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.
Les Biches
Jacques Brel Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Quand elles s'échappent en riant
Des pâturages de l'ennui
Les biches
Avec des cils comme des cheveux
Des cheveux en accroche-faon
Et seulement le bout des yeux
Qui triche
Et que je sais des ouragans
Qu'elles ont changés en poètes
Les biches
Et qu'on les chasse de notre esprit
Ou qu'elles nous chassent en rougissant
Elles sont notre premier ennemi
Les biches de quinze ans
Elles sont notre plus bel ennemi
Quand elles ont l'éclat de la fleur
Et déjà la saveur du fruit
Les biches
Qui passent toute vertu dehors
Alors que c'est de tout leur cœur
Alors que c'est de tout leur corps
Qu'elles trichent
Lorsqu'elles grignotent le mari
Ou lorsqu'elles croquent le diamant
Sur l'asphalte bleu de Paris
Les biches
Qu'on les chasse à coups de rubis
Ou qu'elles nous chassent au sentiment
Elles sont notre plus bel ennemi
Les biches de vingt ans
Elles sont notre pire ennemi
Lorsqu'elles savent leur pouvoir
Mais qu'elles savent leur sursis
Les biches
Quand un chasseur est une chance
Quand leur beauté se lève tard
Quand c'est avec toute leur science
Qu'elles trichent
Trompant l'ennui plus que le cerf
Et l'amant avec l'autre amant
Et l'autre amant avec le cerf
Qui biche
Mais qu'on les chasse à la folie
Ou qu'elles nous chassent du bout des gants
Elles sont notre pire ennemi
Les biches d'après vingt ans
Elles sont notre dernier ennemi
Quand leurs seins tombent de sommeil
Pour avoir veillé trop de nuits
Les biches
Quand elles ont le pas résigné
Des pèlerins qui s'en reviennent
Quand c'est avec tout leur passé
Qu'elles trichent
Afin de mieux nous retenir
Nous qui ne servons à ce temps
Qu'à les empêcher de vieillir
Les biches
Mais qu'on les chasse de notre vie
Ou qu'elles nous chassent parce qu'il est temps
Elles restent notre dernier ennemi
Les biches de trop longtemps
The lyrics of Jacques Brel's Les Biches speak of a woman - or rather, a particular type of woman - as the singer's enemy. These women are personified as deer - creatures that are beautiful, alluring, and ultimately dangerous. The first verse describes teenage girls as the singer's "premier ennemi", with their flirtatious nature and their ability to make men stop in their tracks. The next verse describes women in their twenties as the singer's "plus bel ennemi", highlighting their physical beauty and their willingness to cheat and betray. The third verse sees the women as the singer's "pire ennemi", with their manipulative nature and their ability to use their beauty to get what they want. Finally, the last verse sees women in their later years as the singer's "dernier ennemi", with their fading beauty and their desperation to hold onto their youth.
Overall, Les Biches paints a picture of women as both alluring and threatening, with their beauty being a weapon that they wield to get what they want. The lyrics are poetic and evocative, painting a vivid picture of deer running through a field while men chase after them, unable to resist their charm.
Line by Line Meaning
Elles sont notre premier ennemi
The young, playful does are our first enemy, always escaping from the boredom of the pasture.
Quand elles s'échappent en riant
When they escape and laugh, they become even more dangerous.
Des pâturages de l'ennui
The pasture is full of boredom, and the does sense it.
Les biches
The does
Avec des cils comme des cheveux
These does have long, beautiful eyelashes.
Des cheveux en accroche-faon
Their hair is short and elegant.
Et seulement le bout des yeux
Only the tips of their eyes are visible, making them more seductive.
Qui triche
The does' eyes that cheat men into falling for them.
Si bien que le chasseur s'arrête
The hunters stop in their tracks when they see these does.
Et que je sais des ouragans
Jacques Brel knows that these does can create storms of emotions.
Qu'elles ont changés en poètes
The does can turn even the strongest hunters into poets with their seductiveness.
Et qu'on les chasse de notre esprit
We try to chase the does out of our thoughts.
Ou qu'elles nous chassent en rougissant
Or the does hunt us down, blushing as they do it.
Elles sont notre premier ennemi
The does remain our first enemy, even at fifteen years old.
Les biches de quinze ans
The fifteen-year-old does who are just as dangerous as ever.
Elles sont notre plus bel ennemi
At twenty years old, the does become our most beautiful enemies.
Quand elles ont l'éclat de la fleur
These does shine like flowers at their prime.
Et déjà la saveur du fruit
They are ripe and ready to be taken, but at what cost?
Qui passent toute vertu dehors
These does abandon all virtue and morality when they are after something.
Alors que c'est de tout leur cœur
They put their whole heart and soul into deceiving us.
Alors que c'est de tout leur corps
And even their body is used as a weapon to seduce us.
Qu'elles trichent
They cheat us, plain and simple.
Lorsqu'elles grignotent le mari
They nibble on married men.
Ou lorsqu'elles croquent le diamant
Or even diamonds are not safe from their grasp.
Sur l'asphalte bleu de Paris
They can be found even on the blue asphalt of Paris.
Qu'on les chasse à coups de rubis
We try to get rid of them with gifts of rubies.
Ou qu'elles nous chassent au sentiment
But they can also seduce us with their feelings and emotions.
Elles sont notre plus bel ennemi
The does continue to be our most beautiful enemies, even after turning twenty.
Les biches de vingt ans
The twenty-year-old does who have gained even more power.
Elles sont notre pire ennemi
As they grow older, the does become even more dangerous.
Lorsqu'elles savent leur pouvoir
They know how to wield their power over men.
Mais qu'elles savent leur sursis
But they also know that their power is limited and won't last forever.
Quand un chasseur est une chance
They see a hunter as an opportunity, not a threat.
Quand leur beauté se lève tard
Their beauty only grows with time.
Quand c'est avec toute leur science
They use all of their knowledge and experience to deceive us.
Qu'elles trichent
Once again, they use their cheating ways to get what they want.
Trompant l'ennui plus que le cerf
They are more skilled at deceiving and manipulating than even the wisest of stags.
Et l'amant avec l'autre amant
They trick lovers into betraying each other.
Et l'autre amant avec le cerf
Or even into betraying the faithful stag.
Qui biche
Who waits patiently for his mate to return.
Mais qu'on les chasse à la folie
We try to drive them out of our lives with sheer madness.
Ou qu'elles nous chassent du bout des gants
But they can easily push us away with a flick of their wrist.
Elles sont notre pire ennemi
At this point, the does are our worst enemy.
Les biches d'après vingt ans
The does who have lived for more than twenty years and have seen it all.
Elles sont notre dernier ennemi
The does are our final enemy, even when they are old and tired.
Quand leurs seins tombent de sommeil
When they are old and tired, their breasts hang low.
Pour avoir veillé trop de nuits
They have stayed up for too many nights, using their seductive ways in vain.
Les biches
The does
Quand elles ont le pas résigné
They walk with a slow and resigned gait.
Des pèlerins qui s'en reviennent
Like pilgrims returning home, they seek comfort in their final days.
Quand c'est avec tout leur passé
They use all the experience and memories of their life to hold onto us.
Qu'elles trichent
Even in their old age, they still use their manipulative ways to stay close to us.
Afin de mieux nous retenir
They do everything in their power to keep us by their side.
Nous qui ne servons à ce temps
For us, time is fleeting and we are at the does' mercy.
Qu'à les empêcher de vieillir
All we can do is try to stop them from getting older.
Les biches
The does
Mais qu'on les chasse de notre vie
We try to banish them from our lives.
Ou qu'elles nous chassent parce qu'il est temps
Or they decide to leave us because it is time for them to move on.
Elles restent notre dernier ennemi
But no matter what, the does are always our final enemy.
Les biches de trop longtemps
The does who have been around for too long and have outlasted us all.
Lyrics © SEMI
Written by: Gerard JOUANNEST, Jacques BREL
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Mary M. Brandes
on La Valse à Mille Temps
I love Jacques Brel songs.