Georges Brassens


Georges Charles Brassens was a French singer-songwriter and poet.
An iconic figure in France, George Brassens is regarded as one of the most accomplished artists who has profoundly shaped French music and culture. He achieved fame through his elegant songs, characterised by harmonically complex music for voice and guitar, as well as articulate and diverse lyrics. He is considered one of France's most accomplished postwar poets. He also set to music poems by both relatively obscure poets and such well-known ones as Louis Aragon, Victor Hugo, Paul Verlaine, Jean Richepin, François Villon, and Antoine Pol.

Biography

Childhood and education

Brassens was born in Sète, a commune in the department of Hérault in Occitania, to a French father and an Italian mother from the town of Marsico Nuovo, Potenza, southern Italy.
Brassens grew up in the family home in Sète with his mother Elvira Dagrosa, father Jean-Louis, half-sister Simone, and paternal grandfather Jules. His mother, whom Brassens labeled "militantly for songs", had a love for music.

Career

He toured with Pierre Louki, who wrote a book of recollections entitled Avec Brassens. After 1952, Brassens rarely left France. A few trips to Belgium and Switzerland; a month in Canada and another in North Africa were his only trips outside France – except for his concerts in Wales in 1970 and 1973. His concert at Cardiff's Sherman Theatre in 1973 saw Jake Thackray — a great admirer of his work – open for him.

Songs

Brassens accompanied himself on acoustic guitar. Most of the time the only other accompaniment came from his friend Pierre Nicolas with a double bass, and sometimes a second guitar.
His songs often decry hypocrisy and self-righteousness in the conservative French society of the time, especially among the religious, the well-to-do, and those in law enforcement. The criticism is often indirect, focusing on the good deeds or innocence of others in contrast. His elegant use of florid language and dark humor, along with bouncy rhythms, often give a rather jocular feeling to even the grimmest lyrics.
Some of his most famous songs include:
  • 'La Guerre de '14–'18', a song which satirises claims that World War One was an "ideal war" but condemns it as being "the greatest human slaughterhouse in human history". Later adopted by English comedic duo Flanders and Swann as the basis for their own satire, 'The War of 14–18', which mocks traditional English martial glory.
  • "Les Copains d'Abord," about a boat of that name, and friendship, written for a movie Les copains directed by Yves Robert;.
  • "Chanson Pour l'Auvergnat," lauding those who take care of the downtrodden against the pettiness of the bourgeois and the harshness of law enforcement.
  • "Brave Margot," about a young girl who gives a young kitten the breast, which attracts a large group of male onlookers.
  • "La Cane de Jeanne," for Marcel and Jeanne Planche, who befriended and sheltered him and others.
  • "La Mauvaise Réputation" – "the bad reputation" – a semi-autobiographical tune with its catchy lyric: "Mais les braves gens n'aiment pas que l'on suive une autre route qu'eux" Pierre Pascal adapted part of the lyrics to Spanish under the title "La mala reputación", which was later interpreted by Paco Ibañez.
  • "Les Amoureux des Bancs Publics" – about young lovers who kiss each other publicly and shock self-righteous people.
  • "Pauvre Martin," the suffering of a poor peasant.
  • "Le Gorille" – tells, in a humorous fashion, of a gorilla with a large penis who escapes his cage. Mistaking a robed judge for a woman, the beast forcefully sodomizes him. The song contrasts the wooden attitude that the judge had exhibited when sentencing a man to death by the guillotine with his cries for mercy when being assaulted by the gorilla. This song, considered pornographic, was banned for a while. The song's refrain is widely known; it was translated into English by Jake Thackray as Brother Gorilla, by Greek singer-songwriter Christos Thivaios as Ο Γορίλλας, by Spanish songwriter Joaquín Carbonell as "El Gorila", by Italian songwriter Fabrizio De André as "Il Gorilla", by the Polish cover band Zespół Reprezentacyjny as "Goryl" and by Israeli writer Dan Almagor as "הגורילה".
  • "Fernande" – a 'virile antiphon' about the women lonely men think about to inspire self-gratification. Its infamous refrain is still immediately recognized in France, and has essentially ended the use of several female first names.
  • "Supplique pour être enterré à la plage de Sète", a long song describing, in a colourful, "live" and poetic way, his wish to be buried on a particular sandy beach in his hometown, "Plage de la Corniche".
  • "Mourir Pour des Idées," describing the recurring violence over ideas and an exhortation to be left in peace.

    Legacy

In 1984, the Parc Georges-Brassens was opened in Paris. In 2014, Australian-French duo Mountain Men released a live tribute album Mountain Men chante Georges Brassens.

Discography

Studio albums

  • 1952: La Mauvaise Réputation
  • 1953: Le Vent
  • * including Pauvre Martin
  • 1954: Les Sabots d'Hélène
  • 1956: Je me suis fait tout petit
  • 1957: Oncle Archibald
  • 1958: Le Pornographe
  • 1960: Les Funérailles d'antan
  • 1961: Le Temps ne fait rien à l'affaire
  • 1962: Les Trompettes de la renommée
  • 1964: Les Copains d'abord
  • 1966: Supplique pour être enterré à la plage de Sète
  • 1969: Misogynie à part
  • 1972: Fernande
  • 1976: Trompe la mort
  • 1979: Brassens-Moustache jouent Brassens en jazz
  • 1982: ''Georges Brassens chante les chansons de sa jeunesse''

    Live albums

  • 1973: Georges Brassens in Great Britain
  • 1996: Georges Brassens au TNP
  • 2001: Georges Brassens à la Villa d'Este
  • 2001: Bobino 64
  • 2006: ''Concerts de 1959 à 1976''