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
Les Passantes
Georges Brassens Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
A toutes les femmes qu'on aime
Pendant quelques instants secrets
À celles qu'on connait à peine
Qu'un destin différent entraîne
Et qu'on ne retrouve jamais
À celle qu'on voit apparaître
Et qui, preste, s'évanouit
Mais dont la svelte silhouette
Est si gracieuse et fluette
Qu'on en demeure épanoui
À la compagne de voyage
Dont les yeux, charmant paysage
Font paraître court le chemin
Qu'on est seul, peut-être, à comprendre
Et qu'on laisse pourtant descendre
Sans avoir effleuré la main
À celles qui sont déjà prises
Et qui, vivant des heures grises
Près d'un être trop différent
Vous ont, inutile folie
Laissées voir la mélancolie
D'un avenir désespérant
Chères images aperçues
Espérances d'un jour déçues
Vous serez dans l'oubli demain
Pour peu que le bonheur survienne
Il est rare qu'on se souvienne
Des épisodes du chemin
Mais si l'on a manqué sa vie
On songe avec un peu d'envie
À tous ces bonheurs entrevus
Aux baisers qu'on n'osa pas prendre
Aux cœurs qui doivent vous attendre
Aux yeux qu'on n'a jamais revus
Alors, aux soirs de lassitude
Tout en peuplant sa solitude
Des fantômes du souvenir
On pleure les lèvres absentes
De toutes ces belles passantes
Que l'on n'a pas su retenir
In Georges Brassens's song Les Passantes, the singer dedicates his poem to all the women he has loved or briefly encountered in his life. He reminisces about the fleeting moments he had with these women, from those he barely knew to the ones that he saw only for a second at their windows. He says that their appearances, even for a brief moment, had a lasting impact on him. The women he speaks of are those of different paths and destinies that he never sees again. He goes on to talk about traveling companions, women who he may have had an instant connection with, but ultimately parted ways without even touching hands. He then speaks about women who are already taken, living unhappy lives with partners who are different from himself. In their melancholic encounters, she gave him a glimpse of a future that may not have been so bleak had they been together.
Line by Line Meaning
Je veux dédier ce poème
I want to dedicate this poem
A toutes les femmes qu'on aime
To all the women we love
Pendant quelques instants secrets
For a few secret moments
À celles qu'on connait à peine
To those we barely know
Qu'un destin différent entraîne
Whom a different fate takes away
Et qu'on ne retrouve jamais
And whom we never find again
À celle qu'on voit apparaître
To her whom we see appear
Une seconde à sa fenêtre
For a second at her window
Et qui, preste, s'évanouit
And who quickly disappears
Mais dont la svelte silhouette
But whose slim silhouette
Est si gracieuse et fluette
Is so graceful and slender
Qu'on en demeure épanoui
That we remain filled with joy
À la compagne de voyage
To the travelling companion
Dont les yeux, charmant paysage
Whose eyes, a charming landscape
Font paraître court le chemin
Make the journey seem shorter
Qu'on est seul, peut-être, à comprendre
That we alone may understand
Et qu'on laisse pourtant descendre
And whom we nevertheless let go
Sans avoir effleuré la main
Without having touched her hand
À celles qui sont déjà prises
To those who are already taken
Et qui, vivant des heures grises
And who, living gray hours
Près d'un être trop différent
Near an all too different being
Vous ont, inutile folie
Have shown you, useless folly
Laissées voir la mélancolie
The melancholy you have seen
D'un avenir désespérant
Of a hopeless future
Chères images aperçues
Dear fleeting images
Espérances d'un jour déçues
Hopes of a day disappointed
Vous serez dans l'oubli demain
You will be forgotten tomorrow
Pour peu que le bonheur survienne
If happiness happens to come
Il est rare qu'on se souvienne
It's rare to remember
Des épisodes du chemin
The moments of the journey
Mais si l'on a manqué sa vie
But if we missed our life
On songe avec un peu d'envie
We think with a bit of envy
À tous ces bonheurs entrevus
Of all those glimpsed moments of joy
Aux baisers qu'on n'osa pas prendre
Of the kisses we didn't dare take
Aux cœurs qui doivent vous attendre
Of the hearts that must be waiting for you
Aux yeux qu'on n'a jamais revus
Of the eyes we never saw again
Alors, aux soirs de lassitude
So, in nights of weariness
Tout en peuplant sa solitude
While filling our solitude
Des fantômes du souvenir
With ghosts of memories
On pleure les lèvres absentes
We weep for the absent lips
De toutes ces belles passantes
Of all these beautiful passersby
Que l'on n'a pas su retenir
Whom we were not able to keep
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: Georges Brassens, Antoine Pol, Jean Favreau
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind