Black Veils - Don't Leave Me (Ne me quitte pas)

A new translation of the Jacques Brel classic by the Black Veils, a project to bring French "chanson" and other musical traditions to an Anglophone audience. This video includes clips from the 1984 production of Sophocles' Oedipus the King, starring the dashing Michael Pennington and the glorious Claire Bloom. The performance compliments drama and pathos expressed in Jacques Brel's song. We have tried to preserve both in our translation and performance. For more of our work, see www.blackveils.com. We welcome your comments!

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Don't Leave Me
• Jacques Brel
• chanson
• French music
• Claire Bloom
• Michael Pennington
• Oedipus the King
• Black Veils
• love song
• Ne me quitte pas
• translation
• troubadour

[TheBlindPig1]

forget your english. forget it now. Logic and english, we are not proud. I want to hold you but i dont know how. If you kneel before me, i will stand my ground.

[klari42]

l think the video is nearly perfect except for those cuts of different pictures that l do not know how they relate to the drama and its suspense it kind of spoils it. Do forgive me, if l sound too critical l meant no offense only my opinion. lf you just leave the drama in your video and cut out the other pictures and add that syllable or two to that crucial line you will reach near perfection. lf you do not l still enjoy your song and respect and applaud the hard work that went into it. thanks k

[klari42]

well, thank you for even bothering to reply and l am glad my comment was helpful and that you agree with my assessment. Mind you, have you tried to lenghten that line with adding some sounds more to make the syllable come out and see how it sounds then?

[klari42]

l understand your reasons for sacrificing the meter and the rhyme for faithfulness to the original, but now, since you have done that why not make an alternative version where you do not sacrifice the meter to the lyrics but add a syllable or two more to make it more singable? there is nothing to lose and you can then decide which one is more succesful and more likeable..what do you say?

[klari42]

@speedybv4 l am looking forward to that version and perhaps then yopu could put more into it emotionally as the rythm will come out more normally and you won't have to concentrate on the missing syllable that is throwing the song off balance best regards klari

[klari42]

l am looking forward to that version and perhaps then yopu could put more into it emotionally as the rythm will come out more normally and you won't have to concentrate on the missing syllable that is throwing the song off balance best regards klari

[speedybv4]

@klari42 - Thanks for your thoughtful comment! I should have replied long ago. Yes, "Don't leave me" is one syllable short -- or even two! In our translations we try to be as faithful to meter and rhyme as we are to meaning, but in this case we felt we had to match Brel's direct simplicity at the expense of the meter. As for the singing, well, that's me... and I don't disagree with your assessment! We love Elvis too (I saw your page), but he didn't return our calls. :-) Thanks, Robert of the BVs

[klari42]

It is pretty close, it does capture the sense, the feeling but the singing is not emotional enough if you don't mind me saying and don't leave me is one syllable short to ne me quitte pas it does change the the refrain I dunno how to put it, I think you know what I mean. Still, it is a brilliant job. I translated it into Hungarian and it is pretty hard to try to put in everything that is in there. If you go away was a very bad translation, so I am glad some one did justice to this song. thanks

[bomaldo1]

Very good and accurate translation!!

[ABeautifulWolfie]

Sometimes in life, we can be moved and touched in our hearts by simple words put to a beautiful melody. This has always been one of my favorite songs. Each time I hear it I get all teary from the beauty of it. I love the works of Jacques Brel. To me, he was brilliant. And in saying this, I feel you have come so very close to capturing the emotions he aroused in others when he sang this song. You did an amazing job, and thank you for sharing this with all of us. Keep up the good work!