In Memoriam: Jacques Brel

English below... As usual it will be a free translation from French.

Jacques Brel s'est éteint il y a trente ans. Je l'ai découvert sur le tard, au début de la vingtaine, mais je suis devenu un grand admirateur. J'y reviens toujours. Que dire sur Brel sans tomber dans les clichés? C'était à la fois un chanteur, un poète et un acteur, le tout en symbiose parfaite. Déjà là, je dis des clichés et je ne lui rends pas justice. Je vais donc mettre Le Dernier Repas, pour ceux qui ne le connaissent pas encore (et, dans mon lectorat francophone, ça m'étonnerait qu'il y en ait). C'est probablement la meilleure façon de lui rendre hommage: écouter et se taire.

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Jacques Brel died 30 years ago. As I said before, I discovered him relatively late in my life, but I became a big admirer. It is difficult to explain how great he was without resorting to clichés. In English, his songs have been translated, or to be more accurate rewritten, and often massacred in the process. I strongly urge my readership to discover the real deal. I am putting here Le Dernier Repas, about the fantasised/idealised last moments of a man. I don't wish to sound too dramatic, but a few years ago, I had the occasion to think about my own death. If there is a way to go, I think this is the right way. Notice that the song isn't as much about death than about the last moments of life, which the characters wishes to enjoy to the fullest, unrepentant, regretting nothing, adamant about his (absence of) belief, yet he cannot help but feel scared about what is going to happen to him.