Brel was born on 8th April 1929 in Schaarbeek, a district of Brussels, and lived half of his life in Paris. He died of lung cancer on 9th October 1978 in Bobigny in the suburbs of Paris, and is buried in the Marquesas Islands.
Although the Brels spoke French, they were of Flemish descent, with some of the family originating from Zandvoorde, near Ieper. Brel's father was co-owner of a cardboard factory and Brel started his professional life at that firm, apparently destined to follow in his father's footsteps. However he had no interest in it, showing instead an interest in the arts, having joined the Catholic-humanist youth organisation Franche Cordée, where he did some singing and acting. At Franche Cordée he met Thérèse Michielsen ('Miche'), and they married in 1950.
In the early 1950s Brel achieved some minor success in Belgium, singing his own songs. A 78rpm record ("La foire"/"Il y a") was released as a result. From 1954 Brel seriously pursued a singing career. He quit his job and moved to Paris, writing music and singing in the city's cabarets and music-halls.. In January 1955 he supported in the Ancienne Belgique in Brussels the performances of the Belgian pop and variety pioneer Bobbejaan Schoepen. After some success his wife and daughters joined him from Belgium. By 1956 he was touring Europe and he recorded the song "Quand on n'a que l'amour", which brought him his first major recognition. He appeared in a show with Maurice Chevalier and Michel Legrand.
By the end of the 1950s Miche and Brel's three daughters moved to Brussels. He and his family led separate lives from then on. Under the influence of his friend Georges Pasquier ('Jojo') and pianists Gérard Jouannest and François Rauber, Brel's style changed. He was no longer a Catholic-humanist troubadour, but sang grimmer songs about love, death, and the struggle that is life. The music became more complex and his themes more diverse, exploring love ("Je t'aime", "Litanies pour un retour"), society ("Les singes", "Les bourgeois", "Jaurès") and spiritual concerns ("Le bon Dieu", "Dites, si c'était vrai", "Fernand"). His work is not limited to one style. He was as proficient in comic compositions ("Le lion", "Comment tuer l'amant de sa femme...") as in more emotional ones ("Voir un ami pleurer", "Fils de...", "Jojo"). He composed and recorded his songs almost exclusively in French, and is widely recognised in French-speaking countries as one of the best French-language composers of all time.
Brel himself occasionally included parts of his songs in Flemish (Dutch), one of the three official languages of Belgium, as in Marieke. He also recorded eight other Flemish versions of songs, such as Mijn vlakke land (Le plat Pays), Laat Me Niet Alleen (Ne me quitte pas), Rosa, De Burgerij (Les Bourgeois), and De Nuttelozen van de Nacht (Les paumés du petit matin). Since his own command of the language was poor, these were translated by Ernst van Altena, renowned translator of French song. Although France was Brel's "spiritual home" and he expressed contradictory statements about his native Belgium, some of his best compositions pay tribute to Belgium.
A very successful theatrical review of his songs, "Jacques Brel is Alive and Living in Paris," was launched in 1968. It featured English translations of his songs, and it was late made into a film.
To English-speaking listeners, Brel's best-known song is probably "Seasons in the Sun," a hit for Terry Jacks in 1973. Its English lyrics are a translation by Rod McKuen of Brel's "Le Moribond."
For twenty years he was a major star gaining recognition beyond French audiences. In 1973 he retreated to French Polynesia, remaining there until 1977 when he returned to Paris and recorded his well-received final album.
A heavy smoker, it was discovered in 1973 that Brel had lung cancer. He died in 1978 and was buried in Calvary Cemetery in Atuona, Hiva Oa, Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia only a few yards away from painter Paul Gauguin.
Il pleut 'les carreaux
Jacques Brel Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
C'est pas ma faute à moi
Les carreaux de l'usine
Sont toujours mal lavés
Il pleut
Les carreaux de l'usine
Y en beaucoup d'cassés
Ne me regardent pas
Car elles s'en vont danser
Avec tous ceux-là
Qui savent leur payer
Pour pouvoir s'amuser
Des fleurs de papier
Ou de l'eau parfumée
Les filles qui vont danser
Ne me regardent pas
Car elles s'en vont danser
Avec tous ceux-là
Il pleut
C'est pas ma faute à moi
Les carreaux de l'usine
Sont toujours mal lavés
Les corridors crasseux
Sont les seuls que je vois
Les escaliers qui montent
Ils sont toujours pour moi
Mais quand je suis seul sous les toits
Avec le soleil, avec les nuages
J'entends la rue pleurer
Je vois les cheminées
De la ville fumer
Doucement, dans mon ciel à moi
La lune danse pour moi le soir
Elle danse, danse
Elle danse, danse
Et son haleine
Immense halo me caresse
Le ciel est pour moi
Je m'y plonge le soir
Et j'y plonge ma peine
Il pleut
Et c'est ma faute à moi
Les carreaux de l'usine
Sont toujours mal lavés
Il pleut
Les carreaux des usines
Moi j'irai les casser
In Jacques Brel's song "Il pleut 'les carreaux", the songwriter describes his dreary existence working in a factory under miserable conditions. He begins by blaming the poorly cleaned factory windows for the rain seeping in, acknowledging that many of the windows are either broken or cracked. He goes on to observe that the women he likes don’t pay any attention to him, and always choose to dance with those who can pay for their amusement, those who can shower them with paper flowers or perfumed water.
Despite these dismal surroundings, the songwriter finds solace in his own imagination. Up on the roof in both sunny and rainy weather, he listens to the weeping street and watches the smoking chimneys of the city. It is a world that only he can see, and in it the moon serves as his companion, even appearing to dance just for him, and his breath hangs over him like a large halo. The sky is his refuge where he can take his sorrows and immerse himself.
In the end, the song comes full circle, with the songwriter acknowledging that it's his own fault if the windows in the factory are dirty and that he'll even break a few if he gets the chance. The song serves as a poignant reminder that some people find beauty in even the most downtrodden of places and that imagination and solitude can provide a form of antidote to the misery of life.
Line by Line Meaning
Il pleut
It's raining
C'est pas ma faute à moi
It's not my fault
Les carreaux de l'usine
The tiles of the factory
Sont toujours mal lavés
Are always poorly washed
Les carreaux de l'usine
The tiles of the factory
Y en beaucoup d'cassés
Many are broken
Les filles qui vont danser
The girls who go dancing
Ne me regardent pas
Don't look at me
Car elles s'en vont danser
Because they go dancing
Avec tous ceux-là
With all those
Qui savent leur payer
Who know how to pay them
Pour pouvoir s'amuser
To be able to have fun
Des fleurs de papier
With paper flowers
Ou de l'eau parfumée
Or perfumed water
Les filles qui vont danser
The girls who go dancing
Ne me regardent pas
Don't look at me
Car elles s'en vont danser
Because they go dancing
Avec tous ceux-là
With all those
Il pleut
It's raining
C'est pas ma faute à moi
It's not my fault
Les carreaux de l'usine
The tiles of the factory
Sont toujours mal lavés
Are always poorly washed
Les corridors crasseux
The dirty hallways
Sont les seuls que je vois
Are the only ones I see
Les escaliers qui montent
The stairs that go up
Ils sont toujours pour moi
They're always for me
Mais quand je suis seul sous les toits
But when I'm alone under the roofs
Avec le soleil, avec les nuages
With the sun, with the clouds
J'entends la rue pleurer
I hear the street crying
Je vois les cheminées
I see the chimneys
De la ville fumer
Of the city smoking
Doucement, dans mon ciel à moi
Softly, in my own sky
La lune danse pour moi le soir
The moon dances for me at night
Elle danse, danse
She dances, dances
Elle danse, danse
She dances, dances
Et son haleine
And her breath
Immense halo me caresse
An immense halo caresses me
Le ciel est pour moi
The sky is for me
Je m'y plonge le soir
I dive into it at night
Et j'y plonge ma peine
And I dive my sorrow into it
Il pleut
It's raining
Et c'est ma faute à moi
And it's my fault
Les carreaux de l'usine
The tiles of the factory
Sont toujours mal lavés
Are always poorly washed
Il pleut
It's raining
Les carreaux des usines
The tiles of the factories
Moi j'irai les casser
I will go break them
Writer(s): Charles Aznavour, Pierre Roche, Pierre Lucien Andre Joseph Roche
Contributed by Kaelyn I. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
m'sieur noon
que de talent
Abdelhak Bahaddi
il traite deux sujets en même temps : son état d'âme et les carreaux de l'usine .
David Abeillaud
Très belle chanson même si désespérée
Eve
🙏❤️♦️❤️🙏
sinistrose sinistre
Monsieur BREL JE VOUS AIME DEPUIS MON ADOLESCENCE
Fedwa HIHI
Il est mort mon chère ami , depuis longtemps
Fedwa HIHI
Il est mort mon chère ami , depuis longtemps
YVELINE C
Le plus cocâsse
C'EST QUE
AUX DERNIÊRES NOUVELLES
Maryse vîvaît A'DOUR dans LE HAINAUT BÊLGE
Lâ où J'avais vécu üne pârtie de MON ENFÂNCE Â LÂ CITE DU REPÔS
ÊLLE VIVAIT
EN SOÎGNANT
Son vieux MARI MALÂDE ?
Elle allait peut être HERITER DE SA FAMILLE ?
Jean-François manu
3 cachets et dodo yveline
Jean-François manu
4 cachets et dodo yveline