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Jacques Brel (April 8, 1929 – October 9,
1978) was a Belgium|Belgian French
language|French-speaking musician|author-composer,
considered by many a poet as well, for the strong
power of expression in his lyrics. Remembered in
the anglophone world for the translations of his
songs, he is also remembered in French-speaking
countries as an actor and theatre
director|director.  

==Biography==

Brel was born in Schaerbeek, Belgium, a district
of Brussels, but lived most of his life in Paris.
He died in Bobigny in the suburbs of Paris and is
buried in the Marquesas Islands.

Although the Brels spoke French, they were of
Flemish descent. Brel's father was co-owner of a
cardboard factory and Brel started his
professional life at that firm, apparently
destined to follow in his father's footsteps. He
showed an interest in culture as well, having
joined a catholic-humanist youth organisation:
Franche Cordée, where he did some singing and
acting. At Franche Cordée he met Thérèse
Michielsen ('Miche'). They maried in 1950.

In the early 1950s Brel achieved some minor succes
in Belgium singing self penned songs. A 78rpm
record (La foire/Il y a) was released as a result.
From 1954 Brel serieusly persued an international
singing carreer. He quit his job and relocated to
Paris, writing music and singing in the city's
cabarets and music-halls, where on stage he
delivered his songs with grand physical gestures.
After some success his wife and daughters joined
him from Belgium. By 1956 he was touring Europe
and he recorded the song Quand on n'a que l'amour
that brought him his first major recognition. He
appeared in a show with Maurice Chevalier and 
Michel Legrand.

By the end of the 1950s Miche and Brel's three
daughters relocated to Brussels. He and his family
lead separate lives from then on. Under the
influence of his friend Georges Pasquier ('Jojo')
and pianists Gérard Jouannest and Francois Rauber
Brel's style changed. He was no longer a
catholic-humanist troubadour, but sang grimmer
songs about love, death and the struggle that is
life. The music became more complex and his themes
more diverse, exploring love (Je t'aime, Litanies
pour un retour), society (Les singes, Les
bourgeois, Jaurès) and spiritual concerns (Le bon
Dieu, Dites, si c'était vrai, Fernand). His work
is not limited to one style. He was as proficient
in funny compositions (Les bonbons, Le lion,
Comment tuer l'amant de sa femme...) as in
heart-breaking ones (Voir un ami pleurer, Fils
de..., Jojo). 

Brel's acute perception made him an innovative and
creative painter of daily life with rare poetic
ease. He was a master poet. His intelligent use of
words was striking and simple, exhibiting a very
visual and meaningful vocabulary. Few of his peers
are considered to match his skill in fitting as
much novelty and meaning in a sentence from a few
words in common usage. 

Brel also had a keen sense of metaphor, as in Je
suis un soir d'été where the narrator is a
summer's evening telling what he observes as he
falls on a city. Although regarded a master with
lyrics, his musical themes were of the first
standard, and also here he was not limited to one
style. 
He composed both rhythmic, lively and captivating
tunes (L'aventure, Rosa, Au printemps) as well as
sad and solemn songs. (J'en appelle, Pourquoi
faut-il que les hommes s'ennuient?)

Brel's romantic lyricism sometimes revealed levels
of darkness and bitter irony. At moments his
tender love songs might show flashes of barely
suppressed frustration and resentment. His
insightful and compassionate portraits of the
so-called dregs of society, the alcoholics,
drifters, drug addicts and prostitutes described
in 'Jef' and 'Jacki', evaded easy sentimentality,
and he was not shy about portraying the unsavoury
side of this lifestyle. 

He composed and recorded his songs almost
exclusively in French language|French, 
and is widely recognized in French-speaking
countries as one of the best French-language
composers of all time.
But he occasionally included parts in Dutch as in
Marieke, and also recorded Dutch versions of a few
songs such as Le Plat Pays and Les bourgeois
(since his own command of the language was poor,
these were translated by Ernst van Altena,
renowned translator of French song).  

His attitude towards the Flemish seemed
contradictory: at times he declared himself
Flemish and presented himself to the world as a
Flemish singer, but he also mocked rustic Flemish
life with the comic song Les Flamandes. Later in
his career he directed his anger at the Flemish
movement|Flamingants. From La, la, la (1967) are
the words "Vive les Belgiens, merde pour les
flamingants" ("Long live Belgians, shit for the
flamingants"). In Les F... (1977) Brel portrays
the flamingants as "Nazis durant les guerres et
catholiques entre elles" ("Nazis during the wars
and catholics in between"). 

Although France was Brel's "spiritual nation" and
he expressed contradictory statements about his
native Belgium, many overlook this as some of his
best compositions pay tribute to Belgium, like Le
plat pays or Il neige sur Liège.

As an actor he gained fame playing opposite Claude
Jade in the film My uncle Benjamin.

He appeared in the musical l'homme de la Mancha
(Man of La Mancha) which he also directed, and
appeared in films, though his film performances
are not thought to be of quite the same caliber as
his musical performances. In 1969 he took the lead
role in Mon oncle Benjamin.  Le Far West,  a
comedy which he directed, co-wrote and appeared
in, was nominated for a Palme d'Or at the Cannes
Film Festival in 1973.

For twenty years he was a major star gaining
recognition beyond French audiences. In 1973 he
retreated to French Polynesia, remaining there
until 1977 when he returned to Paris and recorded
his well-received final album.

Brel died of lung cancer and was buried in Calvary
Cemetery, Atuona|Calvary Cemetery in Atuona, Hiva
Oa, Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia only a few
yards away from painter Paul Gauguin.

Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris
is an American musical revue of the art of Jacques
Brel which has played around the world for years.
Including definitive rhyming translations of his
work into English language|English, it was put
together by Brel's friend Mort Shuman and debuted
in 1968. The work is performed by two men and two
women (originally Elly Stone, Mort Shuman, Shawn
Elliott, and Alice Whitfield).  In 1974, a movie
of the show was made, featuring the original cast
http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0121411/.

English translations of his songs have been
recorded by David Bowie, Scott Walker (singer) |
Scott Walker, Terry Jacks, Alex Harvey, Jack
Lukeman, Marc Almond, Momus (musician) | Momus,
The Paper Chase, Frank Sinatra, Dusty Springfield
and The Dresden Dolls.

==Discography==
Assembling a comprehensive Jacques Brel
discography would be prohibitively complicated,
because his recordings have been released in so
many different permutations, in different
countries, and on different formats. Furthermore,
releases of Brel's recordings are sometimes known
by different titles.

For the sake of conciseness and clarity, this
discography is currently restricted to Brel's
original albums, as collected and reissued on 23
September 2003 in the 16CD box set of his work
Boîte à Bonbons; plus the additional album
Chansons ou Versions Inédites de Jeunesse, which
was released for the first time as part of this
box set. The titles ascribed to each album are the
titles used in the box set.
===Studio albums===
*Grand Jacques (1954)
*Quand On n'a Que l'Amour (1957)
*Au Printemps (1958)
*La Valse à Mille Temps (1959)
*Marieke (1961)
*Les Bourgeois (1962)
*Les Bonbons (1966)
*Ces Gens-Là (1966)
*Jacques Brel '67 (1967)
*J'arrive (1968)
*L'Homme de la Mancha (1968)
*Ne Me Quitte Pas (1972)
*Les Marquises (1977)

===Live albums===
*Enregistrement Public à l'Olympia 1961 (1962)
*Enregistrement Public à l'Olympia 1964 (1964)
===Rarities===
*Chansons ou Versions Inédites de Jeunesse (2003)

==Filmography==
===As director===
*Franz (1971)
*Le Far West (1973)
===As actor===
*La Grande Peur de Monsieur Clément (dir Paul
Diebens) (1956)
*Les Risques du Métier (dir André Cayatte)
(1967)
*My_Uncle_Benjamin|Mon Oncle Benjamin (dir Edouard
Molinaro) (1969)
*La Bande à Bonnot (dir Philippe Fourastié)
(1969)
*Les Assassins de l'Ordre (dir Marcel Carné)
(1971)
*Mont-Dragon (dir Jean Valère) (1971)
*Franz (dir Jacques Brel) (1971)
*L'Aventure, c'est l'Aventure (dir Claude Lelouch)
(1972)
*Le Bar de la Fourche (dir Alain Levent) (1972)
*Le Far West (dir Jacques Brel) (1973)
*L'Emmerdeur (dir Edouard Molinaro) (1973)
==External links==
*http://www.jacquesbrel.be/index03UK.htm Jacques
Brel Official website
*http://www.frmusique.ru/texts/b/brel_jacques/brel
.htm Jacques Brel Lyrics
*imdb name|id=0107035|name=PAGENAME