{"id":1812,"date":"2010-03-27T21:19:00","date_gmt":"2010-03-27T21:19:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.willhowells.org.uk\/blog\/?p=1812"},"modified":"2010-03-27T21:19:00","modified_gmt":"2010-03-27T21:19:00","slug":"behind-the-brel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.willhowells.org.uk\/blog\/2010\/03\/27\/behind-the-brel\/","title":{"rendered":"Behind the Brel"},"content":{"rendered":"

It was only a few years ago that I first heard of Jacques Brel. He was a Belgian singer-songwriter, famed in France for his complex, poetic songs and energetic performances. Although his songs were nearly all in French, they have been widely translated into English – the best known are Scott Walker’s Jackie<\/em> (Spotify link<\/a>), an accurate reflection of Brel’s original, and Terry Jacks’s Seasons in the Sun<\/em>, which is, erm, less so – the original, Le Moribond<\/em>, has a markedly darker emphasis.<\/p>\n

Scott Walker recorded English versions of a number of Brel’s songs, as did David Bowie. Compare versions of Amsterdam<\/em> by Walker<\/a>, Brel<\/a> and Bowie<\/a><\/p>\n

Anyhoo, the reason I’m writing about Brel now is to plug Radio 2’s three-part documentary about his life and music, Behind the Brel<\/a><\/em>. You’ve missed episode 1, I’m afraid, but episode 2 is on the iPlayer<\/a> and episode 3 will be on Radio 2 on Tuesday night at 11.30pm. At the time of writing, obviously. If you’re in the far distant future, you may need to hunt the space internet for a copy of visit your local space library.<\/p>\n

You can of course read more about Jacques Brel on teh Wikipedia<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It was only a few years ago that I first heard of Jacques Brel. He was a Belgian singer-songwriter, famed in France for his complex, poetic songs and energetic performances. Although his songs were nearly all in French, they have been widely translated into English – the best known are Scott Walker’s Jackie (Spotify link), […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,12],"tags":[1132,1133],"class_list":["post-1812","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-geeklife","category-music","tag-jacques-brel","tag-radio-2"],"yoast_head":"\nBehind the Brel - No geek is an island<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.willhowells.org.uk\/blog\/2010\/03\/27\/behind-the-brel\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Behind the Brel - No geek is an island\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It was only a few years ago that I first heard of Jacques Brel. He was a Belgian singer-songwriter, famed in France for his complex, poetic songs and energetic performances. Although his songs were nearly all in French, they have been widely translated into English – the best known are Scott Walker’s Jackie (Spotify link), […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.willhowells.org.uk\/blog\/2010\/03\/27\/behind-the-brel\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"No geek is an island\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2010-03-27T21:19:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Will\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Will\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.willhowells.org.uk\/blog\/2010\/03\/27\/behind-the-brel\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.willhowells.org.uk\/blog\/2010\/03\/27\/behind-the-brel\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Will\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.willhowells.org.uk\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/143a6b60a322d001fdc07f2007384300\"},\"headline\":\"Behind the Brel\",\"datePublished\":\"2010-03-27T21:19:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.willhowells.org.uk\/blog\/2010\/03\/27\/behind-the-brel\/\"},\"wordCount\":197,\"commentCount\":1,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.willhowells.org.uk\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/143a6b60a322d001fdc07f2007384300\"},\"keywords\":[\"Jacques Brel\",\"Radio 2\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Geeklife\",\"Music\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.willhowells.org.uk\/blog\/2010\/03\/27\/behind-the-brel\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.willhowells.org.uk\/blog\/2010\/03\/27\/behind-the-brel\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.willhowells.org.uk\/blog\/2010\/03\/27\/behind-the-brel\/\",\"name\":\"Behind the Brel - No geek is an island\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.willhowells.org.uk\/blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2010-03-27T21:19:00+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.willhowells.org.uk\/blog\/2010\/03\/27\/behind-the-brel\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.willhowells.org.uk\/blog\/2010\/03\/27\/behind-the-brel\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.willhowells.org.uk\/blog\/2010\/03\/27\/behind-the-brel\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"http:\/\/www.willhowells.org.uk\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Behind the Brel\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.willhowells.org.uk\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.willhowells.org.uk\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"No geek is an island\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.willhowells.org.uk\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/143a6b60a322d001fdc07f2007384300\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"http:\/\/www.willhowells.org.uk\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":[\"Person\",\"Organization\"],\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.willhowells.org.uk\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/143a6b60a322d001fdc07f2007384300\",\"name\":\"Will\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.willhowells.org.uk\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/edd7c0105cc6a39125db7653749feae1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/edd7c0105cc6a39125db7653749feae1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Will\"},\"logo\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.willhowells.org.uk\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.willhowells.org.uk\/blog\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Behind the Brel - No geek is an island","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.willhowells.org.uk\/blog\/2010\/03\/27\/behind-the-brel\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Behind the Brel - No geek is an island","og_description":"It was only a few years ago that I first heard of Jacques Brel. He was a Belgian singer-songwriter, famed in France for his complex, poetic songs and energetic performances. Although his songs were nearly all in French, they have been widely translated into English – the best known are Scott Walker’s Jackie (Spotify link), […]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.willhowells.org.uk\/blog\/2010\/03\/27\/behind-the-brel\/","og_site_name":"No geek is an island","article_published_time":"2010-03-27T21:19:00+00:00","author":"Will","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Will","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.willhowells.org.uk\/blog\/2010\/03\/27\/behind-the-brel\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.willhowells.org.uk\/blog\/2010\/03\/27\/behind-the-brel\/"},"author":{"name":"Will","@id":"http:\/\/www.willhowells.org.uk\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/143a6b60a322d001fdc07f2007384300"},"headline":"Behind the Brel","datePublished":"2010-03-27T21:19:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.willhowells.org.uk\/blog\/2010\/03\/27\/behind-the-brel\/"},"wordCount":197,"commentCount":1,"publisher":{"@id":"http:\/\/www.willhowells.org.uk\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/143a6b60a322d001fdc07f2007384300"},"keywords":["Jacques Brel","Radio 2"],"articleSection":["Geeklife","Music"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.willhowells.org.uk\/blog\/2010\/03\/27\/behind-the-brel\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.willhowells.org.uk\/blog\/2010\/03\/27\/behind-the-brel\/","url":"https:\/\/www.willhowells.org.uk\/blog\/2010\/03\/27\/behind-the-brel\/","name":"Behind the Brel - No geek is an island","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/www.willhowells.org.uk\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2010-03-27T21:19:00+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.willhowells.org.uk\/blog\/2010\/03\/27\/behind-the-brel\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.willhowells.org.uk\/blog\/2010\/03\/27\/behind-the-brel\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.willhowells.org.uk\/blog\/2010\/03\/27\/behind-the-brel\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"http:\/\/www.willhowells.org.uk\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Behind the Brel"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"http:\/\/www.willhowells.org.uk\/blog\/#website","url":"http:\/\/www.willhowells.org.uk\/blog\/","name":"No geek is an island","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"http:\/\/www.willhowells.org.uk\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/143a6b60a322d001fdc07f2007384300"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"http:\/\/www.willhowells.org.uk\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"http:\/\/www.willhowells.org.uk\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/143a6b60a322d001fdc07f2007384300","name":"Will","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"http:\/\/www.willhowells.org.uk\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/edd7c0105cc6a39125db7653749feae1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/edd7c0105cc6a39125db7653749feae1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Will"},"logo":{"@id":"http:\/\/www.willhowells.org.uk\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/www.willhowells.org.uk\/blog"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.willhowells.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1812","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.willhowells.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.willhowells.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.willhowells.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.willhowells.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1812"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.willhowells.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1812\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1818,"href":"https:\/\/www.willhowells.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1812\/revisions\/1818"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.willhowells.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1812"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.willhowells.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1812"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.willhowells.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1812"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}