Search - Jacques Brel :: Les Flamandes

Another five stars for Brel!

Merilahti Kristiina | Finland | 09/23/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This collection features a variety of songs from 1953 to 1967, some of them are composed for movies, such as 'Pourquoi faut-il que les hommes s'ennuient?' (Un roi sans divertissement), 'Les coeurs tendres' (Un idiot a Paris), 'L'enfance' (Le Far West, directed by Brel) and 'La chanson de Van Horst' (Le bar de la Fourche), so this is an interesting record. My personal favourite of these songs is 'Les coeurs tendres'. Brel, who could say the cruelest things (cruel mainly because he was right) shows here the enormous compassion for human nature. "There are those, whose hearts are so big, you enter them without a quiver, those whose hearts are so big, you can only see a part, there are those whose hearts are so fragile, you can break them with a finger, those whose hearts are too fragile to live like you and I..." Other songs include memories of his own country ('Les Flamandes', 'Marieke' - only part of the song sang in French), among the most powerful songs are absolutely 'L'ivrogne' and 'Le moribond', songs about getting drunk to tolerate life and dying without falling into tears, but giving goodbyes with pride and humour. The songs give a wide profile of Brel. After 'Le moribond' you hear one of his most beautiful songs 'Le prochain amour', about love with all its pros and cons and then a very different kind of song - and very seldom heard - 'Vivre debout', with its Spanish sounding guitares, that suit well with the words. 'Serait-il impossible de vivre debout?' Is it impossible to live standing up/with pride?It's fun to hear also songs which sound like they were made for children, like 'L'aventure' - Brel sings with a choir of children and his voice sounds like he was smiling radiantly - and a playful 'Les moutons'. Arrangements are almost entirely by Francois Rauber, quality work as always. And there is also a rarity: Brel didn't usually use other people's material, but after Scott McKuen translated and performed his songs in English, he in turn translated one of McKuen's (The lovers), here 'Les amants de coeur' - very beautiful and sentimental. Makes one believe, that the original loses in comparison - though honestly I must admit, I've never happened to hear it. 'Il y a' and 'La foire' are from the very beginning of Brel's career - and you can hear it: his voice is quite nasal in 'Il y a' and the recordings are poor, though 'La foire' already sounds better and echoes the traditional chanson of the time. For some reason 'Vivre debout' also sounds a bit quiet, as if it were recorded from afar. Some of these songs were rerecorded with different arrangements in the seventies (Marieke, Le prochain amour, On n'oublie rien etc.) but these are the ones I prefer: with Rauber's orchestra. His magic touch was part of what made Brel's songs bloom - and of course Gerard Jouannest, who has composed some of the songs with Brel. One of my all time favourites, 'L'ivrogne', has Brel's lyrics and is composed by Rauber and Jouannest and of course played by Rauber's orchestra. This is how well they worked together, listen and enjoy!"