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 Fanette
Jacques Brel Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
La plage était déserte et dormait sous juillet
Si elles s'en souviennent les vagues vous diront
Combien pour la Fanette j'ai chanté de chansons
Faut dire
Faut dire qu'elle était belle
Comme une perle d'eau
Et je ne suis pas beau
Faut dire
Faut dire qu'elle était brune
Tant la dune était blonde
Et tenant l'autre et l'une
Moi je tenais le monde
Faut dire
Faut dire que j'étais fou
De croire à tout cela
Je le croyais à nous
Je la croyais à moi
Faut dire
Qu'on ne nous apprend pas
A se méfier de tout
Nous étions deux amis et Fanette m'aimait
La plage était déserte et mentait sous juillet
Si elles s'en souviennent les vagues vous diront
Comment pour la Fanette s'arrêta la chanson
Faut dire
Faut dire qu'en sortant
D'une vague mourante
Je les vis s'en allant
Comme amant et amante
Faut dire
Faut dire qu'ils ont ri
Quand ils m'ont vu pleurer
Faut dire qu'ils ont chanté
Quand je les ai maudits
Faut dire
Que c'est bien ce jour-là
Qu'ils ont nagé si loin
Qu'ils ont nagé si bien
Qu'on ne les revit pas
Faut dire
Qu'on ne nous apprend pas
Mais parlons d'autre chose
Nous étions deux amis et Fanette l'aimait
La plage est déserte et pleure sous juillet
Et le soir quelquefois, quand les vagues s'arrêtent
J'entends comme une voix
J'entends c'est la Fanette
In Jacques Brel's song La Fanette, the singer reminisces about a time when he and a friend were both in love with a woman named Fanette. The setting is a deserted beach in the month of July, where the singer sang countless songs for Fanette. The singer describes Fanette's beauty as breathtaking and contrasts it with his own lack of physical attractiveness. He also notes the contrast between her dark hair and the surrounding blonde dunes.
The singer confesses that he was foolish to believe in the possibility of a relationship with Fanette, as he was not taught to be cautious in matters of the heart. The song takes a melancholic turn when the singer describes how he saw Fanette and her new lover leaving as the waves were crashing. They laughed at his tears and sang as he cursed them. The singer laments this loss and the fact that he can still hear Fanette's voice calling out to him in the silence of the beach at night.
Overall, La Fanette is a song about the pain of unrequited love and the singer's wistful longing for a past that he can never reclaim. It is also a meditation on the fleeting nature of love and the ways in which it can come to an abrupt end.
Line by Line Meaning
Nous étions deux amis et Fanette m'aimait
I had a friend and Fanette loved me
La plage était déserte et dormait sous juillet
The beach was deserted and sleeping in July
Si elles s'en souviennent les vagues vous diront
If the waves remember, they will tell you
Combien pour la Fanette j'ai chanté de chansons
How many songs I sang for Fanette
Faut dire
I must say
Faut dire qu'elle était belle
I must say she was beautiful
Comme une perle d'eau
Like a water pearl
Faut dire qu'elle était belle
I must say she was beautiful
Et je ne suis pas beau
And I am not handsome
Faut dire qu'elle était brune
I must say she was brunette
Tant la dune était blonde
The dune was so blonde
Et tenant l'autre et l'une
Holding each other hand in hand
Moi je tenais le monde
I felt like I held the world
Faut dire qu'à tout cela j'étais fou
I must say I was crazy about all of it
De croire à tout cela
To believe in all of this
Je le croyais à nous
I thought it was only for us
Je la croyais à moi
I thought she was mine
Faut dire
I must say
Qu'on ne nous apprend pas
They don't teach us
A se méfier de tout
To be suspicious of everything
La plage est déserte et pleure sous juillet
The beach is deserted and cries in July
Et le soir quelquefois, quand les vagues s'arrêtent
And sometimes in the evening, when the waves stop
J'entends comme une voix
I hear like a voice
J'entends c'est la Fanette
I hear, it's Fanette
Faut dire
I must say
Faut dire qu'en sortant
I must say on leaving
D'une vague mourante
From a dying wave
Je les vis s'en allant
I saw them leaving
Comme amant et amante
Like lover and beloved
Faut dire qu'ils ont ri
I must say they laughed
Quand ils m'ont vu pleurer
When they saw me cry
Faut dire qu'ils ont chanté
I must say they sang
Quand je les ai maudits
When I cursed them
Faut dire
I must say
Que c'est bien ce jour-là
It was that day
Qu'ils ont nagé si loin
That they swam so far away
Qu'ils ont nagé si bien
That they swam so well
Qu'on ne les revit pas
That they were never seen again
Faut dire
I must say
Mais parlons d'autre chose
But let's talk about something else
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: ERIC BLAU, JACQUES ROMAN BREL, MORT SHUMAN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Meriem Benladghem
Selon moi aucune chanson au monde ne réussira jamais à me faire frissonner, larmoyer, sourire, réfléchir ... comme celle ci
Je trouve même que de toutes les chansons du grand Brel c'est sur celle ci qu'il a la plus belle voix. Elle me transperce l'âme ♡
Malik Laoubi
70 ans après la même emotion
Mokhtar Mehdi
Brel est intemporel, unique et sublimissime
Mauricette cavalli
Quelle émotion !!Cette chanson me laisse toujours un peu triste, l'interprétation est magistrale, et puis la situation ma foi.....C'est presque du vécu, bravo Jacques Brel merci beaucoup .
Wafaa Iraoui
En effet même ressenti pour moi... ❗ Un géant parmi les géant
Gilles Bloch
C'est du vécu, c'est sur
Lara Brillat
Magnifique chanson. Quelle émouvante et poignante chanson .C est incroyable, nous sommes remplis d admiration pour Monsieur Brel et nous l en remercions sincèrement
Leoj Nivram
Vous avez bien fait ressentir ce que cette chanson de Brel vous a touchée... Moi aussi...Et beaucoup d'autres...
jarod quintillius
il chante la pire des trahisons mais bon mais parlons d autre chose
Senhor Shuri
O maior artista do século XX