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.
l'éclusier
Jacques Brel Lyrics
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Me voient vieillir
Je vois vieillir
Les mariniers
On joue au jeu
Des imbéciles
Où l'immobile
Est le plus vieux
Même en été
Faut voyager
Les yeux fermés.
Ce n'est pas rien d'être éclusier
Les mariniers
Savent ma trogne
Ils me plaisantent
Et ils ont tort
Moitié sorcier
Moitié ivrogne
Je jette un sort
À tout c'qui chante
Dans mon métier
C'est en automne
Qu'on cueille les pommes
Et les noyés
Ce n'est pas rien d'être éclusier
Dans son panier
Un enfant louche
Pour voir la mouche
Qui est sur son nez
Maman ronronne
Le temps soupire
Le chou transpire
Le feu ronchonne
Dans mon métier
C'est en hiver
Qu'on pense au père
Qui s'est noyé
Ce n'est pas rien d'être éclusier
Vers le printemps
Les marinières
M'font des manières
De leur chaland
J'aimerais leur jeu
Sans cette guerre
Qui m'a un peu
Trop abîmé
Dans mon métier
C'est au printemps
Qu'on prend le temps
De se noyer
The song "L'éclusier" by Jacques Brel is a poetic portrayal of the life of a lock keeper. The gently swaying music creates an atmosphere of contemplation, as the lyrics describe the passage of time through the seasons and the experiences of the eclusier, or "lock keeper", as he watches the boats pass by from his station at the lock. The eclusier is acutely aware of his own aging, as well as that of the sailors who journey down the river, and the lyrics express a melancholy recognition of the passage of time.
Despite the sustained metaphor of the lock keeper as a kind of passive observer of the river's ceaseless movement, there is also a sense of agency in his manipulation of the locks themselves. His use of magic spells and his cultivation of a mystical persona create a sense of mystique that sets him apart from other men. Through his experience, we see that time is not just an abstract concept but is intimately tied up with human experience and the natural world. The poem ends with a powerful statement of the danger and risk inherent in human experience, as the eclusier reflects on the unpredictable and sometimes deadly whims of the river.
Line by Line Meaning
Les mariniers
The boaters
Me voient vieillir
See me growing old
Je vois vieillir
I see them growing old
Les mariniers
The boaters
On joue au jeu
We play the game
Des imbéciles
Of fools
Où l'immobile
Where the immobile
Est le plus vieux
Is the oldest
Dans mon métier
In my profession
Même en été
Even in summer
Faut voyager
You gotta travel
Les yeux fermés.
With closed eyes.
Ce n'est pas rien d'être éclusier
It's not nothing to be a lock keeper.
Les mariniers
The boaters
Savent ma trogne
Know my face
Ils me plaisantent
They tease me
Et ils ont tort
And they are wrong
Moitié sorcier
Half wizard
Moitié ivrogne
Half drunk
Je jette un sort
I cast a spell
À tout c'qui chante
To everything that sings
Dans mon métier
In my profession
C'est en automne
It's in autumn
Qu'on cueille les pommes
That you pick the apples
Et les noyés
And the drowned ones
Ce n'est pas rien d'être éclusier
It's not nothing to be a lock keeper.
Dans son panier
In their basket
Un enfant louche
A suspicious child
Pour voir la mouche
To see the fly
Qui est sur son nez
On their nose
Maman ronronne
Mama purrs
Le temps soupire
The weather sighs
Le chou transpire
The cabbage sweats
Le feu ronchonne
The fire grumbles
Dans mon métier
In my profession
C'est en hiver
It's in winter
Qu'on pense au père
That you think of your father
Qui s'est noyé
Who drowned
Ce n'est pas rien d'être éclusier
It's not nothing to be a lock keeper.
Vers le printemps
Towards spring
Les marinières
The boatwomen
M'font des manières
Make gestures at me
De leur chaland
From their barge
J'aimerais leur jeu
I would like their game
Sans cette guerre
Without this war
Qui m'a un peu
That has somewhat
Trop abîmé
Too damaged
Dans mon métier
In my profession
C'est au printemps
It's in spring
Qu'on prend le temps
That we take the time
De se noyer
To drown
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA/AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Mary M. Brandes
on La Valse à Mille Temps
I love Jacques Brel songs.