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 Bigotes
Jacques Brel Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
De petits chiens en petits chats
Les bigotes
Elles vieillissent d'autant plus vite
Qu'elles confondent l'amour et l'eau bénite
Comme toutes les bigotes
Ah! Si j'étais diable, en les voyant parfois
Si j'étais Dieu en les voyant prier
Je crois que je perdrais la foi
Par les bigotes
Elles processionnent à petits pas
De bénitier en bénitier
Les bigotes
Et patati et patata
Mes oreilles commencent à siffler
Les bigotes
Vêtues de noir comme Monsieur le curé
Qui est trop bon avec les créatures
Elles s'embigotent les yeux baissés
Comme si Dieu dormait sous leurs chaussures
De bigotes
Le samedi soir après l'turbin
On voit l'ouvrier parisien
Mais pas d'bigotes
Car c'est au fond de leur maison
Qu'elles se préservent des garçons
Les bigotes
Qui préfèrent se ratatiner
De vêpres en vêpres de messe en messe
Toutes fières d'avoir pu conserver
Le diamant qui dort entre leurs f-
De bigotes
Puis elles meurent à petits pas
A petit feu, en petit tas
Les bigotes
Qui cimetièrent à petits pas
Au petit jour, d'un petit froid
De bigotes
Et dans le ciel qui n'existe pas
Les anges font vite un paradis pour elles
Une auréole et deux bouts d'ailes
Et elles s'envolent, à petits pas
De bigotes
In "Les Bigotes," Jacques Brel sings about the devout, old-fashioned women who never stray from their faith or the trappings of religion. They move slowly and methodically through life like small dogs or cats, and they never question the church or their beliefs. Even as they age rapidly, they continue to confuse love with holy water and are devoutly obedient to the church's rituals. Brel paints these women as so devout that they could almost be considered other-worldly, as if they're not of this earth. They are so focused on their religion that other aspects of life are not as important, and they may even be scared to participate in things such as socializing.
Brel imagined what would happen if he were the devil or God and saw these women. As the devil, he would castrate himself upon seeing them, disgusted by their extreme piety. As God, he would lose his faith in seeing them all pray. Brel notes their strict dress code, being dressed in black like a priest, and how great their faith may appear from the outside; however, they only fulfill the stereotype of the old-fashioned, strict religious women. Jacques Brel exposes the conformity and weakness of character of these women who never dared to question anything, evoking irony and sarcasm.
Line by Line Meaning
Elles vieillissent à petits pas
They age gradually
De petits chiens en petits chats
doting over pets
Les bigotes
Religious old ladies
Elles vieillissent d'autant plus vite
they age rapidly and unnaturally
Qu'elles confondent l'amour et l'eau bénite
They confuse love with religious fanaticism
Comme toutes les bigotes
like all religious fanatics
Ah! Si j'étais diable, en les voyant parfois
Sometimes, if I were the devil and saw them
Je crois que je me ferais châtrer
I might come to castrate myself
Si j'étais Dieu en les voyant prier
If I were God seeing them pray
Je crois que je perdrais la foi
I might lose my faith
Par les bigotes
because of these religious fanatics
Elles processionnent à petits pas
They process slowly
De bénitier en bénitier
moving from one holy-water font to another
Les bigotes
The religious old ladies
Et patati et patata
Blabbing incessantly
Mes oreilles commencent à siffler
My ears start ringing
Les bigotes
The religious old ladies
Vêtues de noir comme Monsieur le curé
Dressed in black like the priest
Qui est trop bon avec les créatures
The priest who is too kind to creatures
Elles s'embigotent les yeux baissés
Their heads covered with veils, their eyes downcast
Comme si Dieu dormait sous leurs chaussures
As if God was under their shoes
De bigotes
Of these religious fanatics
Le samedi soir après l'turbin
Saturday night after working
On voit l'ouvrier parisien
Parisian workers can be seen
Mais pas d'bigotes
But not these religious old ladies
Car c'est au fond de leur maison
Because they hide at the bottom of their house
Qu'elles se préservent des garçons
In order to avoid being around men
Les bigotes
Religious old ladies
Qui préfèrent se ratatiner
Who prefer to shrink
De vêpres en vêpres de messe en messe
From vespers to mass
Toutes fières d'avoir pu conserver
Proud that they could retain
Le diamant qui dort entre leurs f-
The dormant diamond in their
De bigotes
religious fanaticism
Puis elles meurent à petits pas
Then they die gradually
A petit feu
A slow burning fire
En petit tas
In small piles
Les bigotes
Religious old ladies
Qui cimetièrent à petits pas
Who are taken to their graves gradually
Au petit jour, d'un petit froid
At first dawn, in a light chill
De bigotes
Of these religious fanatics
Et dans le ciel qui n'existe pas
And in the non-existent sky
Les anges font vite un paradis pour elles
The angels quickly build a paradise for them
Une auréole et deux bouts d'ailes
An aureole and two small wings
Et elles s'envolent, à petits pas
And they fly away, gradually
De bigotes
Religious old ladies
Lyrics © WARNER CHAPPELL MUSIC FRANCE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
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L’image et le son ont été entièrement restaurés, à l’initiative de la Fondation Jacques-Brel. Et c'est un réel plaisir de voir et entendre le chanteur dans cette salle de spectacle à dimension humaine, où chaque applaudissement semble frôler la scène. Le grand Jacques se donne comme à chacun de ses concerts, c’est-à-dire comme si ce devait être le dernier, et sa prestation sur Les bigotes laisse une fois de plus entrevoir un artiste qui ne trichait pas
Sebastien Robert
Incroyable chanteur et parolier