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

Le chemin de ma belle
Georges Brassens Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Tous les chemins ont un air de famille
Sur les chemins y a toujours des pays
Dans les pays y a toujours des bell's filles
Et chaque fille en passant nous sourit.

{Refrain:}
Qu'il est long le chemin
Qui conduit à ma belle

Qu'il est long le chemin
Qui conduit à l'amour
Mais c'est un beau chemin
Puisqu'il mène à ma belle,
Mais c'est un beau chemin
Puisqu'il mène à l'amour.
Qu'il est long le chemin.

À sa fenêtre une vieille nous guette
Et son tricot tombe sur ses genoux.
Sa main tremblante ajuste ses lunettes
Toute pareille aux vieilles de chez nous.

{au Refrain}

Sur chaque porte, une belle aux yeux tendres
En nous voyant gaiement crie : " Les voilà ! "
Chacune alors a l'air de nous attendre,
Chacun lui fait un signe de son bras.

{au Refrain}

Oui mais bientôt, sur une route blanche
Vont refleurir tous les champs alentour
Le cour joyeux sous un ciel de dimanche
Nous reprendrons le chemin du retour.

{au Refrain}

Overall Meaning

In Georges Brassens's song "Le chemin de ma belle", the singer muses on the nature of paths and their connections to the places and people they lead to. The opening verse establishes the idea that all roads are similar in some way, with countries and beautiful girls waiting along the way. Each girl that passes by smiles at the singer, making the journey seem all the more worthwhile. The refrain of the song emphasizes the long and winding nature of the road that leads to the singer's love interest, but also acknowledges its beauty and the fact that it leads to love.

The second verse describes a scene in which a woman sitting at a window watches the singer pass by. She resembles an older woman from the singer's hometown and is adjusting her glasses as she watches. The third verse describes how every door the singer passes has a beautiful woman waiting for him, each of whom appears as though she has been waiting for his arrival. However, eventually the journey will come to an end and the singer will have to make his way back home, but he does so with a happy heart.

"Le chemin de ma belle" is a song that celebrates the journey of love, highlighting the beauty of the world that the path leads through. It emphasizes the importance of taking the time to appreciate the people and places along the way and enjoy the journey as a whole. The song's simple melody and straightforward lyrics make it a classic example of the chanson genre, which emphasizes the poetry and storytelling aspects of songwriting.

Line by Line Meaning

Tous les chemins ont un air de famille
All paths bear a resemblance to each other

Sur les chemins y a toujours des pays
On the paths, there are always countries

Dans les pays y a toujours des bell's filles
In the countries, there are always beautiful girls

Et chaque fille en passant nous sourit.
And each girl, while passing, smiles at us

Qu'il est long le chemin
How long the road is

Qui conduit à ma belle
That leads to my lovely one

Qui conduit à l'amour
That leads to love

Mais c'est un beau chemin
But it is a beautiful road

Puisqu'il mène à ma belle,
Since it leads to my lovely one

Puisqu'il mène à l'amour.
Since it leads to love

À sa fenêtre une vieille nous guette
At her window, an old woman watches us