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.
La Bastille
Jacques Brel Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Te crois-tu le droit de t'en aller tuer les bourgeois?
Si tu crois encore qu'il nous faut descendre
Dans le creux des rues pour monter au pouvoir
Si tu crois encore au rêve du grand soir
Et que nos ennemis, il faut aller les pendre
Dis-le-toi désormais
Aucun rêve jamais
Ne mérite une guerre
On a détruit la Bastille
Et ça n'a rien arrangé
On a détruit la Bastille
Quand il fallait nous aimer
Mon ami, qui crois que rien ne doit changer
Te crois-tu le droit de vivre et de penser en bourgeois
Si tu crois encore qu'il nous faut défendre
Un bonheur acquis au prix d'autres bonheurs
Si tu crois encore que c'est parce qu'ils ont peur
Que les gens te saluent plutôt que de te pendre
Dis-le-toi désormais
Même s'il est sincère
Aucun rêve jamais
Ne mérite une guerre
On a détruit la Bastille
Et ça n'a rien arrangé
On a détruit la Bastille
Quand il fallait nous aimer
Mon ami, je crois que tout peut s'arranger
Sans cris sans effroi même sans insulter les bourgeois
L'avenir dépend des révolutionnaires
Mais se moque bien des petits révoltés
L'avenir ne veut ni feu ni sang ni guerre
Ne sois pas de ceux-là qui vont nous les donner
Hâtons-nous d'espérer
Marchons aux lendemains
Tendons une main
Qui ne soit pas fermée
On a détruit la Bastille
Et ça n'a rien arrangé
On a détruit la Bastille
Ne pourrait-on pas s'aimer?
Jacques Brel's song La Bastille is a commentary on the French Revolution and its aftermath. The song is in the form of a conversation between two friends with differing views on the legacy of the revolution. The first friend believes in the need for violent overthrow of the bourgeois order while the other friend believes in the possibility of change through peaceful methods.
The first two stanzas of the song challenge the idea of revolutionary violence. The singer asks his friend whether he believes he has the right to kill the bourgeoisie, and whether the dream of the "great evening" justifies such violence. He goes on to say that destroying the Bastille did not solve anything, and that no dream is worth a war.
The third stanza offers a different approach, one that emphasizes hope and reconciliation rather than violence. The singer believes that the future belongs to revolutionaries who are not "petty rebels" but who are able to work towards change without resorting to destruction. He calls for a hand of friendship that is open and not closed, and challenges the idea that war and violence are necessary for change.
Overall, the song offers a nuanced commentary on the legacy of the French Revolution, rejecting both the idea of violent revolution and the complacency of the bourgeoisie. It encourages thoughtful engagement with the possibility of change and a commitment to non-violence as a means of making that change happen.
Line by Line Meaning
Mon ami, qui crois que tout doit changer
My friend, who believes that everything must change
Te crois-tu le droit de t'en aller tuer les bourgeois?
Do you think you have the right to go kill the bourgeoisie?
Si tu crois encore qu'il nous faut descendre
If you still believe that we need to go down
Dans le creux des rues pour monter au pouvoir
Into the depths of the streets to rise to power
Si tu crois encore au rêve du grand soir
If you still believe in the dream of the big evening
Et que nos ennemis, il faut aller les pendre
And that our enemies, we must go hang them
Dis-le-toi désormais
Tell yourself this from now on
Même s'il est sincère
Even if it is sincere
Aucun rêve jamais
No dream ever
Ne mérite une guerre
Deserves a war
On a détruit la Bastille
We destroyed the Bastille
Et ça n'a rien arrangé
And it didn't solve anything
Mon ami, qui crois que rien ne doit changer
My friend, who believes that nothing should change
Te crois-tu le droit de vivre et de penser en bourgeois
Do you think you have the right to live and think like a bourgeois?
Si tu crois encore qu'il nous faut défendre
If you still believe that we need to defend
Un bonheur acquis au prix d'autres bonheurs
A happiness acquired at the cost of other happinesses
Si tu crois encore que c'est parce qu'ils ont peur
If you still believe that it's because they're afraid
Que les gens te saluent plutôt que de te pendre
That people greet you rather than hanging you
Dis-le-toi désormais
Tell yourself this from now on
Même s'il est sincère
Even if it is sincere
Aucun rêve jamais
No dream ever
Ne mérite une guerre
Deserves a war
On a détruit la Bastille
We destroyed the Bastille
Et ça n'a rien arrangé
And it didn't solve anything
Mon ami, je crois que tout peut s'arranger
My friend, I believe that everything can be sorted out
Sans cris sans effroi même sans insulter les bourgeois
Without shouts or fear, even without insulting the bourgeoisie
L'avenir dépend des révolutionnaires
The future depends on the revolutionaries
Mais se moque bien des petits révoltés
But doesn't care about the small rebels
L'avenir ne veut ni feu ni sang ni guerre
The future wants neither fire nor blood nor war
Ne sois pas de ceux-là qui vont nous les donner
Don't be one of those who will give them to us
Hâtons-nous d'espérer
Let us hurry to hope
Marchons aux lendemains
Let's walk towards tomorrow
Tendons une main
Let's extend a hand
Qui ne soit pas fermée
That is not closed
On a détruit la Bastille
We destroyed the Bastille
Et ça n'a rien arrangé
And it didn't solve anything
On a détruit la Bastille
We destroyed the Bastille
Ne pourrait-on pas s'aimer?
Couldn't we love each other?
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@daniellesottas5967
Même s'il est sincère aucun rêve jamais ne mérite une guerre.
Vive l'espérantisme !!!
@laurentcollaer4483
C'est quoi l'esperantisme ?
@JB-tk7yl
Un bijou...
@MorrisonHotel27
Je lisais dans une biographie sur Monsieur Brel que c'était là la seule chanson où il pensait ne pas avoir dit ce qu'il voulait dire. Et je comprends. Je crois notamment qu'il a tort, l'avenir dépend des petits révoltés, à chaque stade de l'existence. Il faut se révolter partout.
@magali4483
De mon point de vue c est une chanson justement complètement révolutionnaire et subversive.
Qui oserait la remettre en musique et la chanter ?
C est marrant comme les gens sont à la fois opposés à la peine de mort et près à voir comme solution de tuer certains, elle est tout sauf conventionnelle, cette chanson, elle est juste factuelle.
Tu serais prés à tuer un homme ou une femme, toi qui fait ve commentaire, et à le justifier auprès de tes enfants par exemple, si tu en as?
@magali4483
Il parle du meurtre et de l absence d amour, pas de la révolte.
@andregarcia2936
l'avenir dépend des révolutionnaires mais se moque des petits révoltés
@rpjack5453
Si il fallait en retenir qu'une (phrase dans le texte), c'est bien celle la ;)
@nadiaghalem2969
J'apprends...
@charlesbrantley3027
Cool video. Thanks for sharing. I just came across an up & coming musician similar to this that's worth checking out... Mikey Wax... YouTube his song "You Lift Me Up". Really good stuff.