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 pavés
Jacques Brel Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Petite rue gentille
Où l'on voit les filles
Qui pendent le linge tout blanc
Aux balcons des cours, en riant
Aux garçons qui leur parlent d'amour
J'aime les pavés de ma rue
Mes petits pas de souris
Au pensionnat du Sacré-Coeur
Ah, je me souviens de l'école
Et des soeurs
Cornettes en auréoles
Et, plus tard, quand on allait danser
Dans les bars du quartier
Les pavés
Aux joues humides de rosée
Ont porté nos pas titubants
En chantant
Les chansons que font sur leur dos
Les sabots des chevaux
J'aime les pavés de ma rue
Ils ont connu ma mie
La belle Lucie
Le jour où on s'est fiancés
Il y avait juste assez de soleil
Pour aimer
Que les autres jours soient pareils
J'aime les pavés de ma rue
Leurs ventres sales ont porté
Feuilles mortes d'été
Mes lettres d'amour jolies
Par la belle jetées au vent
Émouvants
Souvenirs d'une vie
J'aime les pavés de ma rue
Je leur demande souvent
Comme un petit enfant
De ne pas crier trop fort
Sous le chariot qui portera
Mon corps
Dans sa caisse de bois
Pour ne pas troubler ma rue
Petite rue gentille
Où l'on voit les filles . . .
The lyrics of Jacques Brel's song "Les pavés" capture the singer's fondness for the cobblestones on the street where he lives. He describes how the girls in the neighbourhood hang their white laundry out to dry on their balconies and laugh at the boys who talk to them of love. The cobblestones have been a part of Brel's life since he was a child taking his "petits pas de souris" (little mouse steps) to the Sacré-Coeur school run by nuns, where they wore "cornettes en auréoles" (headdresses like halos).
Brel reminisces about how the cobblestones have been there through his youth and teenage years, when he sang and stumbled his way home from bars in the neighbourhood. The stones have also borne witness to Brel's romantic history, including his engagement to his love Lucie, their walks on the street and the letters he wrote to her and sent flying in the wind. Brel asks the cobblestones to be gentle when his coffin is carried to the cemetery, so as not to disturb the tranquillity of his beloved street.
Overall, the song is an ode to the simple joys of life, the memories we attach to objects and spaces, and the connections we make with our surroundings. The cobblestones represent not just the physical objects but also the people, experiences and emotions that have shaped Brel's life and made him who he is today.
Line by Line Meaning
J'aime les pavés de ma rue
I have a fondness for the cobblestones of my street
Petite rue gentille
A lovely little street
Où l'on voit les filles
Where we can see the girls
Qui pendent le linge tout blanc
Who hang white laundry
Aux balcons des cours, en riant
On the balconies of the courtyards, laughing
Aux garçons qui leur parlent d'amour
At the boys who speak of love to them
Ils ont conduit tout petit
They guided me when I was little
Mes petits pas de souris
My tiny mouse steps
Au pensionnat du Sacré-Coeur
To the Sacred Heart boarding school
Ah, je me souviens de l'école
Ah, I remember school
Et des soeurs
And the sisters
Cornettes en auréoles
Wearing cornettes like halos
Et, plus tard, quand on allait danser
And later, when we went dancing
Dans les bars du quartier
In the bars of the neighborhood
Les pavés
The cobblestones
Aux joues humides de rosée
With dew on their damp cheeks
Ont porté nos pas titubants
Carrying our staggering steps
En chantant
Singing
Les chansons que font sur leur dos
The songs made by the horses' hooves
Les sabots des chevaux
On their backs
Ils ont connu ma mie
They knew my sweetheart
La belle Lucie
Beautiful Lucie
Le jour où on s'est fiancés
The day we got engaged
Il y avait juste assez de soleil
There was just enough sun
Pour aimer
To love
Que les autres jours soient pareils
So that the other days might be the same
Leurs ventres sales ont porté
Their dirty bellies carried
Feuilles mortes d'été
Dead leaves of summer
Mes lettres d'amour jolies
My pretty love letters
Par la belle jetées au vent
Thrown to the wind by my beloved
Émouvants
Touching
Souvenirs d'une vie
Memories of a life
Je leur demande souvent
I often ask them
Comme un petit enfant
Like a little child
De ne pas crier trop fort
Not to cry out too loudly
Sous le chariot qui portera
Under the cart that will carry
Mon corps
My body
Dans sa caisse de bois
In its wooden box
Pour ne pas troubler ma rue
So as not to disturb my street
Petite rue gentille
Lovely little street
Où l'on voit les filles . . .
Where we can see the girls...
Contributed by Grace C. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Mary M. Brandes
on La Valse à Mille Temps
I love Jacques Brel songs.