity to the timeless lyrics.
Line by Line Meaning
Dites moy ou, n'en quel pays
Tell me where, in what country
Est Flora la belle Romaine
Is Flora the beautiful Roman
Archipiada, né Thaïs
Archipiada, also known as Thaïs
Qui fut sa cousine germaine
Who was her first cousin
Echo parlant quand bruyt on maine
Echo speaking upon the sound of the river
Dessus rivière ou sus estan
Above the river or upon the stands
Qui beaulté ot trop plus qu'humaine
Who had beauty too much more than human
Mais ou sont les neiges d'antan?
But where are the snows of yesteryear?
Ou est très sage Hélloïs
Where is the very wise Hélloïs
Pour qui chastré fut et puis moyne
For whom was castrated and then made monk
Pierre Esbaillart a Saint-Denis?
Pierre Esbaillart at Saint-Denis?
Pour son amour ot ceste essoyne
For his love, he had this torment
Semblablement, ou est royne
Similarly, where is the queen
Qui commanda que buridan
Who ordered Buridan
Fut geté en ung sac en Saine?
To be thrown in a bag in the Seine?
La royne blanche comme lis
The queen white as lilies
Qui chantoit a voix de seraine
Who sang with the voice of a siren
Berte au grand pié, Bietris, Alis
Berte with the big foot, Bietris, Alis
Haremburgis qui tient le Maine
Haremburgis who reigns in Maine
Et Jehanne la bonne Lorraine
And Jehanne, the good from Lorraine
Qu'Englois brûlèrent a Rouen?
That the English burned in Rouen?
Où sont ils, ou Vierge souveraine?
Where are they, oh sovereign Virgin?
Prince, n'enquérez de sepmaine
Prince, do not inquire of weeks
Ou elles sont, ne de cest an
Where they are, nor of this year
Qu'a ce refrain ne vous remaine:
Except that this refrain remains:
Mais ou sont les neiges d'antan?
But where are the snows of yesteryear?
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc., WARNER CHAPPELL MUSIC FRANCE
Written by: GEORGES CHARLES BRASSENS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind