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.
L'Ostendaise
Jacques Brel Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Pleure sur sa chaise
Le chat soupèse
Son poids d'amour
Dans le silence
Son chagrin danse
Et les vieux pensent
Chacun son tour
Quelques voisines
Parlent de Chine
Et d'un retour
A Singapour
Une Javanaise
Devient belle-sœur
De l'Ostendaise
Il y a deux sortes de temps
Y a le temps qui attend
Et le temps qui espère
Il y a deux sortes de gens
Il y a les vivants
Et ceux qui sont en mer
Notre Ostendaise
Que rien n'apaise
De chaise en chaise
Va sa blessure
Quelques commères
Quelques compères
Battent le fer
De sa brisure
Son capitaine
Sous sa bedaine
De bière pleine
Bat le tambour
Homme de voiles
Homme d'étoiles
Il prend l'escale
Pour un détour
Il y a deux sortes de temps
Il y a le temps qui attend
Et le temps qui espère
Il y a deux sortes de gens
Il y a les vivants
Et ceux qui sont en mer
Notre Ostendaise
Au temps des fraises
Devient maîtresse
D'un pharmacien
Son capitaine
Mort sous bedaine
Joue les baleines
Les sous-marins
Pourquoi ma douce
Moi le faux mousse
Que le temps pousse
T'écrire de loin
C'est que je t'aime
Et tant je t'aime
Qu'ai peur, ma reine
D'un pharmacien
Il y a deux sortes de temps
Il y a le temps qui attend
Et le temps qui espère
Il y a deux sortes de gens
Il y a les vivants
Et moi je suis en mer
The song L'Ostendaise by Jacques Brel tells a story of a woman from Ostend who is seen crying on her chair while her cat weighs its love. The silence resonates with her dancing sorrow and the older generation reflects on their own experiences of sadness. Meanwhile, in the kitchen, some neighbors converse about their plans to return to China and Singapore. In the midst of this, the Javanaise becomes the sister-in-law of the Ostendaise.
The lyrics are deeply emotional and philosophical, with Brel weaving a story of the two types of time - the time that waits and the time that hopes - and the two types of people - the living and those lost at sea. The Ostendaise moves from chair to chair filled with relentless pain, while some gossips help her come to terms with her broken heart. The captain, with a belly full of beer, is a man of sails and stars, and takes his stopover as a course correction. The Ostendaise becomes the mistress of a pharmacist after her captain dies, and he writes to her to express his love for her and his jealousy of the pharmacist.
The Ostendaise represents the pain and longing of the human condition, and the song speaks to the different ways we cope with it. It is a beautiful exploration of the complexity of life and the bittersweet experiences that come with it.
Line by Line Meaning
Une Ostendaise
A woman from Ostend
Pleure sur sa chaise
Sitting on her chair and crying
Le chat soupèse
The cat weighs
Son poids d'amour
Its weight of love
Dans le silence
In silence
Son chagrin danse
Her sorrow dances
Et les vieux pensent
And the old folks think
Chacun son tour
Everyone gets their turn
À la cuisine
In the kitchen
Quelques voisines
Some neighbors
Parlent de Chine
Talk about China
Et d'un retour
And a return
À Singapour
In Singapore
Une Javanaise
A woman from Java
Devient belle-sœur
Becomes a sister-in-law
De l'Ostendaise
Of the woman from Ostend
Il y a deux sortes de temps
There are two kinds of time
Y a le temps qui attend
There is the time that waits
Et le temps qui espère
And the time that hopes
Il y a deux sortes de gens
There are two kinds of people
Il y a les vivants
There are the living
Et ceux qui sont en mer
And those who are at sea
Notre Ostendaise
Our woman from Ostend
Que rien n'apaise
Whom nothing appeases
De chaise en chaise
From chair to chair
Va sa blessure
Goes her wound
Quelques commères
Some gossips
Quelques compères
Some buddies
Battent le fer
Strike the iron
De sa brisure
Of her breaking
Son capitaine
Her captain
Sous sa bedaine
Under his belly
De bière pleine
Full of beer
Bat le tambour
Beats the drum
Homme de voiles
Man of sails
Homme d'étoiles
Man of stars
Il prend l'escale
He takes the stopover
Pour un détour
For a detour
Notre Ostendaise
Our woman from Ostend
Au temps des fraises
In strawberry season
Devient maîtresse
Becomes mistress
D'un pharmacien
Of a pharmacist
Son capitaine
Her captain
Mort sous bedaine
Dead under his belly
Joue les baleines
Plays whales
Les sous-marins
The submarines
Pourquoi ma douce
Why my sweet
Moi le faux mousse
As the false deckhand
Que le temps pousse
Pushed by time
T'écrire de loin
Write you from far away
C'est que je t'aime
It's that I love you
Et tant je t'aime
And I love you so much
Qu'ai peur, ma reine
That I'm afraid, my queen
D'un pharmacien
Of a pharmacist
Il y a deux sortes de temps
There are two kinds of time
Il y a le temps qui attend
There is the time that waits
Et le temps qui espère
And the time that hopes
Il y a deux sortes de gens
There are two kinds of people
Il y a les vivants
There are the living
Et moi je suis en mer
And I'm at sea
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Maria-annas GM
Une Ostendaise
Pleure sur sa chaise
Le chat soupèse
Son poids d'amour
Dans le silence
Son chagrin danse
Et les vieux pensent
Chacun son tour
À la cuisine
Quelques voisines
Parlent de Chine
Et d'un retour
À Singapeur
Une Javanaise
Devient belle-sœur
De l'Ostendaise
Il y a deux sortes de temps
Y a le temps qui attend
Et le temps qui espère
Il y a deux sortes de gens
Il y a les vivants
Et ceux qui sont en mer
Notre Ostendaise
Que rien n'apaise
De chaise en chaise
Va sa blessure
Quelques commères
Quelques compères
Battent le fer
De sa brisure
Son capitaine
Sous sa bedaine
De bière pleine
Bat le tambour
Homme de voiles
Homme d'étoiles
Il prend l'escale
Pour un détour
TheMariamorgado
Il y a deux sortes de temps
Il y a le temps qui attend
Et le temps qui espère
Il y a deux sortes de gens
Il y a les vivants
Et ceux qui sont en mer
Notre Ostendaise
Au temps des fraises
Devient maîtresse
D'un pharmacien
Son capitaine
Mort sous bedaine
Joue les baleines
Les sous-marins
Pourquoi ma douce
Moi le faux mousse
Que le temps pousse
T'écrire de loin
C'est que je t'aime
Et tant je t'aime
Qu'ai peur ma reine
D'un pharmacien
Il y a deux sortes de temps
Il y a le temps qui attend
Et le temps qui espère
Il y a deux sortes de gens
Il y a les vivants
Et moi je suis en mer
Uness A.M
Pas assez connu l’obstendaise alors que c’est une perle
Jean marc Guiriato
Incroyable performance.
darth mejnoo
Une chanson ciselée , un vrai bijou.
Marc Xirau
On peut faire un tableau de cette chanson. Chaque élément peut se dessiner. Comme quelques mots peuvent décrire tellement de sentiments et de situations. C'est inexplicable mais c'ste vrai: il y a des vivants...et ceux qui sont en mer: Impécable.
NOELLE655
1968 ...
n 01
Pour apprécier encore plus cette musique c est de se rendre à ostende près du port en regardant la mer du nord avec cette musique pendant les mois de janvier et novembre, décembre et octobre.
Noel & Nadine Sagel
J'ai eu les privilèges de découvrir Brel à 12 ans et de le voir sur scène en 1967. Le plus grand chanteur - poète de la chanson française du XX ème siècle.
Tant d'années ont passé, mais je reste touché, parfois èmu, parfois bouleversé par la beauté et la poésie de la plupart de ses textes. Et que dire de ses interprétations sur scène, chaque fois réinventées.
Rüstem
Il a voulu dire quoi lorsqu'il dit qu'il y a 2 sorte de gens ceux qui sont vivant et ceux qui sont en mer,qu'est ce que ca signifie ?
Phil Torres
@Rüstem Il faut aller voir disait il. Il faut oser, se bouger, faire; prendre des risques. Rien n'est pire que l'attente. Etre vivant pour lui c'est faire. C'est partir. Il a fait, il est parti, il a pris la mer.
ely ejoty
@Phil Torres
Oui mais J Brel chantait "Comme un marin je partirai". Il faudrait donc savoir si les vivants sont ceux qui partent (qui sont en mer) ou ceux qui restent.
Il est vrai que Brel a été parfois en contradiction avec sa philosophie, allant jusqu'à prôner l'immobilisme dans "L'aventure", chanson carrément anti-Brel.