Georges Brassens

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Georges Brassens

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Georges Brassens was a French singer-songwriter known for accompanying himself with his acoustic guitar. He wrote some extremely controversial, yet poetic songs. In doing so, he managed to change attitudes across France.

He was uncompromising when composing his songs. His tactical method of addressing issues was profound and often humorous, making him a unique and effective figure in the French community.

Brassens, born in 1921 in the small Mediterrenean port of Sete, wanted to be a poet. He realized very early however that poetry in the 20th century could hardly put bread on the table and instead set himself to become a singer.

He is much less famous internationally than contemporaries like Charles Aznavour, Edith Piaf and Yves Montand, as much of the impact of his songs came from the lyrics, which proved difficult to translate into other languages. He loved the Middle Ages and used a great deal of Old French vocabulary, as well as many classical - ie., Latin and Greek - references. Few people, even in France, possess the background to fully understand his songs.

Yet he was at the same time a hugely popular singer and many of his songs still carry a lot of appeal and relevance. In this sense, he can be compared to Boris Vian, to Jacques Brel, and to a lesser extent to Serge Gainsbourg.

He was very sophisticated, yet at the same time used profanity liberally. While he wasn’t politically engaged, he was nevertheless unambiguously a leftist, many of his songs carrying blatant and buoyant anarchist overtones.

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  • Boebis

    le plus grand!

    22 Apr 2:00pm Reply
  • isanka

    j'adore

    8 Apr 9:38am Reply
  • SYL2Oh

    Mon Parrain !

    15 Feb 11:06pm Reply
  • Meotodes

    Ce qui m'a toujours surpris et intrigué chez Brassens, c'est comment un chanteur peut faire autant de chansons qui à la fois ont la même apparence et pourtant diffèrent autant. C'est un chanteur immortel, inimitable, inimité, unique. Ceux qui aiment Brassens trouvent d'ailleurs rarement des artistes capables de leur faire le même effet. Pas de tour de force technique non plus (comme la - splendide - voix de Brel par exemple), l'art de la conplexe simplicité. Des chansons les plus connues aux plus obscures, on pourrait dire que "tout est bon chez [lui] y'a rien à jeter". (Je rejoins @Nyyckaulhas à 100% pour l'histoire du tabac. Brassens sans sa pipe c'est comme Luke sans sabre laser ou le Père Noël sans traineau, ça casse l'image.)

    1 Feb 7:54pm Reply
  • nekoboyZic

    Juste l'homme parfait

    30 Dec 2012 Reply
  • m-chill

    Merci beaucoup. [3]

    5 Dec 2012 Reply
  • Pour_Mircalla

    merci beaucoup. [2]

    30 Nov 2012 Reply
  • tiitusnakke

    He's a poet, a punk, anarchist, humanist (2) He made me as I'am. Difficult to say what songs I like the most, maybe ''mourir pour des idées'' or ''les oiseaux de passage''

    12 Nov 2012 Reply
  • Brugelida

    Supplique pour être enterré à la Plage de Sète (L)

    20 Oct 2012 Reply
  • Costelongue

    He's a poet, a punk, anarchist, humanist (if this last word still means something). He's the very very first one I liked to listen to when I was a child and probably the one who made me love music. Decades after, I'm still exploring his works.

    14 Oct 2012 Reply
  • GordoTunder

    I just started listening to him. Man, i think of the people that don't have or won't have the chance to listen to this kind of music and lyrics. Georges is amaizing.

    7 Aug 2012 Reply
  • Nochek

    merci beaucoup.

    16 Mar 2012 Reply
  • Kordianelli

    Lubię jego muzykę.

    26 Dec 2011 Reply
  • Nyyckaulhas

    @Parisblues: Quel est ton problème avec le tabac franchement? Tu as peur du tabagisme passif? Tu sais, cela n'arrivera uniquement si tu es à coté d'une personne réelle, pas face à une photo. Est-ce que Brassens serait Brassens sans sa guitare, sa moustache ET SA PIPE? Les artistes (pas uniquement Georges, j'ai vu tes commentaires chez Gainsbourg et chez Django) ne te forcent pas à fumer. Simplement ils l’apprécient et je ne vois pas ce qu'il y a de dérangeant ici. Heureusement il n'y a pas de loi hors de France pour interdire la diffusion d'image de tabac (et encore cette loi ne s'applique pas à internet en France il me semble) ou pour priver Georges Brassens, Sherlock Holmes ou Jacques Tati de leurs pipes!

    12 Dec 2011 Reply
  • asblpromania

    Génial ! Notre label adore la chanson à texte ! Tonton Georges a jamais dans nos mémoires...

    12 Nov 2011 Reply
  • Galaxiestarwars

    The French Genius

    11 Nov 2011 Reply
  • warrenzevon

    Georges Brassens est dans la mémoire et l’âme des Français (sans compter tous les amis de la France) Il aurait eu 90 ans cette année, mail il est parti il y a 30 ans. Tous les cinq ans, ses disques sont remastérisés. Money first. Les tiroirs des maisons de disque ont toujours des bandes magnétiques encore non utilisées. Noel est proche. C'est le temps des rééditions. Alors si vous aimez ! Moi, j'adore.

    18 Oct 2011 Reply
  • kobushi_

    He's not telling you to smoke tobacco.

    25 Aug 2011 Reply
  • Parisblues

    there's a large choice of pictures without doing tabacco incitation.

    21 Aug 2011 Reply
  • estoesinutil-7

    "Non les brav's gens n'aiment pas que L'on suive une autre route qu'eux" ♪

    2 Aug 2011 Reply
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