Our Big Move To France

A tribute to the man, his music and living where he was king

I haven’t made a post in a minute. I’ve been wholly and solely focused on finding permanent housing. And after what seems to be forever, filled with stress, panic, self doubt and loss of hope… I found a miraculously funky, weird little spot that is a good home for the forseeable future. And after 5 days, with almost all the boxes unpacked, my brain is free to wander and ponder obscure thoughts once again.

It’s coming back to when we first landed in France, 3 months ago.

We wanted to listen to some French music, the classic stuff. To be honest, the only French singer I knew was Edith Piaf, of La Vie En Rose and that marvelously r-trilling Rein de Rien. But wait, I thought, there’s Jacques Brel. The name that rolled out of my subconscious was Jacques Brel is Alive and… something or other.

What? Where did that come from? Jacques Brel , Jacques Brel…. turns out he’s Belgian, but still, the French speaking kind, and very appropo for living in Normandy/Flanders. (The history here is complicated!) Brel is probably the most legendary singer to come out of Belgium, if not this entire region. He was a monumental storyteller, composer and actor. Terry hadn’t heard of him, so I played what is probably his most famous song, Ne Me Quitte Pas. Listen here and weep:

https://youtu.be/oR_SZR_tmxM?si=JxtyWDhSSYDtyvS4

I have talked a lot about how 1959, the year of my birth, was monumental in the arena of jazz and the classic chanson. It turns out that Brel hit his big break in that very year, signing with Phillips Records and touring Belgium and France with the likes of Serge Gainsbourg. This launched him onto the international stage and wide fame.

This means he was everywhere when the black & white TV variety shows were big… these were the years when I was first exposed to music in our living room. The year of Ne Me Quitte Pas, I would have been 15.

Another big influence at this time in America was the poet and composer Rod McKuen. I don’t think young people today can understand the power and popularity of poets during those years. Rod McKuen was the equivalent of any of today’s big music stars. I had several of his books, and my friends and I dreamily devoured each page.

So, after weeks of listening to the Belgian legends songbook in French, I woke up this morning with this English song from my childhood in my head and made the connection for the first time. If You Go Away.

After listening to countless artists who covered this song, I am pretty sure the version I would have first heard was by Glenn Campbell, whose album was played constantly by my mom. And me too! I have to admit I was a big fan of his and still am in love with so many of his songs.

https://youtu.be/YqQj8FUVAdg?si=zX-ijNQgG6b35Vni

In 1964, Rod McKuen began a years long project of translating Brels songs into English. This made them available to the American audience and instantly songs like If You Go Away, Seasons in the Sun, The Dove, and If We Only Have Love became hits. This was the era of singers being pure singers and song writers being song writers. Stars like Shirley Bassey, Frank Sinatra, Barbara Streisand, Johnny Mathis and others filled auditoriums singing other people’s songs. It wasn’t anything to be ashamed of. And so they did, and the names of Jacques Brel and Rod McKuen were beloved in every American home. If We Only Have Love was sung by every high school chorus and it was a most requested song by our church choir.

https://youtu.be/IG6KiBNsrPU?si=z9Lm1WKopxAghP2t

And then… in 1971, David Bowie recorded Amsterdam.

https://youtu.be/4uPZIG5BHD4?si=seGwXJeof4naBE74

Jacques Brel died in 1978, at the young age of 42, of lung cancer. A few years earlier, he knew he was dying and chose to embark on a 3 year sail around the world, settling in the French Polynesian Islands. He died the year I graduated from high school and I remember the whole world mourning the loss of this great man.

Life is full of open circles that eventually close. Of time as a spiral. And meanings we never see until decades after our initial exposure. These discoveries aren’t random. I truly believe our subconscious mind makes these connections long before it leaks them into our consciousness, and has guided us to these moments.

May the small mysteries of life never cease to amaze us.

I can recommend this tribute album. I mean, hearing Marianne Faithfull sing Amsterdam is not to be missed!