Ne Me Quitte Pas

Belgium this week commemorates the 30th anniversary of the death of one of its few famous sons, but a new documentary exposes Jacques Brel's love-hate relationship with what he called "le plat pays" (the flat country). Brel could move audiences to tears with his heart-rending ode to the low skies and melancholy beauty of the Belgian landscape, while being booed off stage for his savage caricatures of Belgians in his lyrics.

Newly-released archive interviews for the film J'aime les Belges portray a man both obsessed by exposing the small-mindedness and the "nothingness" of his compatriots while also embracing their "madness". Born in French-speaking Brussels but raised by Flemish-speaking parents, Brel never fully felt at home in either language group – a sentiment increasingly echoed by many modern Belgians.

"We have been conquered by everyone, we speak neither pure French nor Dutch, we are nothing," Brel said in an interview in the 1970s.

"He went from hero to outcast for a while after he released 'Les Flamandes'," says France Brel, his daughter and the director of the documentary, referring to a song that depicts Flemish women as immodest, coarse and full-figured.

Ne me quitte pas                Don't leave me
Il faut oublier                 it 's neccesary to forget
Tout peut s'oublier             everything you need to forget
Qui s'enfuit deja               which is already over
Oublier le temps                forget the times
Des malentendus                 of the misunderstandings
Et le temps perdu               the lost time
A savoir comment                to know how
Oublier ces heures              forget the houres
Qui tuaient parfois             which sometimes kill
A coups de pourquoi             the reasons why
Le coeur du bonheur             the heart full of joy

Ne me quitte pas                Don't leave me
Ne me quitte pas                Don't leave me
Ne me quitte pas                Don't leave me
Ne me quitte pas                Don't leave me


Moi je t'offrirai               I offer you
Des perles de pluie             pearls of rain
Venues de pays                  coming from countries
Ou il ne pleut pas              where it never rains
Je creus'rai la terre           I will cross the world
Jusqu' apres ma mort            until after my death
Pour couvrir ton corps          for to cover your body
D'or et de lumiere;             with gold and bright light
Je f'rai un domaine             I will give you a kingdom
Ou l'amour s 'ra roi            where LOVE will be king
Ou l'amour s' ra loi            Where LOVE will be the law
ou  tu serais reine             and where you will be queen

Ne me quitte pas                Don't leave me
Ne me quitte pas                Don't leave me
Ne me quitte pas                Don't leave me
Ne me quitte pas                Don't leave me
Ne me quitte pas                Don't leave me
Ne me quitte pas                Don't leave me

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKMqCqjixyo&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMzAmrNS164