Jacques Brel died every night on stage.. He has to vomit before singing.. He was afraid of singing face to hundred persons. He was the king, literally the king of the francophonic music... Even he was Belgium... Rimbaud, Verlaine, his life was epic...
Brel était belge, et non français, c'est peut-être ce qui lui donne ce joli petit accent. C'est un des plus grands compositeurs, auteurs et interprètes francophones. Franchement, toutes ses chansons valent le compte d'être écoutées. "les vieux", "les bonbons", et je ne peux pas toutes les citer! Merci d'écouter de la chanson francophone. Bisous de Bretagne en France.
No arguments there. Brel was a Belgian national. But he loved the French language so much that he got carried a little too much away. Bisous de Gironde. 🥰
It's a song with a lot of metaphors that are difficult to understand, even for those who understand the language, if you don't put yourself in context. Just imagine the sailors who arrives in the seaport of Amsterdam and who are going to do everything they couldn't do for months at sea... I'll let you imagine😅. This song is so well written that you can see the dirt and smell the cod just by closing your eyes.
Hi Uncle D, Amsterdam (Jacques Brel) Translation In the port of Amsterdam There are sailors singing The dreams that haunt them Off the coast of Amsterdam. In the port of Amsterdam There are sailors sleeping Like floating banners Along the dreary banks. In the port of Amsterdam There are sailors dying Full of beer and drama At first mornin' lights. But, in the port of Amsterdam There are sailors who are being born In the thick heat Of the oceanic languors. In the port of Amsterdam There are sailors who eat On tablecloths too white Some flowing fishes. They show you their teeth Made to bite the fortune, To decrease the full moon, To tear cables-stayed. And it smells like cod Right into the fries' heart That their big hands invite To come back like rain. Then they get up, laughing, in a big storm's sound. Afterward, close their fly And get out, burping. In the port of Amsterdam There are sailors dancing In rubbing their paunch On women's belly. And they spin, and they dance Like spitted suns In the torn sound Of a rancid accordion. They twist their necks To better hear themselves laugh, Until suddenly, The accordion expires. So, the solemn gesture, So, the proud look, They bring back their conquest Towards the full light. In the port of Amsterdam There are sailors who drink. And who drink and still drink, And who drink again. They drink to health Of the whores from Amsterdam Or from Hamburg or from beyond. Finally, they drink to the ladies Who give them their pretty bodies Who give them their virtue For a golden coin. And when they've drunk enough, They point faces to the sky, Blowing their nose in the stars, In pissing, same as I cry On unfaithful women. In the port of Amsterdam, In the port of Amsterdam. Peace, folks. ☮👈😎
@@SadSad-de2cy J'avais d'abord mis "pissing" mais je doutais que ça passe avec la censure d'YT qui est de plus en plus dure. J'ai je ne sais combien de commentaires qui ne sont pas publiés pour des raisons souvent très obscures (moi, je les vois, mais quand je surfe en navigation privée et vais sur la vidéo en cause, le commentaire n'est pas visible, donc, non publié). Sachant que cette traduction a maintenant un certain nombre de votes positifs, et donc, qu'elle est visible par tous, je viens de rectifier. 😉
@@SonOfBaraki359 Sans doute, mais comme cette métaphore (ou plutôt double sens) n'est pas traduisible en l'état, mieux vaut s'en tenir à une traduction factuelle.
Traduire "leurs Bataves" par "their conquest" a du sens, mais change un peu aussi le sens précis. On emploie (pas beaucoup) le mot "bataves" pour désigner familièrement les Néerlandais, puisque les Bataves est le nom de l'ancien peuple germanique qui vivait à l'embouchure du Rhin du temps des Romains. Ils ne sont pas vraiment les ancêtres des Néerlandais actuels car il semble que les Romains, et surtout les Francs lors de leur extension, aient chassé ce peuple vers le sud-ouest, peut-être jusqu'en Normandie où ils auraient donné leur nom à la ville de Bayeux.
Jacques Brel was actually Belgian and in some songs he would use a Walloon accent, at least partially. The way he stresses the r sounds a lot like Edith Piaf who was his contemporary female star. It gives an uncanny dramatic weight to the lyrics that are very emotional. He was also an inspiration for Leonard Cohen and an incentive for him to go sing his own songs on stage. Cohen saw him in concert in Montréal at a time when all the radio stations in Québec played his songs with Piaf and other local "chansonniers" like Félix Leclerc and Gilles Vigneault, who were also major singing poets.
Il faut comprendre qu un american ne prononce pas les "R" comme nous. Si en plus tu les roules comme brel....imagines! De plus avec un accent wallon...
you will surely understand the end of the song : se plantent le nez au ciel, se mouchent dans les étoiles, et ils pissent comme je pleure sur les femmes infidèles. The power of simple words, incredible.
D.Bowie adaptation : In the port of Amsterdam There's a sailor who sings Of the dreams that he brings From the wide open sea In the port of Amsterdam There's a sailor who sleeps While the river bank weeps To the old Willow tree In the port of Amsterdam There's a sailor who dies Full of beer, full of cries In a drunken town fight In the port of Amsterdam There's a sailor who's born On a hot muggy morn By the dawn's early light In the port of Amsterdam Where the sailors all meet There's a sailor who eats Only fish heads and tails And he'll show you his teeth That have rotted too soon That can haul up the sails That can swallow the moon And he yells to the cook With his arms open wide "Hey, bring me more fish Throw it down by my side" And he wants so to belch But he's too full to try So he stands up and laughs And he zips up his fly In the port of Amsterdam You can see sailors dance Paunches bursting their pants Grinding women to porch They've forgotten the tune That their whiskey voice croaked Splitting the night With the roar of their jokes And they turn and they dance And they laugh and they lust Till the rancid sound of the accordion bursts And then out of the night With their pride in their pants And the sluts that they tow Underneath the street lamp In the port of Amsterdam There's a sailor who drinks And he drinks and he drinks And he drinks once again He'll drink to the health Of the whores of Amsterdam Who've given their bodies To a thousand other men Yeah, they've bargained their virtue Their goodness all gone For a few dirty coins When he just can't go on Throws his nose to the sky Aims it up above And he pisses like I cry On the unfaithful love In the port of Amsterdam
Ce qui est fou ou plutôt parfait c'est qu'il monte toujours ! Sa voix monte, monte, monte et il termine la chanson au plus haut niveau. Il n'y a pas de fin, ou la fin est le niveau le plus haut atteint tout du long ! C'est ce qui donne un vocable très bien entendu ! Quand vous parlez, il faut arriver et finir fort. Sinon vous n'êtes pas entendu.
Hi D, You choose one of the famous songs of J. Brel. This song is pure poetry and it's hard, by nature, to quickly understand the 'atmosphere'. Jacques Brel was a poète, a musician and an astounding interpreter of his song. At a cost of his wellbeing. I've found an English speaker poet who truly 'remastered' Amsterdam in a perfect way, the right meaning of the song and so on. He was one of the best and it's David Bowie. Listen his interpretation, then listen again J. Brel. I bet you'll have a quit different experience. Love your work, honestly Take care of you. From France 👍👍
Jacques Brel was Belgium man, not french. he wrote his songs in french and lived them when singing, that why he looks so powerful or like exploding. But lyrics are true poetics with very rich lexic but not so used today, unfortunatly (because lauguage are going poore by those days). You may have difficults to understand his songs because he rolls the "r" character in words and vocabulary is rich too for a no-native french people. But he's a very famous writer and singer who still in the classics and history of song.
Fun fact, Brel was not convinced by this song, he thought it would be a flop and decided to sacrificed it as the first song of his concert, when the audience don't really pay attention... It worked so well, he had to sing it twice, a thing he only did one other time in his carreer XD He still didn't liked it, so he never recorded it in studio for an album, until 2016 the only versiion we had was a recording of one of his concerts. Since then we've found two other versions, also live.
Et cela sans formation musicale. Une créativité instinctive qui faisait naître des chansons expressionnistes, chacune un monde en elles mêmes, organiquement vertébrées sur leurs textes, leurs pulsions, leurs douleurs, nées nues, crues, elles pouvaient être remises entre les mains de son arrangeur et ami et vivre leurs vies sans vergogne, intemporelles dès leur jaillissement viscéral. Il nous donne les clefs de l'humilité, de l'engagement total et furieux, du vertige téméraire et de l'authentique puissance d'une fabuleuse civilisation dont il accepte la fertile étoffe.
Jacques Brel était belge très grand tragédièn sur scène il était habité il vivait ses chansons c'est ça les vrais chanteurs ceux qui vous donnent des frissons et vous touchent directement votre cœur.
He's Belgium. I recommend listening to Scott Walker's version in English. Brel was very pleased with Scott's interpretations of his songs and gave instructions that his song book should be made available to him. Scott Walker was part of the Walker Brothers who came to the UK from America in 1965 and at one time were bigger than the Beatles. Scott went solo in 67 and went on to have a very unique creative career and is worth checking out.
Lyrics in english In the port of Amsterdam There are sailors who eat On tablecloths that are too white Streaming fish They show you teeth To eat the fortune To waning the moon To eat the shrouds And it smells like cod Right into the heart of the fries Let their big hands invite To come back for more Then they get up laughing In the sound of a storm Close their fly And come out burping In the port of Amsterdam There are sailors dancing Rubbing your belly On women's bellies And they spin and they dance Like spitting suns In the torn sound From a rancid accordion They twist their necks To hear yourself laugh better Until suddenly The accordion expires So, the serious gesture So, the proud look They bring back their Batavian Until full light In the port of Amsterdam There are sailors who drink And who drink and drink again And who drink again They drink to health Whores from Amsterdam From Hamburg or elsewhere Finally, they drink to the ladies Who give them their pretty bodies Who give them their virtue For a gold coin And when they have drunk well Their noses are stuck in the sky They blow their noses in the stars And they piss as I cry On unfaithful women In the port of Amsterdam In the port of Amsterdam
Hi😊 You probably find it hard to understand because of his rolling Rs, you need to get used to it. The song brings a vivid and lively description of Amsterdam Harbor or, more accurately, of sailors there. It’s a compact insight of their day-to-day life. Cheers😉
I was thinking of proposing this song where Brel shows all his dramatic talent on stage, but without subtitles it's not worth it. But I have several songs of Brel subtitled in my requests ;)
You've probably noticed that Amsterdam is based on the traditional Greensleeves melody, although the subject is totally different. Main differences: Brel often squeezes 2 French syllables into 1 single note Al-as, my love [Dans le] port [d'Amster]-dam etc. And of course the crescendo which is his signature
These lyrics are like cinema, they make me imagine the scenes they depict. I thought that you would like to grasp the song's spirit so I humbly tried to translate them as well as I could. This is as close to the original lyrics as I could do, but it would be impossible to sing along on the melody. The English version by David Bowie has different lyrics, but he managed to give a remarquable rendition of this classic masterpiece. In the port of Amsterdam There are sailors singing The dreams that haunt them on the wild open sea far from Amsterdam In the port of Amsterdam there are sailors sleeping Like banners along bleak river banks In the port of Amsterdam there sailors dying full of beer and tragedy at the first light of dawn But in the port of Amsterdam there sailors being born In the thick heat of ocean langors In the port of Amsterdam There are sailors eating on too white table clothes dripping wet fishes They show their teeth as if trying to bite into good fortune or into the moon crescent or trying to eat shrouds And it smells of cod even deep into the fries' core that their big hands invite to come back into nothing Then they stand up smiling in a storm's uproar They zip up their fly and walk out with a burp In the port of Amsterdam There are sailors dancing rubbing their belly on the women's bellies and they spin and they dance like spit suns In the shattered sound of a rancid accordeon They twist their necks to better hear themselves laugh Until suddenly the accordeon dies Then in a serious manner, and with proud eyes They take their Flemish girl back into full light In the port of Amsterdam there are sailors drinking And they drink and drink and they drink again They drink to the health of the whores of Amsterdam of Hamburg or anywhere else well, they drink to the ladies who give them their beautiful body and who give them their virtue for a golden coin And when they have drunk well enough They stand upright, their nose toward the sky they blow their nose in the stars and they piss like I cry on unfaithful wives In the port of Amsterdam In the port of Amsterdam
@@estebaneroben4340 Je suis d'accord les paroles sont magnifiques comme toujours avec Jacques Brel. Cependant ce qui me chagrine est qu'il ait noté "musique de Brel", Maurane a chanté sur du Bach mais n'a pas noté "musique de Maurane"
As many people said before He was not French but Belgium. Nevertheless like many artists who were not French, France contributed enormously to his legend thanks to his musical accompanits, the production and, of course, the audience. But the raw material was him : the universe, the words, the recognizable guttural accent, the emotion on stage, the poetry of the lyrics, the personality. Something that not refers to Paris, Normandy or Provence, but the low lands of the North with the canals, the grey skies, the windmills, the dunes of the Belgian littoral, the atmosphere found in the Breughel's landscapes, wheat, linen and colza fields dramatically touched by the wind, something that you meet from the North of France, becoming the world and Kingdom of Brel when you're in Belgium, finishing somewhere in Holland when you feel the song Amsterdam... But Brel was also The Man of La Mancha, an actor with some significant roles and a traveler who found his Eden in the Marquise islands, in the Middle of the Pacific Ocean resting there forever. A legend of the French chanson like Piaf and some others who will remain in our hearts .
It would be good to have the translation, the visuals of his poetry are very moving. He is describing the sailors at the port, the smells, the rude treatment of the prostitutes, etc
Jacques Brel is Belgian! In case you struggle with the words, you might give it a go with David Bowie singing it in English: In the port of Amsterdam - he does a great job with it.
But in the port of Amsterdam Some sailors are born In the thick heat Of ocean tongues In the port of Amsterdam There are sailors who eat On tablecloths too white dripping fish See pop shows near Düsseldorf Get tickets as low as $54 You might also like ......... 😂
Jacque Brel was Belgian. David Bowie did a cover of this song. My favorite Brel song is "Quand on a que l'amour". There's a good cover of it by Céline Dion and Maurane.Check it out.
Tu es quelqu’un de très sensible qui aime les artistes les vrais il faudrait que tu lises le texte et tu comprendras les paroles. Mais je te remercie de t’intéresser à ce qui est beau. Felix . J’aimerais tellement vous rencontrer, mais j’en avais pas les moyens pour venir aux États-Unis. Amicalement. Felix
J'ai écouté cette chanson des milliers de fois dans ma vie, et j'ai chaque fois eu des frissons, et j'aurais des frissons toutes les fois où je l'entendrais dans ma vie. Sa façon de l’interpréter est juste bouleversante. C'est une écriture très poétique, très soutenue par moments, donc difficile à comprendre sans sous-titre en effet. Il y a une version anglaise de David Bowie, mais qui n'égale pas les paroles de Brel ni la force de son interprétation. La chanson raconte l'histoire d'un port à Amsterdam qui reflète bien la déchéance humaine des marins qui mangent, boivent, sont malpolis, sales, et se comportent mal avec les femmes, avec les prostituées, ce qui brise le cœur de Brel.
In this song, Brel stands as an outside observer of the uncouth sailors of Amsterdam having dinner. The picture he draws shows them as people who seem to have basic instincts, like food and sex, and yet « le grand Jacques « , as he was dubbed, manages to put poetry in his lyrics. And as the music goes faster, as the words tumble faster and faster out of his lips, the lyrics grow cruder and more violent and we understand he is a hurt man howling his pain at being cheated on. « Ils (the sailors) pissent comme je pleure sur les femmes infidèles « is his extraordinarily powerful last sentence : « and they piss like I cry over unfaithful women ».
Parfois, en regardant son visage, sa façon d'être, son regard je peux m'empêcher de penser "il a dû en vivre des merdes, il a dû en voir" cet homme est juste incroyable
Et je te comprend quand tu dit ne pas comprendre. Le français est ma première langue, mais vue que je suis québécois, j'ai dû mal à tout saisir, il a un sacré accent
I only know the lyrics of this song because I listened to my moms album by ausrian singer Michael Heltau as a kid, who sang this song in German. Probably good that my 6 year old behind didn´t get half of what was said anyway. XD. Needless to say, I still adore it, especially in the original here.
il doit etre difficile de realiser une "reaction" quand il s'agit de texte d'une langue que l'on maitrise mal. Ici, c'est de la poésie chantée, de la poésie vivante par l'interpretation absolument magistrale de J.Brel. Et il est indispensable d'en saisir au moins le sens, à mon avis. Peut etre pourriez vous ecouter la reprise de David Bowie pour vous donner une idee plus précise du texte (ua-cam.com/video/logGmozHfG4/v-deo.html)
I wish you could listen to « valse à mille temps » by him. (Btw I just discovered your channel a few days ago and I live it. - I’m French and I lived in the US 🇺🇸❤🇫🇷
Jacques Brel n'est pas un chanteur c'est un INTERPRÈTE, il vit ses chansons c'est une bête de scène, sur Amsterdam j'ai les larmes, c'est fini les artistes comme ça 😢, Georges Brassens était comme ça et Renaud aussi plus récent, les chanteurs d'aujourd'hui sont fade ☹️ ou c'est moi qui suis trop vieux 😂 , mais continue comme ça tu es génial, D 🤘🤘
he's not french, he's from belgium so his accent is belgian which is french still but with a very strong pronunciation he sang like some act an act ! like they relive it very intensly
it needs a proper translation, but is one of the magic man, with brassens, ferret, trenet, ferrat, and many actual french language using artist, and on this topic, isalso belgian is doing comedy but it's on an other level of french, Raymond devos. good job anyway, i love english, born french, i see you love too ❤
In harbour of Amsterdam there's shipmen who drink, who sings, , who eat, who birth... Who eat, who dance, And who piss as i cry over unfaithful women...in Harbor of Amsterdam in harbor of Amsterdam...😢
Vous devriez aussi faire partager à votre communauté du monde « Charles Aznavour » un merveilleux chanteur arménien d origine mais tellement français dans les cœurs qui a côtoyé Edith Piaf ( que les américains connaissent bien ;)
Jacques Brel is belgian, not french. He sings in french wit a flemish (belgian dutch) accent.Too bad there's no subtitles, you're missing most of this powerful song. This song is pure poetry, just like every song Jacques Brel wrote. Here's the lyrics approximately translated into english: In Amsterdam's harbor There are sailors singing The dreams that haunt them By Amsterdam's seashore In Amsterdam's port There are sailors sleeping Like banners Along the gloomy seaside In Amsterdam's port There are sailors dying Full of beers and dramas Since the very first gleams But in Amsterdam's port There are sailors getting to life In the thick heat Of the ocean's tiredness In Amsterdam's port There are sailors eating On tableclothes that are too white Off the fishes slithering They're showing you the teeth Biting the luck Till they wane the Moon Just biting the shrouds And it smells cod Far up to the french fries' core That their big hands invite To come up again Then stand up as they laugh In a storm's noises Sliding up their codpiece And go out burping See upcoming pop shows Get tickets for your favorite artists In Amsterdam's port There are sailors dancing Rubbing their belly To the women's bellies And they're turning and dancing Like spitten suns In the deafening sound Of a tasteless accordion They're twirling their necks To hear themselves laugh better Until all of a sudden The accordion breathes out Then with a rude move Then with a proud look They bring up their girlfriends Up to the bright light In Amsterdam's port There are sailors drinking And drinking and re-drinking And re-drinking again They're drinking to the health Of all Amsterdam's whores From Hamburg and elsewhere Finally they drink to the ladies Who give them their nice bodies Who give them their virtue For a golden piece And when they have well drunk And pin their nose to they sky Blowing their nose in the stars And they piss like I cry On the unfaithful women In Amsterdam's port In Amsterdam's port
Les textes de Jacques Brel c'est comme de la poésie, des mots cherchés, il montre des images... même nous qui parlons français, il faut bien être concentré pour comprendre la richesse du texte. De plus la façon de chanter est particulière. Jacques Brel est Belge
![jacques brel - [1966] - ces gens là - [english subtitles on screen] - REACTION - a normal family!](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/B06I07Z8Rd0/mqdefault.jpg)
![jacques brel - [1966] - ces gens là - [english subtitles on screen] - REACTION - a normal family!](/img/tr.png)
Jacques Brel died every night on stage.. He has to vomit before singing.. He was afraid of singing face to hundred persons. He was the king, literally the king of the francophonic music... Even he was Belgium... Rimbaud, Verlaine, his life was epic...
Brel était belge, et non français, c'est peut-être ce qui lui donne ce joli petit accent. C'est un des plus grands compositeurs, auteurs et interprètes francophones. Franchement, toutes ses chansons valent le compte d'être écoutées. "les vieux", "les bonbons", et je ne peux pas toutes les citer! Merci d'écouter de la chanson francophone. Bisous de Bretagne en France.
@@tudalenn je ne pense pas qu'il faisait référence à l'accent belge, mais plutôt à la façon de rouler les R, qui n'est plus à la mode aujourd'hui
@@-timothe- Vous n'êtes pas du Sud-Ouest! Nous les roulons encore! hi hi hi !
@@tudalenn non c'est plutot un roulement ancien, comme d'ailleurs l'avait aussi Piaf....Milorrrrd ua-cam.com/video/CRVvLLNN5wM/v-deo.html
Ainsi que la subtilité des textes
No arguments there. Brel was a Belgian national.
But he loved the French language so much that he got carried a little too much away.
Bisous de Gironde. 🥰
It's a song with a lot of metaphors that are difficult to understand, even for those who understand the language, if you don't put yourself in context. Just imagine the sailors who arrives in the seaport of Amsterdam and who are going to do everything they couldn't do for months at sea... I'll let you imagine😅. This song is so well written that you can see the dirt and smell the cod just by closing your eyes.
A lot of metaphors, a lot of old words or specific vocabulary (we don't talk everyday about haubans ^^), it's quite a difficult song indeed.
Hi Uncle D,
Amsterdam (Jacques Brel) Translation
In the port of Amsterdam
There are sailors singing
The dreams that haunt them
Off the coast of Amsterdam.
In the port of Amsterdam
There are sailors sleeping
Like floating banners
Along the dreary banks.
In the port of Amsterdam
There are sailors dying
Full of beer and drama
At first mornin' lights.
But, in the port of Amsterdam
There are sailors who are being born
In the thick heat
Of the oceanic languors.
In the port of Amsterdam
There are sailors who eat
On tablecloths too white
Some flowing fishes.
They show you their teeth
Made to bite the fortune,
To decrease the full moon,
To tear cables-stayed.
And it smells like cod
Right into the fries' heart
That their big hands invite
To come back like rain.
Then they get up, laughing,
in a big storm's sound.
Afterward, close their fly
And get out, burping.
In the port of Amsterdam
There are sailors dancing
In rubbing their paunch
On women's belly.
And they spin, and they dance
Like spitted suns
In the torn sound
Of a rancid accordion.
They twist their necks
To better hear themselves laugh,
Until suddenly,
The accordion expires.
So, the solemn gesture,
So, the proud look,
They bring back their conquest
Towards the full light.
In the port of Amsterdam
There are sailors who drink.
And who drink and still drink,
And who drink again.
They drink to health
Of the whores from Amsterdam
Or from Hamburg or from beyond.
Finally, they drink to the ladies
Who give them their pretty bodies
Who give them their virtue
For a golden coin.
And when they've drunk enough,
They point faces to the sky,
Blowing their nose in the stars,
In pissing, same as I cry
On unfaithful women.
In the port of Amsterdam,
In the port of Amsterdam.
Peace, folks. ☮👈😎
Et je pisses comme je pleure. Pas pipi !
@@SadSad-de2cy J'avais d'abord mis "pissing" mais je doutais que ça passe avec la censure d'YT qui est de plus en plus dure. J'ai je ne sais combien de commentaires qui ne sont pas publiés pour des raisons souvent très obscures (moi, je les vois, mais quand je surfe en navigation privée et vais sur la vidéo en cause, le commentaire n'est pas visible, donc, non publié). Sachant que cette traduction a maintenant un certain nombre de votes positifs, et donc, qu'elle est visible par tous, je viens de rectifier. 😉
@@LetsChillPage Morue, ce n'est pas uniquement le poisson
@@SonOfBaraki359 Sans doute, mais comme cette métaphore (ou plutôt double sens) n'est pas traduisible en l'état, mieux vaut s'en tenir à une traduction factuelle.
Traduire "leurs Bataves" par "their conquest" a du sens, mais change un peu aussi le sens précis. On emploie (pas beaucoup) le mot "bataves" pour désigner familièrement les Néerlandais, puisque les Bataves est le nom de l'ancien peuple germanique qui vivait à l'embouchure du Rhin du temps des Romains. Ils ne sont pas vraiment les ancêtres des Néerlandais actuels car il semble que les Romains, et surtout les Francs lors de leur extension, aient chassé ce peuple vers le sud-ouest, peut-être jusqu'en Normandie où ils auraient donné leur nom à la ville de Bayeux.
stage presence is insane
The most extraordinary song and possibly the most amazing interpretation of a song. Definitely in my top ten.
Jacques Brel was actually Belgian and in some songs he would use a Walloon accent, at least partially. The way he stresses the r sounds a lot like Edith Piaf who was his contemporary female star. It gives an uncanny dramatic weight to the lyrics that are very emotional.
He was also an inspiration for Leonard Cohen and an incentive for him to go sing his own songs on stage. Cohen saw him in concert in Montréal at a time when all the radio stations in Québec played his songs with Piaf and other local "chansonniers" like Félix Leclerc and Gilles Vigneault, who were also major singing poets.
@@BlueDusk95 sorry to correct you, but not a Walloon accent, a Brussels accent. Brel was part Flemish, part Bruxellois francophone, not Walloon.
Love hearing you speaking french !!! Well done ! Et merci ! Hugs from France 😊
Il prononce très bien le français pourtant mieux que certains chanteurs d aujourd'hui
Il faut comprendre qu un american ne prononce pas les "R" comme nous.
Si en plus tu les roules comme brel....imagines!
De plus avec un accent wallon...
@@Jerome-pr5jz Plus un accent bruxellois, les accents wallons sont plus trainants
@@Jerome-pr5jz Accent Bruxellois.
Le meilleur de son temps même encore aujourd'hui peut arrivent a rendre leurs textes aussi intenses.
The classic of classics...a great poet .
"la valse à mille temps" is a very great performance and "Vesoul" with Marcel.
And « Ces gens là ».
you will surely understand the end of the song : se plantent le nez au ciel, se mouchent dans les étoiles, et ils pissent comme je pleure sur les femmes infidèles. The power of simple words, incredible.
Brel was just great... btw he was from Belgium.
I agree... BTW HE SINGS IN FRENCH... Francophony first... Poetry first...
D.Bowie adaptation :
In the port of Amsterdam
There's a sailor who sings
Of the dreams that he brings
From the wide open sea
In the port of Amsterdam
There's a sailor who sleeps
While the river bank weeps
To the old Willow tree
In the port of Amsterdam
There's a sailor who dies
Full of beer, full of cries
In a drunken town fight
In the port of Amsterdam
There's a sailor who's born
On a hot muggy morn
By the dawn's early light
In the port of Amsterdam
Where the sailors all meet
There's a sailor who eats
Only fish heads and tails
And he'll show you his teeth
That have rotted too soon
That can haul up the sails
That can swallow the moon
And he yells to the cook
With his arms open wide
"Hey, bring me more fish
Throw it down by my side"
And he wants so to belch
But he's too full to try
So he stands up and laughs
And he zips up his fly
In the port of Amsterdam
You can see sailors dance
Paunches bursting their pants
Grinding women to porch
They've forgotten the tune
That their whiskey voice croaked
Splitting the night
With the roar of their jokes
And they turn and they dance
And they laugh and they lust
Till the rancid sound of the accordion bursts
And then out of the night
With their pride in their pants
And the sluts that they tow
Underneath the street lamp
In the port of Amsterdam
There's a sailor who drinks
And he drinks and he drinks
And he drinks once again
He'll drink to the health
Of the whores of Amsterdam
Who've given their bodies
To a thousand other men
Yeah, they've bargained their virtue
Their goodness all gone
For a few dirty coins
When he just can't go on
Throws his nose to the sky
Aims it up above
And he pisses like I cry
On the unfaithful love
In the port of Amsterdam
Such a gorgeous song !
du coup si vous écoutez "la valse à mille temps" vous allez halluciner
*Oui ça va vraiment être compliqué à comprendre...* 😂
@@jairaisontuastort3036 Déjà pour nous francophone, c'est juste juste, alors pour lui, ça va être du sport 😅😅😅😅
ou vesoul
Un compositeur interprète le plus profond au monde :)
Ce qui est fou ou plutôt parfait c'est qu'il monte toujours ! Sa voix monte, monte, monte et il termine la chanson au plus haut niveau. Il n'y a pas de fin, ou la fin est le niveau le plus haut atteint tout du long ! C'est ce qui donne un vocable très bien entendu ! Quand vous parlez, il faut arriver et finir fort. Sinon vous n'êtes pas entendu.
J'adore Jacques Brel so much!
Hi D,
You choose one of the famous songs of J. Brel. This song is pure poetry and it's hard, by nature, to quickly understand the 'atmosphere'. Jacques Brel was a poète, a musician and an astounding interpreter of his song. At a cost of his wellbeing.
I've found an English speaker poet who truly 'remastered' Amsterdam in a perfect way, the right meaning of the song and so on. He was one of the best and it's David Bowie.
Listen his interpretation, then listen again J. Brel. I bet you'll have a quit different experience.
Love your work, honestly
Take care of you.
From France 👍👍
Jacques Brel was Belgium man, not french. he wrote his songs in french and lived them when singing, that why he looks so powerful or like exploding. But lyrics are true poetics with very rich lexic but not so used today, unfortunatly (because lauguage are going poore by those days). You may have difficults to understand his songs because he rolls the "r" character in words and vocabulary is rich too for a no-native french people. But he's a very famous writer and singer who still in the classics and history of song.
best french song ever
Fun fact, Brel was not convinced by this song, he thought it would be a flop and decided to sacrificed it as the first song of his concert, when the audience don't really pay attention... It worked so well, he had to sing it twice, a thing he only did one other time in his carreer XD
He still didn't liked it, so he never recorded it in studio for an album, until 2016 the only versiion we had was a recording of one of his concerts. Since then we've found two other versions, also live.
Et cela sans formation musicale. Une créativité instinctive qui faisait naître des chansons expressionnistes, chacune un monde en elles mêmes, organiquement vertébrées sur leurs textes, leurs pulsions, leurs douleurs, nées nues, crues, elles pouvaient être remises entre les mains de son arrangeur et ami et vivre leurs vies sans vergogne, intemporelles dès leur jaillissement viscéral. Il nous donne les clefs de l'humilité, de l'engagement total et furieux, du vertige téméraire et de l'authentique puissance d'une fabuleuse civilisation dont il accepte la fertile étoffe.
Jacques Brel était belge très grand tragédièn sur scène il était habité il vivait ses chansons c'est ça les vrais chanteurs ceux qui vous donnent des frissons et vous touchent directement votre cœur.
He's Belgium. I recommend listening to Scott Walker's version in English. Brel was very pleased with Scott's interpretations of his songs and gave instructions that his song book should be made available to him. Scott Walker was part of the Walker Brothers who came to the UK from America in 1965 and at one time were bigger than the Beatles. Scott went solo in 67 and went on to have a very unique creative career and is worth checking out.
Such a performer and by the way is Belgian even if he sings in French. a long time ago it was fashionable to roll your R's while singing
Have you react to "Arno les yeux de ma mère" en live c'est trop beau 😊
Jacques Brel's most amazing and powerful interpretation.
J'aime beaucoup votre humour. Merci
The greatest of all
Lyrics in english
In the port of Amsterdam
There are sailors who eat
On tablecloths that are too white
Streaming fish
They show you teeth
To eat the fortune
To waning the moon
To eat the shrouds
And it smells like cod
Right into the heart of the fries
Let their big hands invite
To come back for more
Then they get up laughing
In the sound of a storm
Close their fly
And come out burping
In the port of Amsterdam
There are sailors dancing
Rubbing your belly
On women's bellies
And they spin and they dance
Like spitting suns
In the torn sound
From a rancid accordion
They twist their necks
To hear yourself laugh better
Until suddenly
The accordion expires
So, the serious gesture
So, the proud look
They bring back their Batavian
Until full light
In the port of Amsterdam
There are sailors who drink
And who drink and drink again
And who drink again
They drink to health
Whores from Amsterdam
From Hamburg or elsewhere
Finally, they drink to the ladies
Who give them their pretty bodies
Who give them their virtue
For a gold coin
And when they have drunk well
Their noses are stuck in the sky
They blow their noses in the stars
And they piss as I cry
On unfaithful women
In the port of Amsterdam
In the port of Amsterdam
Merci L'ami
Épique, avec l'accent du poète. ✨
Hi😊 You probably find it hard to understand because of his rolling Rs, you need to get used to it.
The song brings a vivid and lively description of Amsterdam Harbor or, more accurately, of sailors there. It’s a compact insight of their day-to-day life.
Cheers😉
Le meilleur !!!
Well guys... he's not french... He's Belgian!
Wallons stp
@@ChristopheSchitter Half French-speaking Flemish from his father, half Brussels inhabitant from his mother and born in Schaerbeek. That's a Belgian.
I was thinking of proposing this song where Brel shows all his dramatic talent on stage, but without subtitles it's not worth it. But I have several songs of Brel subtitled in my requests ;)
Le grand Jacques Brel !!!
Jacques Brel was a great actor too, must see "L'emmerdeur" by Édouard Molinaro.
Chris Bailey, lead singer of Australian punk band The Saints, does a great cover of this song in English.
You've probably noticed that Amsterdam is based on the traditional Greensleeves melody, although the subject is totally different.
Main differences:
Brel often squeezes 2 French syllables into 1 single note
Al-as, my love
[Dans le] port [d'Amster]-dam etc.
And of course the crescendo which is his signature
You weren't ready ! ^^
The best son ever
These lyrics are like cinema, they make me imagine the scenes they depict. I thought that you would like to grasp the song's spirit so I humbly tried to translate them as well as I could. This is as close to the original lyrics as I could do, but it would be impossible to sing along on the melody. The English version by David Bowie has different lyrics, but he managed to give a remarquable rendition of this classic masterpiece.
In the port of Amsterdam
There are sailors singing
The dreams that haunt them
on the wild open sea far from Amsterdam
In the port of Amsterdam
there are sailors sleeping
Like banners along bleak river banks
In the port of Amsterdam
there sailors dying
full of beer and tragedy
at the first light of dawn
But in the port of Amsterdam
there sailors being born
In the thick heat of ocean langors
In the port of Amsterdam
There are sailors eating
on too white table clothes
dripping wet fishes
They show their teeth
as if trying to bite into good fortune
or into the moon crescent
or trying to eat shrouds
And it smells of cod
even deep into the fries' core
that their big hands invite
to come back into nothing
Then they stand up smiling
in a storm's uproar
They zip up their fly and walk out with a burp
In the port of Amsterdam
There are sailors dancing
rubbing their belly
on the women's bellies
and they spin and they dance
like spit suns
In the shattered sound of a rancid accordeon
They twist their necks
to better hear themselves laugh
Until suddenly the accordeon dies
Then in a serious manner, and with proud eyes
They take their Flemish girl back into full light
In the port of Amsterdam
there are sailors drinking
And they drink and drink
and they drink again
They drink to the health
of the whores of Amsterdam
of Hamburg or anywhere else
well, they drink to the ladies
who give them their beautiful body
and who give them their virtue
for a golden coin
And when they have drunk well enough
They stand upright, their nose toward the sky
they blow their nose in the stars
and they piss like I cry
on unfaithful wives
In the port of Amsterdam
In the port of Amsterdam
He sings about the port of Amsterdam and the sailors life when they come to visit to drink and make love
Hello from Italy 🇮🇹 Vasco is back on tour in the stadiums…..711000 spectators in 11 days .we are waiting for you have a beautiful live ❤❤
Pour moi c est la plus belle chanson de jaque Brel 🎉
Malheureusement la musique n'est pas de Brel, c'est un très ancien morceau (16° siècle ???) que les débutants apprennent au piano
@@moniquesilverans3842 oui mais ça enlève rien car c' est plus les paroles qui sont grandioses que la musique , c est de la poésie à l' état pur
@@estebaneroben4340 Je suis d'accord les paroles sont magnifiques comme toujours avec Jacques Brel. Cependant ce qui me chagrine est qu'il ait noté "musique de Brel", Maurane a chanté sur du Bach mais n'a pas noté "musique de Maurane"
Ultimately, he shows here that a waltz can also be presented dramatically, as the theme requires.
As many people said before He was not French but Belgium. Nevertheless like many artists who were not French, France contributed enormously to his legend thanks to his musical accompanits, the production and, of course, the audience. But the raw material was him : the universe, the words, the recognizable guttural accent, the emotion on stage, the poetry of the lyrics, the personality. Something that not refers to Paris, Normandy or Provence, but the low lands of the North with the canals, the grey skies, the windmills, the dunes of the Belgian littoral, the atmosphere found in the Breughel's landscapes, wheat, linen and colza fields dramatically touched by the wind, something that you meet from the North of France, becoming the world and Kingdom of Brel when you're in Belgium, finishing somewhere in Holland when you feel the song Amsterdam... But Brel was also The Man of La Mancha, an actor with some significant roles and a traveler who found his Eden in the Marquise islands, in the Middle of the Pacific Ocean resting there forever. A legend of the French chanson like Piaf and some others who will remain in our hearts .
We miss this genius.
It would be good to have the translation, the visuals of his poetry are very moving. He is describing the sailors at the port, the smells, the rude treatment of the prostitutes, etc
Jacques Brel is Belgian! In case you struggle with the words, you might give it a go with David Bowie singing it in English: In the port of Amsterdam - he does a great job with it.
Jacques Brel was not french but belgian french-speaking.
The melody of this song comes from the old 16th century english song Greensleeves.
David Bowie made a song called “port of amsterdam” inspired by Jacques Brel
Jacques Brel est BELGE !
Trop tard ! Annexé ! :)
Oui c'est la plus belle chose qui nous soit venue de se pays 🤔
Jacques Brel was a French-speaking Belgian.
He was pretty intense !😅
Have you ever heard of Edith Piaf? A legend!!!!!!!!!!!
Ton français est très bon , Jacques Brel roule beaucoup les R dans cette chanson
Bonjour ton français est très bien
But in the port of Amsterdam
Some sailors are born
In the thick heat
Of ocean tongues
In the port of Amsterdam
There are sailors who eat
On tablecloths too white
dripping fish
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You might also like ......... 😂
Jacque Brel was Belgian. David Bowie did a cover of this song. My favorite Brel song is "Quand on a que l'amour". There's a good cover of it by Céline Dion and Maurane.Check it out.
Tu es quelqu’un de très sensible qui aime les artistes les vrais il faudrait que tu lises le texte et tu comprendras les paroles. Mais je te remercie de t’intéresser à ce qui est beau.
Felix .
J’aimerais tellement vous rencontrer, mais j’en avais pas les moyens pour venir aux États-Unis. Amicalement. Felix
J'ai écouté cette chanson des milliers de fois dans ma vie, et j'ai chaque fois eu des frissons, et j'aurais des frissons toutes les fois où je l'entendrais dans ma vie. Sa façon de l’interpréter est juste bouleversante. C'est une écriture très poétique, très soutenue par moments, donc difficile à comprendre sans sous-titre en effet. Il y a une version anglaise de David Bowie, mais qui n'égale pas les paroles de Brel ni la force de son interprétation. La chanson raconte l'histoire d'un port à Amsterdam qui reflète bien la déchéance humaine des marins qui mangent, boivent, sont malpolis, sales, et se comportent mal avec les femmes, avec les prostituées, ce qui brise le cœur de Brel.
It's old, he's rolling his "r", he's from Belgium, he has an accent, it's not easy, and the song is not easy either. But it's a classic.
In this song, Brel stands as an outside observer of the uncouth sailors of Amsterdam having dinner. The picture he draws shows them as people who seem to have basic instincts, like food and sex, and yet « le grand Jacques « , as he was dubbed, manages to put poetry in his lyrics. And as the music goes faster, as the words tumble faster and faster out of his lips, the lyrics grow cruder and more violent and we understand he is a hurt man howling his pain at being cheated on. « Ils (the sailors) pissent comme je pleure sur les femmes infidèles « is his extraordinarily powerful last sentence : « and they piss like I cry over unfaithful women ».
3:51....Du vrai De Funès !!! :)
Parfois, en regardant son visage, sa façon d'être, son regard je peux m'empêcher de penser "il a dû en vivre des merdes, il a dû en voir" cet homme est juste incroyable
Et je te comprend quand tu dit ne pas comprendre. Le français est ma première langue, mais vue que je suis québécois, j'ai dû mal à tout saisir, il a un sacré accent
He has a strong Belgian accent
Et sans parler de la musique qui est tout simplement greensleeves. Un génie :D
I only know the lyrics of this song because I listened to my moms album by ausrian singer Michael Heltau as a kid, who sang this song in German. Probably good that my 6 year old behind didn´t get half of what was said anyway. XD. Needless to say, I still adore it, especially in the original here.
"Et ils pissent, comme je pleure, sur les femmes infidèles. "
Quelques mots lourds de sens.
Françoise Hardy, one of the bests french singer in the 60s died on Tuesday.
il doit etre difficile de realiser une "reaction" quand il s'agit de texte d'une langue que l'on maitrise mal. Ici, c'est de la poésie chantée, de la poésie vivante par l'interpretation absolument magistrale de J.Brel. Et il est indispensable d'en saisir au moins le sens, à mon avis. Peut etre pourriez vous ecouter la reprise de David Bowie pour vous donner une idee plus précise du texte (ua-cam.com/video/logGmozHfG4/v-deo.html)
Bonjour Jeraumina,
Ce n'est pas réellement une traduction, plutôt une adaptation. 😉
Pas simple à comprendre pour un non francophone pourtant vous parlez très bien :))))
Même pour beaucoup de francophones, pas l'accent la richesse du vocabulaire
merci pour votre Français j y suis très sensible...
moi la Française
I wish you could listen to « valse à mille temps » by him. (Btw I just discovered your channel a few days ago and I live it. - I’m French and I lived in the US 🇺🇸❤🇫🇷
Jacques Brel n'est pas un chanteur c'est un INTERPRÈTE, il vit ses chansons c'est une bête de scène, sur Amsterdam j'ai les larmes, c'est fini les artistes comme ça 😢, Georges Brassens était comme ça et Renaud aussi plus récent, les chanteurs d'aujourd'hui sont fade ☹️ ou c'est moi qui suis trop vieux 😂 , mais continue comme ça tu es génial, D 🤘🤘
he's not french, he's from belgium so his accent is belgian which is french still but with a very strong pronunciation
he sang like some act an act ! like they relive it very intensly
it needs a proper translation, but is one of the magic man, with brassens, ferret, trenet, ferrat, and many actual french language using artist, and on this topic, isalso belgian is doing comedy but it's on an other level of french, Raymond devos.
good job anyway, i love english, born french, i see you love too ❤
In harbour of Amsterdam there's shipmen who drink, who sings, , who eat, who birth... Who eat, who dance, And who piss as i cry over unfaithful women...in Harbor of Amsterdam in harbor of Amsterdam...😢
Have in mind the David Bowie version of this song!
today, it's not about Amsterdam only..
I wish u could find a subtitles version the lyrics are powerfull
Vous devriez aussi faire partager à votre communauté du monde « Charles Aznavour » un merveilleux chanteur arménien d origine mais tellement français dans les cœurs qui a côtoyé Edith Piaf ( que les américains connaissent bien ;)
B on the lookout.. Stell Ajero of sb19 be droppin his 1st single "room" 7 hrs from now. 👌✌️❤
you may not understand cause it' upper french, good level of french
Amsterdam is the capital of Netherlands (Northern Europe)
Jacque Brel est un grand j'apprécie beaucoup. Vous aussi? Trouvez la traduction de ses chansons sur internet.
This song was sung by David Bowie. Maybe, you know this guy...It's in english, of course. It can help you for the understanding...
Mets les sous-titre champion....
Brel was not french but belgian, i am french 😅
Jacques Brel is belgian, not french. He sings in french wit a flemish (belgian dutch) accent.Too bad there's no subtitles, you're missing most of this powerful song. This song is pure poetry, just like every song Jacques Brel wrote.
Here's the lyrics approximately translated into english:
In Amsterdam's harbor
There are sailors singing
The dreams that haunt them
By Amsterdam's seashore
In Amsterdam's port
There are sailors sleeping
Like banners
Along the gloomy seaside
In Amsterdam's port
There are sailors dying
Full of beers and dramas
Since the very first gleams
But in Amsterdam's port
There are sailors getting to life
In the thick heat
Of the ocean's tiredness
In Amsterdam's port
There are sailors eating
On tableclothes that are too white
Off the fishes slithering
They're showing you the teeth
Biting the luck
Till they wane the Moon
Just biting the shrouds
And it smells cod
Far up to the french fries' core
That their big hands invite
To come up again
Then stand up as they laugh
In a storm's noises
Sliding up their codpiece
And go out burping
See upcoming pop shows
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In Amsterdam's port
There are sailors dancing
Rubbing their belly
To the women's bellies
And they're turning and dancing
Like spitten suns
In the deafening sound
Of a tasteless accordion
They're twirling their necks
To hear themselves laugh better
Until all of a sudden
The accordion breathes out
Then with a rude move
Then with a proud look
They bring up their girlfriends
Up to the bright light
In Amsterdam's port
There are sailors drinking
And drinking and re-drinking
And re-drinking again
They're drinking to the health
Of all Amsterdam's whores
From Hamburg and elsewhere
Finally they drink to the ladies
Who give them their nice bodies
Who give them their virtue
For a golden piece
And when they have well drunk
And pin their nose to they sky
Blowing their nose in the stars
And they piss like I cry
On the unfaithful women
In Amsterdam's port
In Amsterdam's port
Jacques Brel is from Belgium
there's a english version by David Bowie
Les textes de Jacques Brel c'est comme de la poésie, des mots cherchés, il montre des images... même nous qui parlons français, il faut bien être concentré pour comprendre la richesse du texte. De plus la façon de chanter est particulière. Jacques Brel est Belge
Ton français ... il faut le pratiquer ! 😂
look it up, its Raw!