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 Singes
Jacques Brel Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
La fleur l'oiseau et nous étions en liberté
Mais ils sont arrivés et la fleur est en pot
Et l'oiseau est en cage et nous en numéro
Car ils ont inventé prisons et condamnés
Et casiers judiciaires et trous dans la serrure
Et les langues coupées des premières censures
Et c'est depuis lors qu'ils sont civilisés
Les singes les singes les singes de mon quartier
Avant eux il n'y avait pas de problème
Quand poussaient les bananes même pendant le Carême
Mais ils sont arrivés bardés d'intolérances
Pour chasser en apôtres d'autres intolérances
Car ils ont inventé la chasse aux Albigeois
La chasse aux infidèles et la chasse à ceux-là
La chasse aux singes sages qui n'aiment pas chasser
Et c'est depuis lors qu'ils sont civilisés
Les singes les singes les singes de mon quartier
Les singes les singes les singes de mon quartier
Avant eux l'homme était un prince
La femme une princesse l'amour une province
Mais ils sont arrivés le prince est un mendiant
La province se meurt la princesse se vend
Car ils ont inventé l'amour qui est un péché
L'amour qui est une affaire le marché aux pucelles
Le droit de courte-cuisse et les mères maquerelles
Et c'est depuis lors qu'ils sont civilisés
Les singes les singes les singes de mon quartier
Les singes les singes les singes de mon quartier
Avant eux il y avait paix sur terre
Quand pour dix éléphants il n'y avait qu'un militaire
Mais ils sont arrivés et c'est à coups de bâtons
Que la raison d'État a chassé la raison
Car ils ont inventé le fer à empaler
Et la chambre à gaz et la chaise électrique
Et la bombe au napalm et la bombe atomique
Et c'est depuis lors qu'ils sont civilisés
Les singes les singes les singes de mon quartier
Les singes les singes les singes de mon quartier
The song Les singes by Jacques Brel sheds light on the darker side of human civilization. The lyrics explain how the arrival of human beings has affected the natural ecosystem and its inhabitants. Before the arrival of humans, the flowers, birds, and other species coexisted freely with each other, along with the singer of the song. However, since the humans arrived, things changed dramatically. Flowers are now kept in pots, birds are trapped in cages, and humans are marked as mere numbers. This is because humans have created confinement, prisons, and other forms of punishment such as a criminal record, leading to a loss of freedom. Even the freedom of speech has been imposed upon by censorship. Hence, humans have defined themselves as "civilized" by suppressing and caging their fellow beings.
Moreover, the second part of the song explores other aspects of human cruelty. The singer continues by stating that humans have also introduced intolerance to society. They imposed their beliefs and forms of worship upon others by engaging in the hunt to eradicate those who differ in beliefs, such as the Albigensians. Even wise, non-violent beings such as the peaceful monkeys become victims of hunt, slaughter, and abuse. All this intolerance, persecution, and killing in the name of intolerance marks humans as civilized.
Thirdly, the song explains how the arrival of humans changed the concept of love and morality. The singer says that before the arrival of humans, love was pure and simple. However, after their arrival, it became an affair, where women sold themselves as if they were commodities. Love became a sin, and the moral values were lost. Hence, humans have taken simple, beautiful things and turned them into something immoral and violent.
Les singes song by Jacques Brel is a powerful critique of the impact of human civilization. It highlights the darker side of human existence, which includes the caging of fellow beings, intolerance, loss of morality, and violence. This song’s message remains very relevant today, where humans still inflict pain and suffering on others in the name of civilization.
Line by Line Meaning
Avant eux avant les culs pelés
Before them, before the bare-assed ones
La fleur l'oiseau et nous étions en liberté
The flower, the bird, and we were free
Mais ils sont arrivés et la fleur est en pot
But they arrived, and the flower is in a pot
Et l'oiseau est en cage et nous en numéro
And the bird is in a cage, and we're just numbers
Car ils ont inventé prisons et condamnés
Because they invented prisons and convicts
Et casiers judiciaires et trous dans la serrure
And police records and peepholes
Et les langues coupées des premières censures
And the tongues cut off from the first censors
Et c'est depuis lors qu'ils sont civilisés
And it's been since then that they are civilized
Les singes les singes les singes de mon quartier
The monkeys, the monkeys, the monkeys of my neighborhood
Avant eux il n'y avait pas de problème
Before them, there were no problems
Quand poussaient les bananes même pendant le Carême
When bananas grew even during Lent
Mais ils sont arrivés bardés d'intolérances
But they arrived loaded with intolerance
Pour chasser en apôtres d'autres intolérances
To hunt as apostles for other intolerances
Les chasses aux Albigeois, aux infidèles
The hunts for Albigensians and infidels
Et la chasse aux singes sages qui n'aiment pas chasser
And the hunt for wise monkeys who don't like to hunt
Et c'est depuis lors qu'ils sont civilisés
And it's been since then that they are civilized
Les singes les singes les singes de mon quartier
The monkeys, the monkeys, the monkeys of my neighborhood
Avant eux l'homme était un prince
Before them, man was a prince
La femme une princesse l'amour une province
Woman a princess, love a province
Mais ils sont arrivés le prince est un mendiant
But they arrived, and the prince is a beggar
La province se meurt la princesse se vend
The province is dying, the princess is for sale
Car ils ont inventé l'amour qui est un péché
Because they invented love as a sin
L'amour qui est une affaire le marché aux pucelles
Love as a business, the market for virgins
Le droit de courte-cuisse et les mères maquerelles
The right to short skirts and pimp mothers
Et c'est depuis lors qu'ils sont civilisés
And it's been since then that they are civilized
Les singes les singes les singes de mon quartier
The monkeys, the monkeys, the monkeys of my neighborhood
Avant eux il y avait paix sur terre
Before them, there was peace on earth
Quand pour dix éléphants il n'y avait qu'un militaire
When there was only one soldier for every ten elephants
Mais ils sont arrivés et c'est à coups de bâtons
But they arrived, and with blows of sticks
Que la raison d'État a chassé la raison
That state reason drove out reason
Car ils ont inventé le fer à empaler
Because they invented impaling with iron stakes
Et la chambre à gaz et la chaise électrique
And the gas chamber and the electric chair
Et la bombe au napalm et la bombe atomique
And the napalm bomb and the atomic bomb
Et c'est depuis lors qu'ils sont civilisés
And it's been since then that they are civilized
Les singes les singes les singes de mon quartier
The monkeys, the monkeys, the monkeys of my neighborhood
Contributed by Alaina O. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
B P
musicalement c'est complètement dingue : on les entend, on les voit balancer, se dresser pour gonfler poitrine, même le flow est sauvage, le "Civiiiiliiiiiiséééé" est ubuesque... la concordance parole/musique à son paroxysme
Martine SANTHOIRE
Brel tu nous manques , toi et ton franc-chanter , aujourd'hui la chanson française n'est plus qu'un robinet d'eau tiède , et ceux qui sortent du rang sont ignorés par les médias , désespérant !
Christophe Dew
Je suis d'accord avec vs c gens là sont exceptionnel ils nous donnent envies de créer, moi j'ai appris là littérature avec baudelaire et j'ai accroché avec d'autres et maintenant j'écris, bcp de copines et de copains mon dit qu'il fallait aller plus loin ont verra je fais pas ça pour l'argent, juste pour donner à réfléchir, maintenant je suis pas hypocrites si je pouvais prendre dû blé biensurs que je dirais oui mais c pas mon budget premier
Jean-François manu
Avec cette chanson j ai réussi le bac philo en1965... juré..
Christophe Dew
Donc tu as quel âge 65 68 ans
Jean francois Tournier
@Christophe Dew 74
Christophe Dew
@Jean francois Tournier deso si je réponds si tard mais je suis + 📚 que ordi tablette etc moi j'aime les livres, 1 livres 1 bouquins 1requ de poésie... ça me parle
Laēla Alcôve.
Quelle chanson ! ❤
Quel talent ! 🎉
Laēla de Belgique.
Samy Djelil
un visionnaire
pierre janots
Une chanteuse quebecquoise me fait beaucoup penser à lui : c'est Lynda Lemay , la même façon de vivre ses chansons