Search - Jacques Brel :: Quand on N'a Que L'amour

31 pages of Brel Photos and 24-page Essay on Brel's Life & S

J.S. | California, United States | 11/29/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This 3-CD set provides the largest number of top-flight Brel songs of any multi-CD set short of the very expensive 10-CD Brel blockbuster "Grand Jacques Integrale" (B000025BD8) with 172 songs selling for over $300. 15 of the 49 songs in this 3-CD set are among Brel's most treasured, artistic and impassioned songs of all time.



One of the most interesting things about this 3-CD set is the form-factor: 10 inches high by 5 and 5/8 inches wide, and 3/4 inch thick (25.4 x 14.3 x 1.1 cm) like a hardbound book. Two CDs are mounted on the inside of the front cover, and one on the inside of the back cover. Inside is a 31-page booklet replete with dozens of color and B&W photos of Jacques Brel, including a 24-page extended essay in French on Brel's songs and their context in his life, authored by Marc Robine and richly adorned with photos.



Some of the exquisite but rarely published Brel songs that you'll find in this collection include "Quand on n'a que l'amour", "La tendresse", "La Colombe", "L'Ivrogne", "Les desesperes", "Mon enfance", "Mon pere disait", "L'Enfance", "Le Plat Pays" and "Les coeurs tendres".



You'll also find 3 of his very best megahit songs here, "Ne Me Quitte Pas", "La Chanson des Vieux Amants" and "Amsterdam", as well as his great familiar songs "Les Vieux" and "Marieke".



Wonderful English translations by Amazon.com reviewer Thelma Blitz for many of these songs are available separately in the Infiniment (ASIN: B0002PUHGU) and the Olympia '61 and '64 (ASIN: B000BJ7D96) 2-CD Brel collections. Complete Brel song lyrics in French are available from Amazon.com in "Tout Brel" (ISBN: 2264033711), and a terrific French-English dictionary to use in studying Brel's chansons is the "Collins-Robert French Dictionary Complete & Unabridged" (ISBN: 000718381X).



For the very reasonable price of this collection, which includes 15 absolute gems among the 49 songs presented, the beautiful Brel photos and the extended essay in French about Brel's life and songs, this 3-CD collection is easily the BEST BUY you could ever make of Brel's incomparable artistry.



Disc 1 Best Songs:



"Quand On N'a Que L'amour" (When We Have Only Love, Track 1, Disc 1) is Brel's quintessential theme song (circa 1960) for idealistic young lovers who believe that love conquers all, in stark contrast to Brel's later more jaded songs, ranging from "Le Prochain Amour" (on the 2-CD collection Infiniment) in 1961 to "La Chanson des Vieux Amants" (Song of the Old Lovers, Track 13, Disc 2) in 1967. "Quand On N'a Que L'amour" strikes a similar tone of optimism as another Brel song, "Au Printemps", which is not included in this collection.



"La Tendresse" (Tenderness, Track 7, Disc 1) is Brel's nod to the power of tenderness in human relations, the lengths people will go to and the sacrifices they'll make to experience it.



"La Colombe" (The Dove, Track 8, Disc 1) expresses Brel's dismay and disillusionment at the horrors of war and explores war's effects on young men called up to bear arms.



"L'Ivrogne" (The Drunkard, Track 10, Disc 1) finds a man drinking in a bar while recounting all the sad stories

that drove him to drink over the years. By the end of the song his manner has changed and the tempo speeds up as the alcohol takes effect, elevating his mood and rejuvenating his spirits.



"Le Plat Pays" (The Flat Country, Track 12, Disc 1) is Brel's nostalgic homage to his home country of Belgium, sung with great affection in French and Flemish. Although Brel grew up in Belgium, he spent nearly his entire musical career in Paris, France.



Disc 2 Best Songs:



"Les Vieux" (The Old People, Track 1, Disc 2) evokes a ticking clock as a metaphor for the passage of time. It paints a painfully honest portrait of life in the twilight years, set to the beat of a grandfather clock, a triangle and a small orchestra.



"Les desesperes" (The Despairing Ones, Track 2, Disc 2) is the painful story of those who have been so burned by love that they've lost all hope and all reason to continue living.



"Mon Enfance" (My Childhood, Track 12, Disc 2), one of Brel's most passionate songs, takes a candid look back at what Brel describes as a quite unhappy childhood. Complimenting his voice is a ravishingly beautiful accompaniment by piano, cello, singing saw and orchestra that manage to convey a strong sense of nostalgia despite the misery Brel describes.



"La Chanson des Vieux Amants" (Song of the Old Lovers, Track 13, Disc 2) is a wonderful nostalgic look back at a romance of 20 years: all the storms the couple has endured, and "the sweet tender marvelous love" that continues today even as their "tender war" persists. To me, Brel's passionate singing and the wonderful piano and orchestral accompaniment evoke all the romance and nostalgia of a World War II era Casablanca, making this one of Brel's greatest classic songs.



"Mon pere disait" (My Father Would Say, Track 14, Disc 2) is a nostalgic song about the stories and legends of the North Wind that Belgians pass down from parent to child. For example, before the great flood, England and London stood across the mud from Bruges, but now it's a part of Bruges that is "lost at sea." I know a few Englishmen who'd surely take issue with this interpretation of events!



Disc 3 Best Songs:



"Les coeurs tendres" (Tender Hearts, Track 8, Disc 3) is a run-down of several types of tenderhearted people Brel has encountered over the years, with his keen description of the characteristics of each.



"L'Enfance" (Childhood, Track 9, Disc 3) is a song from the 1973 French comedy film "Far West" directed, coscored and co-written by Jacques Brel, who also acted in the film. In this song Brel first struggles to define what childhood is and what it means, and then goes on to explore its meaning as we arrive at old age.



"Ne me quitte pas" (Don't Leave Me, Track 10, Disc 3) is Brel's most famous torch song, in which he uses exquisite imagery to press his suit with a girl who has already left him, descending in the end into abject desperation as he struggles to maintain a link, any link at all, with the object of his love. Frank Sinatra was moved to sing an English version of this song ("If you go away"), which unfortunately doesn't do justice to the stunning poetry of the French original. This is my favorite song of the entire Jacques Brel repertoire because of the power and the haunting beauty of the lyrics, Brel's impassioned voice and the evocative music!



"Marieke" (Track 11, Disc 3) is a nostalgic song about a first love that played out on the beaches of Belgium one summer in his teen years. It alternates charmingly between Flemish and French, the two national languages of Belgium.



"Amsterdam" (Track 16, Disc 3) is one of Brel's most famous songs. It's about the sailors who disembark in this Dutch port and how they deal with the vicissitudes of their lonely lives and the dreams that haunt them once they reach the shore.



Other highly recommended Jacques Brel CDs you can find on Amazon.com include:



Title (ASIN#) No. of Songs



Infiniment (B0002PUHGU) 40 songs with wonderful English translations

Olympia '61 and '64 (B000BJ7D96) 30 songs with great English translations

Ne Me Quitte Pas (B0000AKOLJ) 11 songs

Les Flamandes (B000006UOA) 21 songs

Les Bonbons (B0000AKOLD) 14 songs

Ballades Et Mots D'amour (B00003Q56T) 30 songs

Vol. 1-Special Edition (ASIN: B000042OFF) 16 songs

Master Series: Jacques Brel (B0000046O5) 16 songs (same songs as on Vol. 1-Special Edition)

Volume 1 - Grand Jacques (B00000DXQY) 15 songs including "Sur La Place"

Grand Jacques Integrale 172 Titres (B000025BD8) 172 songs (10-CD set)



What's even more fabulous than the CDs, however, is the 3 volume DVD set released in 2003: Jacques Brel: Comme quand on etait beau. (ASIN: B0000AQJPR). The set includes 7.5 hours of live and staged performances as well as interviews and home video footage. Everything that the heart of a Jacques Brel fan desires to capture the essence of this very theatrical artist in a way that an audio-only recording can not.



Also of tremendous interest: the VHS video "Jacques Brel" (ASIN: B0001P1XG4), a video biography on the life and music of Jacques Brel. Full length documentary features extensive live footage and interviews with Brel himself as well as his daughter and associates. It is also available on DVD, but only from Films Media Group."