THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

352-Jacques Brel-Amsterdam.

1964-It 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. It wasn’t just Brel’s songs that left a long lasting impression, it was the passionate and often theatrical way he performed them live, which endeared him to the public. Jacques Brel is considered a master of the modern chanson, and is best remembered as a singer/songwriter, but he was also an actor and a film director, appearing in 10 films between 1956-1973, two of which he also directed, ‘Franz,’ from 1971, and ‘Le Far West,’ from 1973. Such is the esteem that Jacques Brel is held in, there are currently two statues erected as tributes, one is in Brussels, Belgium, and the other is in Vesoul, France. With worldwide record sales in excess of 25 million Jacques 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 plus sales) incidentally the only other Belgium act to feature in this countdown is the ‘Electronic Dance Music’ act Technotronic, (see also best songs 424) who with sales in excess of 14 million, are currently the eighth best selling act in Belgium.

Jacques 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 the Canadian singer Terry Jacks. That 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) (see also best songs 807-440-334-302-209-186-118-47-31 and 5) 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. The discography of Jacques Brel includes 16 studio Albums released between 1954-2013, and 39 singles released between 1954-1978, there is also one soundtrack Album, four official compilation Albums, and eight live Albums available.

‘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,’ which was produced by Jean-Marie Guérin, and first released for sale in January 1967. 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.

Mort Shuman was born Mortimer Shuman on November 12th, 1938, in Brooklyn, New York, United States, he died of cancer on November 2nd, 1991, at the age of 52. Mort Shuman who was a singer, pianist, and songwriter, is best remembered for his songwriting collaborations with the American Blues singer and songwriter Doc Pomus, (1925-1991) their biggest success together was co-writing ‘Viva Las Vegas’ for the film of the same name, for Elvis Presley (1935-1977) (see also best songs 954-664-442 and 194) in 1964. After Shuman and Doc Pomus parted ways in 1965, Shuman moved to France, where he wrote songs for Johnny Hallyday, (1943-2017) and embarked on his own recording career. Other Mort Shuman co-writes include ‘Little Children,’ for Billy J. Kramer & the Dakotas, (1964-UK Number 1 & Billboard Number 7) ‘Here I Go Again,’ for The Hollies, (1964-UK Number 4) and ‘Sha-La-La-La-Lee,’ for The Small Faces,’ (1966-UK Number 3.) Mort Shuman was elected posthumously to the ‘Songwriters Hall of Fame’ in 1992.

Like many of Jacques Brel’s compositions ‘Amsterdam’ has been recorded by several musicians in many different languages worldwide. It was after hearing Scott Walker’s recording of ‘Amsterdam’ that David Bowie 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 Jacques Brel, but Brel refused, saying he did not wish to meet a ‘pédé’ (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.’