To See A Friend In Tears - Jacques Brel info anyone?

[Jimbojambo]

Hi all,

Does anyone know/managed to find out on which Jacques Brel album To See A Friend in Tears is on, or what it's called in French?

Cheers peeps.

[Art Vandelay]

Les Marquises, it was remastered a couple of years ago so it's not that hard to find...

[Alan Noir]

the jacques brel version i have is called 'Me voir un amie plurer'. i just downloaded it from an illegal source.

[hedgehog]

"Voir un ami pleurer"...will be better !

[Ampersound]

Anyone knows who translated the lyrics of voir un ami pleurer? As much as i like JDB's version, the translation has taken many liberties with the original text.

[UEF]

According to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...cover_versions , "momus" did a version with the same title as JDBs. But there are loads called "Voir un ami pleurer", so it could be one of them too.

[Deets]

what I've found

I wasn’t the only one to be moved by this song. The Momus lyrics were revived by James Dean Bradfield during his sabbatical year out of the Manic Street Preachers. He had lost some dear friends to cancer and he was also able to articulate this sense of creeping agony on his album 'The Great Western'.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/stuartbai...1/post_1.shtml

and this is how look Momus' lyrics

Of course there are the wars of Ireland
And tribes without music
Of course all this lack of tender
There is no more America
Of course Money has no smell
But not of odor assembles me to the nose
Of course one walks on the flowers
But to see a friend crying!

Of course there are our defeats
And then the death which is all with the end
Our bodies incline already the head
Astonished to be still upright
Of course inaccurate women
And assassinated birds
Of course our hearts lose their wings
But but to see a friend crying!

Of course these exhausted cities
By these fifty year old children
Our impotence to help them
And our loves which have a toothache
Of course the time which goes too quickly
These subway filled of drowned
The truth which avoids us
But to see a friend crying!

Of course our mirrors are just
Nor courage to be Jewish
Nor elegance to be negro
One believes wick one is only tallow
And all these men who are our brothers
So much that one is not astonished any more
That by love they lacerate us
Bone of my best poems/poets and musicians, here they are;
But but to see a friend crying!

from his debut album "Circus Maximus" 1986

[Mr Inconspicuous]

They're not the lyrics on the Momus version of the song I have, these are:

So men are still at war in Ireland
For certain songs and certain dates
The tender gave way to the firebrand
And Europe gave way to the States

So now that money's all but scentless
Noses and consciences are clear
The pointless flowers can be dispensed with
But see a friend in tears

So our defeats are just reminders
Of death that waits behind it all
The body wilts before the mind does
Surprised to see how soon it falls

It's true our women have deceived us
All hunted species disappear
It's true we've shot the golden eagles
But see a friend in tears

It's true our cities are exhausted
Made by and for the middle aged
Our weakness gave them more than force did
We thought that love could cure a toothache

And in the underground we're drowning
Accelerating through the years
You who think you'll find the truth by frowning
See a friend in tears

It's true our mirrors don't show heroes
We lack the courage to be Jews
Without the elegance of Negroes
With our youthful fireworks all defused

And all these men who are our brothers
Wonder why we don't want to hear
How their worst enemies are their lovers
See a friend in tears

JDb uses pretty much the same ones, apart from some politically correct adjustments...

[Ampersound]

The Momus lyrics as shown by Ditta are much closer to the french lyrics than the ones JDB uses. I actually find the JDB ones better, except that i'm angered by the lack of 'but' before 'to see a friend in tears'.

[Deets]

that's what I've found on the internet. does anyone have that version by Momus? I couldn't find it anywhere

[Ampersound]

And i'm not sure i applaud the pc adjustments either.

[Ampersound]

It's bizarre that there's no credit for the english version of the lyrics on The great western though. And no idea how Momus version sounds, but it's likely to be a hoot with its 'sinister sound effects'.

[talkingtocactus]

Originally Posted by Alan Noir

the jacques brel version i have is called 'Me voir un amie plurer'. i just downloaded it from an illegal source.

Originally Posted by hedgehog

"Voir un ami pleurer"...will be better !

i'm not so sure it is actually, i think the reflexive part of the verb suggests that the speaker is the one seeing the person. also, "voir un ami pleurer" is all infinitives, so it literally means "to see a friend to cry" - i think it should be "voir un ami en pleurant" which means "to see a friend (in the act of) crying" (i think, my gerunds aren't that hot) which to me makes a lot more sense.

actually, technically, "in tears" translates as "en larme" so it should be "voir un ami (or une amie!) en larme".

at least that's what i think but i'm not french or indeed very advanced in my french studies so please do correct me if i'm wrong

i could have a go at the lyrics but i have an essay due on weds and i'm being marked on that...

[Mr Inconspicuous]

Originally Posted by ditta

that's what I've found on the internet. does anyone have that version by Momus? I couldn't find it anywhere

You mean the song itself? yeah it's on itunes, not hard to get.

Originally Posted by Ampersound

And i'm not sure i applaud the pc adjustments either.

They almost ruin it for me: 'without the elegance of Africans' sounds particularly clunky...

[Deets]

Originally Posted by Mr Inconspicuous

You mean the song itself? yeah it's on itunes, not hard to get.

yes if you have ipod or whatever and enough money to buy music then it's easy. hey I live in a post soviet country and you're talking about the musician who I first heard the name today. if it doesn't appear on last.fm or youtube, for me it doesn't exist.

sorry, tonight I'm a little bit frustrated, too many problems on my head