Ne me quitte pas

For the 1972 album, see Ne Me Quitte Pas (album). For the Regina Spektor song, see Don't Leave Me (Ne Me Quitte Pas).
"Ne Me Quitte Pas"
Song by Jacques Brel from the album La Valse à Mille Temps
Published 1959
Released 1959
Recorded 11 September 1959
Length 3:52
Label Philips
Writer Jacques Brel

"Ne me quitte pas" (English: "Don't leave me") is a 1959 French song by the 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".

Background

"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.

Other versions

French

Arabic

Armenian

Afrikaans

Belarusian

Catalan

Croatian

Czech

Dutch

English

Main article: If You Go Away

The pop standard "If You Go Away", with lyrics by Rod McKuen, has been covered by many artists. Different lyrics by Momus render the song as "Don't Leave" for 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. Sang by Holcombe Waller in Ryan Trecartin's "Sibling Topics (section a)" at 23:10.

Finnish

Frisian

German

Greek

Hebrew

Italian

Polish

Portuguese

Russian

Serbian

Slovene

Spanish

Swedish

Turkish

Yiddish

Multilingual

Instrumental

In popular culture

The song was used in the critically acclaimed TV show Person of Interest. "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.[12]

References

  1. Robine, Marc. "Quand on n'a que l'amour- Jacques Brel". Retrieved 2007-01-14.
  2. 1 2 Christian Lamet, Stan Cuesta, François Gorin, François Ducray (2007). La chanson française (in French). Paris: Scali. p. 234. ISBN 235012097X.
  3. http://www.discogs.com/Jacques-Brel-N-4/master/166990
  4. http://www.discogs.com/Jacques-Brel-Marieke-Laat-Me-Niet-Alleen-Ne-Me-Quitte-Pas/release/1466230
  5. Dialogue between Jacques Brel and Geneviève de Vilmorin, interviewed by Emmanuel Poulet (RTL, 1966)
  6. "Confusion between Suzanne Langlois and Jacques Brel". Second Hand Songs. 2009-05-11. Retrieved 2007-01-14.
  7. "Sting – Ne Me Quitte Pas – (live)". YouTube. 2008-08-08. Retrieved 2009-08-11.
  8. "Maria Gadú – Ne Me Quitte Pas – (live)". YouTube. 2009-09-20. Retrieved 2009-10-21.
  9. Video on YouTube
  10. Discogs.com: album "Радмила Караклаич" (LP, USSR 1973)
  11. Igor Ivanov's Discography
  12. "nun me romp er ca".

External links

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