"Ne me quitte pas" | |
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Song by Jacques Brel | |
from the album La Valse à mille temps | |
Language | French |
English title | Don't leave me |
Published | 1959 |
Released | 1959 |
Recorded | 11 September 1959 |
Length | 3:52 |
Label | Philips |
Songwriter(s) | Jacques Brel |
"Ne me quitte pas" ("Don't leave me") is a 1959 song by Belgian singer-songwriter Jacques Brel. It has been covered in the original French by many artists and has also been translated into and performed in many other languages. A well-known adaptation, with English lyrics by Rod McKuen, is "If You Go Away".
"Ne me quitte pas" is considered by some as "Brel's ultimate classic". [1] It was written after Brel's mistress "Zizou" (Suzanne Gabriello) threw him out of her life. [2] Zizou was pregnant with Brel's child, but Brel refused to acknowledge the child as his own. Zizou later had an abortion due to Brel's actions. [2] Brel first recorded the song on 11 September 1959, and it was released on his fourth album La Valse à mille temps . [3] It was published by Warner-Chappell Publishing. In 1961 a Dutch-language version sung by Brel was released on the Philips label; entitled "Laat me niet alleen", with lyrics by Ernst van Altena, it was a B-side to Marieke (also a Dutch-language version). [4] Brel recorded "Ne me quitte pas" again as the title track of his 1972 album.
In a 1966 interview, Brel said that "Ne me quitte pas" was not a love song, but rather "a hymn to the cowardice of men", and the degree to which they were willing to humiliate themselves. He knew, he said, that it would give pleasure to women who assumed it was a love song, and he understood that. [5]
The lyrics "Moi, je t'offrirai des perles de pluie venues de pays où il ne pleut pas" ("I'll offer you rain pearls from lands where it does not rain") are sung to a theme borrowed from the second part, Lassan (Andante), of the Hungarian Rhapsody No. 6 by the composer Franz Liszt.
"Ne me quitte pas / La garce" | ||||
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Single by Johnny Hallyday | ||||
from the album Johnny Hallyday au Zénith | ||||
B-side | "La garce" | |||
Released | 30 November 1984 | |||
Venue | Zénith Paris | |||
Length | 5:25 | |||
Label | Philips | |||
Songwriter(s) | Jacques Brel | |||
Johnny Hallyday singles chronology | ||||
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French singer Johnny Hallyday released a live version of this song as a single in November 1984. It was recorded during his performances at Le Zénith. The song was part of his 1984 album Johnny Hallyday au Zénith.
Alain Wodrascka in his 2008 book Johnny Hallyday: les adieux du rock'cœur notes how Hallyday put in his 1984 cover of Jacques Brel's "Ne me quitte pas" his special vocal qualities, i.e. his vocals that are "full of sensuality and expression of physical strength of an indestructible man, who sings as if making love". [6]
7" single Philips 880 504-7
French
Arabic
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Belarusian
Catalan
Croatian
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Danish
Dutch
English
The pop standard "If You Go Away", with lyrics by Rod McKuen, has been covered by many artists including Ray Charles. Different lyrics by Momus, closer to those of the original, render the song as "Don't Leave", added to all reissues of his 1986 album Circus Maximus. American duo the Black Veils translate the song as "Don't Leave Me" on their 2009 album Troubadours, which includes translations of six other French chansons. Sung by Holcombe Waller in Ryan Trecartin's "Sibling Topics (section a)" at 23:10.
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Multilingual
Instrumental
The song was used in season 1 episode 19 of the critically acclaimed TV show Person of Interest and in the final episode of Mr. Robot . It was also used in season 1 finale of The Leftovers . "Ne Me Quitte Pas" was used by Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar in his sixth film, Law of Desire , in a striking performance by Brazilian singer Maysa Matarazzo. A parody of the song and the singer, as the archetypal chansonnier, was performed by Italian actor Gigi Proietti. [16] Claudio Corneiro performed a clown act with this song in Cirque du Soleil's Varekai. [17] It is also the name of an episode in the series Ramy .
Jacques Romain Georges Brel was a Belgian singer and actor who composed and performed theatrical songs. He generated a large, devoted following—initially in Belgium and France, but later throughout the world. He is considered a master of the modern chanson.
Ne me quitte pas is Jacques Brel's thirteenth studio album. Released in 1972 by Barclay (80145), the album features re-recordings of many of Brel's best-known songs. The album was reissued on 23 September 2003 as part of the 16-CD box set Boîte à bonbons.
Patricia Noëlle Kaas is a French singer and actress. Her music is a mix of pop, cabaret, jazz, and chanson.
"If You Go Away" is an adaptation of the 1959 Jacques Brel song "Ne me quitte pas" with English lyrics by Rod McKuen. Created as part of a larger project to translate Brel's work, "If You Go Away" is considered a pop standard and has been recorded by many artists, including Greta Keller, for whom some say McKuen wrote the lyrics.
Diane Tell is a Canadian musician who was born in Quebec City, Quebec.
The Essential Alison Moyet is a compilation album, relatively similar to Singles, the 1995 greatest hits album of recordings by singer/songwriter Alison Moyet. The album was released in 2001 by Sony Music Entertainment in response to renewed interest in the singer, after she was finally released from her contract with the label and able to sign with Sanctuary Records, regain the artistic control of her musical output and move back into the public eye - resulting in 2002 comeback album Hometime. However, there are some differences in the track listings of the two Sony compilations. The Essential Alison Moyet excludes "Only You", "Situation', "Ordinary Girl", "Ode To Boy II", "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" and "Solid Wood", and replaces them with "Don't Go", "Winter Kills", "Blue" and "Our Colander Eyes" plus cover versions "Ne Me Quitte Pas" and "There Are Worse Things I Could Do".
"Un garçon pas comme les autres" is a song written and produced by Michel Berger and Luc Plamondon for the 1978 musical, Starmania. It was originally performed by Fabienne Thibeault and released on the Starmania album in 1978. The English-language version of the song with lyrics by Tim Rice, titled "Ziggy", was recorded by Canadian singer Celine Dion and released on the Tycoon album in 1992. Dion also recorded earlier a French-language version of the song for her tenth studio album, Dion chante Plamondon (1991). She released both versions on a two-track single in France in 1993, reaching number two on the chart.
"Ces gens-là" is a French language song by the late Belgian singer Jacques Brel, published in 1966 by the Éditions Pouchenel of Brussels, about the despair of a hopeless love. The title, meaning "those people", or, "those folks", has also been translated as "that lot there".
Chante Hier Pour Aujourd'hui is Candan Erçetin's fifth solo album. It contain cover versions of popular songs of France. She mostly sings the songs on this album in French. "Il Me Semble" is the French translation of "Korkarım" from her Neden album. This album was publicated in only Turkey and France.
And We Were Lovers is a 1967 studio album by Shirley Bassey. The album featured Bassey's first recording of "Big Spender', the single subsequently hit #21 on the charts.
"Te Quiero" is a 2010 song by Belgian singer Stromae, released on May 10, 2010, as a CD-promo-single and on June 7 it was released as the 5th promo-single for his first album, Cheese. The official release date as a single of the album was August 27. The song has charted in Belgium, the Czech Republic, Poland and in Switzerland.
"Marieke" is a 1961 song by the Belgian singer Jacques Brel.
Mayra Corrêa Aygadoux, known professionally as Maria Gadú, is a Brazilian singer, songwriter and guitarist.
Boîte à bonbons is a 16-CD box set compilation of the recorded songs of Jacques Brel. The limited edition box set was released to mark the 25th anniversary of Jacques Brel's death. The box set includes 15 albums remastered from the original records. CD digipacks are presented in their original sleeve with lyrics. The box set also includes an illustrated booklet with various pictures, a biography, and Brel's citations and testimonies. Also included are five never before released songs from the recording sessions of the album Les Marquises. Included with the booklet is a bonus CD containing 28 titles: 26 songs from Radio Hasselt recorded 14 and 21 August 1953, a recording from the Brel family's private collection, and a 1962 recording from the Dutch television show AVRO. The box set is also available in an alternate velvet box format with CDs in crystal cases.
Infiniment (Infinitely) is a 2-CD compilation of Jacques Brel's best known songs. This compilation of remastered songs also contains 5 unpublished titles from the recording session of the album Les Marquises: "La cathédrale", "L'amour est mort", "Mai 40", "Avec élégance", and "Sans exigences". A booklet is included with the lyrics of the 5 new titles. Infiniment was released on 30 September 2003 to mark the 25th anniversary of Brel's death.
"Don't Leave Me (Ne Me Quitte Pas)" is a song by Regina Spektor, from her 2012 album What We Saw from the Cheap Seats. It was released as the album's second single on March 26, 2012. Although a handful of critics assumed this was an English-language cover version of Jacques Brel's song "Ne me quitte pas", Spektor's song is different in every way except the title. The chord structure, melody, and lyrics are all completely different. Brel's song was written in the key of A minor, in 3/4 time. It is a slow, haunting story of a man trying to win back his former lover—a song about the cowardice of men according to Brel. In contrast, Spektor's song is lively, in 4/4 time, and in a major key. Its lyrics evoke a carefree jaunt through various neighborhoods of New York City, the narrator describing all the beautiful and interesting things encountered along the way. Somehow the narrator ends up in the cafés and gardens of Paris, and the song ends with repeated declarations of love for Paris in the rain.
Sans attendre is the twenty-fourth studio album and fourteenth French-language album by Canadian singer Celine Dion, released by Columbia Records on 2 November 2012. It is her first new French studio album since 2007's D'elles. Sans attendre features sixteen songs produced mainly by Jacques Veneruso, David Gategno and Scott Price. It contains three duets with Johnny Hallyday, Jean-Pierre Ferland and the late Henri Salvador. The first single from the album, "Parler à mon père" was released on 2 July 2012 and "Le miracle" was selected as the second track to promote Sans attendre. Both songs reached number one in Quebec and "Parler à mon père" also peaked inside the top ten in France. Third single "Qui peut vivre sans amour?" was sent to radio stations in March 2013.
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Madeleine is a song by singer-songwriter Jacques Brel. Brel co-composed the song with musicians Gérard Jouannest and Jean Corti. The song was created in 1961, at The Olympia. The song was first recorded on the 1962 live album Olympia 1961, the last album Brel recorded with the Philips Records. When Brel moved to Barclay Records he released a studio version of the song in 1962 on the album Les Bourgeois, and as a Super 45rpm. It became a classic, and Brel closed his tours at the Olympia with Madeleine in 1964 and 1966.
... à fleur de sensualité et l'expression de la force physique d'un homme indestructible, qui chante comme s'il faisait l'amour - Johnny mettra ces mêmes qualités vocales au service de sa reprise de «Ne me quitte pas» de Jacques Brel (1984)