Le Plat Pays

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
"Le Plat Pays"
7" vinyl single cover
Song by Jacques Brel
from the album Les Bourgeois
Released1962
RecordedMarch 6, 1962
GenreChanson
Length2:37
LabelBarclay
Songwriter(s)Jacques Brel

"Le Plat Pays" (Translation: 'The Flat Country') is a French-language song by Belgian singer Jacques Brel about his home country. It also exists in a Dutch-language version as "Mijn vlakke land" ('My Flat Country'), also performed by him. The French lyrics are by Jacques Brel, the Dutch lyrics by Ernst van Altena.

Concept

Recorded on 6 March 1962, the song describes the

cathedrals as "the only mountains" his country has. Brel sees the sky as "so low" that "a canal gets lost", and "so gray", that "a canal would hang itself". The low brooding sky brings his people humility. Yet, despite the grey skies and rain he still declares his country as "his".[1]
The flat country referred to in the song is West Flanders, the region in
the Netherlands. He also refers to the Flemish seasonal workers who left their farms every winter to work in the textile mills of Northern France from November to May. (Les fils de Novembre qui nous reviennent en May)[2]

In popular culture

The success encountered in Paris by his Swiss mentor friend Jean Villard' "La Venoge", about an unknown little river, inspired and encouraged him to write the song.

Alcoi
"), which he dedicated to the city where he was born and grown up.

The song was also referenced in the original French-language version of

Vitalstatistix that "in his flat country oppidums
are the only mountains."

The Italian singer and author Herbert Pagani wrote and interpreted a cover titled "La Lombardia".[3]

References

  1. ^ "Jacques Brel – 10 of the best". The Guardian. 27 July 2016. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
  2. ^ "22. Le plat pays (1962) - Jacques Brel". chansonklassiekers.nl/ (in Dutch). 27 September 2023.
  3. ^ "SONG Le plat pays". secondhandsongs.com. 27 September 2023.


Stub icon

This 1950s pop song-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Le_Plat_Pays&oldid=1212950702"