Step into the shoes of the late chansonnier with these five tracks from his musical revue, Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris – they’ll make you shake with fury, laughter and sadness all at once
For our faux friends
Ha ha, death isn’t funny. But Brel makes it so in ‘Funeral Tango’, a number charged with scorn and set to the beat of military drums as he watches his ‘dear fake friends’ hover around his grave and dab their eyes with kerchiefs, pretending they care when all they really want is a piece of his wealth. It’s not just an ode to death; it pays homage to the fair-weathered friends in our lives.
For the one that got away
Brel wrote ‘Ne Me Quitte Pas’ shortly after his pregnant mistress, Zizou, left him when he refused to acknowledge the child as his. It’s a song of immense longing, of what-could-have-been’s and regrettable decisions – of which we surely all have, except maybe not quite as drastic as Brel’s. Wallow in this, then move on.
For bittersweet closure
Despite its sombre lyrics about goodbyes (a running theme in many Brel tunes), ‘Le Moribond’ – better known by its popularised English cover, ‘Seasons in the Sun’ – ripples with hopeful undertones and relief in the fact that closure’s possible, even after a rough patch. No Band-Aids needed for this one.
For the infatuation we’ve all experienced
Ah, young love. Brel croons from the perspective of a young chap who brings his crush a bouquet of lilacs every day – until she doesn’t show up one evening. Still, he persists: ‘Tomorrow I will wait for Madeleine / I will bring again some lilacs / I will bring them the entire week / Madeleine, she will really like that’. It inches on borderline obsession, and reminds us that unrequited love takes many forms. At least try not to be creepy about it.
For all the peaks and troughs of life
As if life weren’t enough of a roller coaster, Brel spins it around in ‘Carousel’. The surrealist song is layered with the child-like realisation that we’re all on a merry-go-round: tossed with ups and downs, and few in-betweens. Mull on this the next time you hop on a shiny carousel.
Jacques Brel is Well and Alive and Living in Paris is at SOTA Drama Theatre until June 4, as part the Voilah! French Festival 2016. Tickets available through SISTIC.