Mathilde (song)


Mathilde is a song by Jacques Brel with music by Gérard Jouannest. It was one of the five tracks appearing on the B-side of his eighth album, Ces gens-là, released in 1966 on a 10-inch record
It is what Brel himself called a "monster". It was one of his favourite songs of his own repertoire, about which he said "That song's really good. Structurally speaking, it's well-written."
The music was composed by Gérard Jouannest.
Brel performed it for the first time in public on 23 July 1963 at Knokke Casino. The concert was filmed by Belgian television. The song became the one Brel performed as last song in concerts the following years.

Lyrics

Jacques, the narrator, having learnt about the return of Mathilde, a former lover with whom he had a painful relationship, feeling once more inexorably taken over by passion, calls on many of those close to him: his mother ; a maid called Maria who, we might guess, has been an occasional lover ; a bougnat ; his friends.
He also brings up different parts of his body which symbolise his feelings: his heart, his hands.
His pleas will prove to be in vain. The line between love and hate is tenuous, and he knows from the start that she will come back to him, though he has loved her as much as she has hurt him. Mathilde's return will spark new passions and new torments.
Like Marieke and Madeleine, Mathilde is a song about passionate love for a woman whose name begins with "M".

Covers