THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

352-Jacques Brel-Amsterdam.

1964-Has never charted in the UK.

Best Bit-At 2.30. Thank heavens for English subtitles, or I wouldn’t have a clue what it’s all about.

Jacques Romain Georges Brel was born on April 8th, 1929, in Schaerbeek,Brussels, Belgium, he died on October 9th, 1978, from a pulmonary embolism, at the age of 49. Brel was a singer, songwriter, actor, and director, he appeared in 10 films between 1956-1973, two of which.’Franz,’ from 1971, and ‘Le Far West,’ from 1973, he was also the director. Brel released 14 studio Albums between 1954-1977, and two live Albums, with sales in excess of 25 million copies, Brel is the third best selling artist of all time to be born in Belgium, behind Salvatore Adamo (100 million plus sales) and Frederic Francois (40 million sales.) Incidentally the other Belgium act to feature in this countdown is Technotronic, (see also best songs 424) who with sales in excess of 14 million are currently the eighth best selling act in Belgium. Such is the esteem Brel is held in, there are currently two statues erected as tributes, one is in Brussels, Belgium, and the other is in Vesoul, France.Brel’s songs have been covered countless times, many by some of the world’s greatest artists, and translated into several different languages. It has been said that many of his songs have lost their true meaning in translation, a very good example of this would be ‘Le Moribond,’ which when re-written by the American singer/poet Rod McKuen (1933-2015) became ‘Seasons in the Sun,’ which went on to sell over 10 million copies worldwide in 1974 when recorded by Terry Jacks. The song was brought to the attention of a whole new generation when the Irish boy band Westlife also took the song to Number 1 (the Christmas Number 1) of 1999 in the UK. The three British artists who are best remembered for being inspired by Brel, and also for recording his songs are Scott Walker,(1943-2019) (see also best songs 164) David Bowie, (1947-2016) and Marc Almond,(see also best songs 848) both Walker, and Almond have each recorded several songs on their Albums dedicated to Brel’s music.

‘Amsterdam’ was written by Jacques Brel, musically the songs melody is based on the traditional English Folk song ‘Greensleeves.’ Brel never recorded the song for any of his studio Albums, and the only version released can be found on his live Album ‘Enregistrement Public a l’Olympia 1964.’ In 1968 ‘Amsterdam’ was one of the songs translated into English by the American singer/songwriter Mort Shuman (1938-1991) for the musical ‘Jacques Brel is Alive and Living in Paris,’ which in 1975 was also made in to a film, being released in America, Canada, and France.

After hearing Scott Walker’s recording of ‘Amsterdam’ David Bowie (see also best songs 807-440-334-302-209-186-118-47-31 and 5) recorded a version in the early 1970’s, which was first released in 1973 as the ‘B’ side to his UK Number 3 single ‘Sorrow.’ In France the sides were flipped with ‘Amsterdam’ released as the ‘A’ side, where it made Number 7 on their chart. On a visit to Paris, Bowie wanted to meet Brel, but Brel refused, saying he did not wish to meet a ‘pede’ (faggot) but nevertheless still admired him.

‘Amsterdam’ is about the port of Amsterdam, not Amsterdam itself. The lyrics tell of the sailors during their shore leave, and not in a complimentary manner. It tells of the squalor that they appear to be happy to live in, the unhealthy lifestyle they lead, and the prostitutes they engage with.

‘In Amsterdam’s port there are sailors dying, full of beers and dramas, since the very first gleams. But in Amsterdam port there are sailors getting to life in the thick heat of the ocean’s tiredness