La Ville S’Endormait – Jacques Brel (1977)

Jacques Brel was born in the district of Brussels, at Schaarbeek, on April 8, 1929. He is not interested in school, so his father gives him a job in the family’s Cardboard factory. Finding no more interest in the cardboard than in school, he thinks about taking a fresh start, in singing or in breeding chickens.

1954: he left alone Brussels to move to Paris, leaving behind him his wife and two daughters. His family doesn’t support him and stops giving him money, he then lives under the roof of the hotel Stevens, Pigalle.

1966: he decided to leave everything and to stop singing. He gave his last recital on May 16, 1967, in Roubaix.

1974: already suffering from lung cancer, he left Paris and his family. He left on a boat to the Marquesas with Madly Bamy. He works there as a taxi-plane between Tahiti and the Marquesas.

1977: he was back in France, despite the progression of his cancer. He decided to record a new album which is released under the simple name: Brel. He finished the album, as well as his career, by the song Les Marquises, which was recorded in one take and which ends as follows: “Veux-tu que je te dise / Gémir n’est pas de mise / Aux Marquises”.

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Further information on Wikipedia [en]
Buy Les Marquises on Amazon.com