At the time he was alive and well and singing in Amsterdam.

February 27, 2024 2:42 PM

Here's Jacques Brel on the Dutch television program Club Domino in the early Sixties. [50m] The songs are in French and the host speaks Dutch, but wow, he does a thing with his song delivery, reminds me a bit of Sinatra or Dylan with how he's living the moment.
posted by hippybear (11 comments total)

Oh, man! That's just fabulous. Thanks for posting this.
posted by ivanthenotsoterrible at 3:10 PM on February 27

Oh Brel is such a fantastic performer. He comes off these days as a bit dated and cheesy, much like Sinatra does. But that obscures what fantastic performers both men were.
posted by Nelson at 3:22 PM on February 27 [1 favorite]

Brel Live at Olympia 66 is a classic.

His lyrics are really interesting, he can be quite romantic, but also full of rage & despair. We studied his words in senior HS French class with a genius cynical exchange instructor from France. Fun times.
posted by ovvl at 4:14 PM on February 27 [1 favorite]

Very cool! The beginning made me think of this.
posted by TwoToneRow at 5:26 PM on February 27 [1 favorite]

too much guttural for me
posted by robbyrobs at 5:39 PM on February 27

That Tati clip is amazing and I need to see that film immediately. Thank you! (The dancing couples at the start of the Brel video, otoh, looked like they were auditioning for a particularly glum Sartre play.)
posted by phooky at 5:41 PM on February 27

did he have fucking *huge* hands, or did everyone have them back then?

Also, see 37' 45", "Le Moribond", which that Canadian rat bastard Terry Jacks finished off in 1974 as the execrable "Seasons in the Sun".
posted by scruss at 5:57 PM on February 27 [4 favorites]

@scruss: I wondering the same thing about the hands. Maybe its a foreshortening effect compounded by the lens tech of the time?
posted by falsedmitri at 7:39 PM on February 27

Hey hey hey no dissing Terry Jacks!
posted by whatevernot at 3:21 AM on February 28 [1 favorite]

He comes off these days as a bit dated and cheesy

These days? He came off as dated and cheesy in the 80s, at least. Maybe earlier. I avoided that kind of music as much as possible (I'm a little less of a snob now, though maybe not much). Nevertheless, the construction "alive and well and verb-ing in location" is always associated with Jacques Brel for me, so I guess he made an impression anyway!
posted by inexorably_forward at 5:04 PM on February 28

Nevertheless, the construction "alive and well and verb-ing in location" is always associated with Jacques Brel for me, so I guess he made an impression anyway!

It's the title of a revue of his songs in English translation. It's been around forever, and is quite popular, but I'm not sure he actually had anything to do with the phrase itself. it's just the title of a show of his songs translated.
posted by hippybear at 4:08 PM on March 1