Jacques Brel
Even now, 20 years after his death, almost nothing of the impact of Jacques Brel has been lost. The words to the music were more important than the music itself.
Thought by many to be French and even Dutch, Brel has never denied his Belgian roots. A number of songs were recorded both in Dutch and in French (Mijn vlakke land – Le plat pays. De Burgerij – Les bourgeois). Others carry bits in Dutch (e.g. Marieke). He also often sang of the time of his youth and the country of his origin.
His daughter, France Brel, once said: “The French relate to my father intellectually, they analyze him. But the Belgians feel him. Brel is somebody who ate mussels and fries and drank beer. He belongs to them, he’s one of them. It’s a certain look. a way of being.
He loved to provoke, to demystify – to be very “Flemish”!
Diagnosed with lung cancer, he underwent an operation in Brussels in 1974. Afterwards he continued to sing with one lung, one song at a time, until his death in October 1978. Brel is buried in the cemetery of Atuone on the island of Hiva-Oa on Tahiti.
Brel is considered one of the most covered artists – among those who have performed versions of his songs are Scott Walker, Alex Harvey, Neil Diamond, Ray Charles, Frank Sinatra, Petula Clark, Shirley Bassey, David Bowie, Nina Simone, Mark Almond, Arno, Leonard Cohen.
The impactof his talent was not limited by language … in America Terry Jacks scored a number one hit with an adaptation of Le Moribond (Seasons in the sun).
Jacques Brel … an artist for all time?
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