Jacques Brel – Dee Dee Bridgewater: Ne me quitte pas ( Don’t leave me)
Ne me quitte pas” (“Don’t leave me”) is a song written and sung in French by the Belgian chansonnier (singer-songwriter) Jacques Brel in 1959. It has been covered in the original French by many artists, e.g. by Nina Simone. It has also been translated into and performed in many other languages. The English translation is known as “If You Go Away”.Jacques Brel first recorded this song on 11 September 1959, and it is on his album La Valse à Mille Temps. The song is published by Warner-Chappell Publishing. In 1961, he recorded a Flemish version of the song, entitled “Laat Me Niet Alleen”. In 1972, Brel recorded another version as the title track of his album Ne Me Quitte Pas.
>The lyrics “Moi, je t’offrirai des perles de pluie venues de pays où il ne pleut pas” (“Me, I’ll give you pearls of rain from lands where it doesn’t rain”) quotes a theme from the Hungarian Rhapsody No. 6 by the composer Franz Liszt. The lyrics “Le rouge et le noir” (“the red and the black”) in the fourth verse might refer to the 19th century novel, The Red and the Black.
Ne me quitte pas was written after Brel was thrown out of Zizou’s (Suzanne Gabriello – his mistress at the time) life after casting shame and sadness upon her. Zizou was pregnant with Brel’s child and had an abortion after Brel refused fatherhood.It is considered by some as “Brel’s ultimate classic”.He would later say in an interview that the song is not a love song, but rather a song about the cowardice of men.
Nina Simone performed a well known cover of the song, in her 1965 album I Put A Spell On You. “Ne Me Quitte Pas” was used by Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar in his sixth film, Law of Desire, in a striking performance by Brazilian singer Maysa Matarazzo.
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