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The Lyrics
Dans le port d’Amsterdam
Y’a des marins qui chantent
Les rêves qui les hantent
Au large d’Amsterdam
In the port of Amsterdam
There are sailors who sing
Dreams that haunt them
Off the coast of Amsterdam
Dans le port d’Amsterdam
Y’a des marins qui dorment
Comme des oriflammes
Le long des berges mornes
Jacques Brel
Jacques Brel was a Belgian singer and actor considered a master of the modern chanson. He recorded most of his songs in French and occasionally in Dutch, and was known for his thoughtful, theatrical, and often melancholy songs. Highly popular in Belgium and France during his early career, he soon achieved international fame and came to be regarded as a major influence on English-speaking songwriters. Born into a well-to-do bourgeois family in Brussels, he received a typical upbringing for boys of his stature. Even though he was intelligent and creative, he was never inclined towards academics and performed poorly in school. He began playing the guitar as a teenager and formed his own theatre group with friends and began writing plays. After serving in the military for a short while, he started giving public performances. A radio performance followed and soon he moved to France in search of better career prospects. In France he became a singing sensational and earned himself a devoted following of fans. It did not take long for him to attain international stardom and soon he was performing in countries like Canada, the U.S., Djibouti, Finland and the USSR as well. With time he also ventured into acting and became a well-known actor in French-speaking countries.
Major Works
His song ‘Amsterdam’ is considered one of his most enduringly popular works. A melancholy song, it is about the lives of the sailors on shore leave in Amsterdam and about their day-to-day struggles.
Jacques Brel directed the 1973 Belgian-French comedy film ‘Far West’ which is about a 40 year old man who attains a superpower. The movie was nominated for the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival.
