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20th August, 2008
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A Thought for Today
Never mind what is, think about what could and can be.
This
One Does It For Me!
Ken,
I've always loved the song "I'll Say Goodbye," it's such a catchy
melody.
Please could you post the lyrics one day?
Paul Adams
Rod's adaptations of Becaud's songs are some of my favorites, Paul, and
this one ranks right up there with the best.
You'll find the lyrics below as well as the liner notes from the album
"Through European Windows" in which Rod explains where he was when he
wrote it.
Through European Windows - About These Songs
I wrote many of these songs in Europe last summer, most of them in
collaboration with Jacques Brel and Gilbert Becaud. I once commented to
Becaud, that since he was France’s most admired popular composer and as
Brel wrote the best lyrics in that country, how was it that the two had
never collaborated. “We tried it,” he replied. “When we met it was
Versailles, when we parted it was Berlin.”
It would seem I have the best of all possible worlds being able to work
with each of them individually; however, they are as hard to please as I
am. Since Brel writes lyrics, I try to stay as faithful to his original
idea as possible, in the manner of Gene Less and Aznavour. Often
Becaud’s melodies turn me on to a lyric line far from the original in
meaning.
Nathalie and I’ll Say Goodbye are the most literal translations of the
Becaud melodies I’ve added words to. I’ll Say Goodbye was written in a
bathtub at the Hotel Crystal in Paris one morning. Nathalie was more
difficult to adapt, and took longer; since it deals with East - West
relations it had to be just right. My version is a little less East -
West and a little more me - she than the original.
There is a point in every Brel concert where he brings out his guitar
and accompanies himself on a ballad, usually Le plat pays, which
literally means “the flat lands”, and it’s a hymn to the countryside he
knew as a boy. I have adapted it into The Far West where I grew up. Both
Brel and I have felt the need to run, only to discover that once away we
were unable to hide from ourselves. To this end Brel has given up
performing altogether in order to concentrate on writing and recording.
It is hoped that his retirement will be like Betty Hutton’s - frequent,
but never permanent. For he is undoubtedly the world’s greatest living
entertainer.
Brel is able to put his finger on a particular kind of bourgeoisie
living in Belgium, his home. As a result many of his songs are banned
there. My translation of Le bourgeois is pretty faithful. Since it is
neither anti-Vietnam nor pro-Repblician it can be played in this country
in Boston as well as in Berkeley.
I have changed Louis Amade’s Mon arbre ( My Tree ) to Paris. The two
lyrics have absolutely nothing in common; I hope Monsieur Amade doesn’t
mind since, in addition to being an extraordinary lyricist, he is also
the Paris Prefect of Police. The melody is by Becaud.
On the Road Again has a contemporary theme. La mer sans soleil is a bit
baroque, and Jacques Brel’s Song Without Words ( Chanson sans paroles )
is ageless in its description of lovers taking one another for granted -
until one gets bored and moves on.
L’amour avec toi was the Number 1 selling record for many weeks in
France by its author Michel Polnareff. It’s what the French call a
‘yeh-yeh” song. I’ve renamed it Baby Be My Love.
The epic song intrigues me. By epic, I mean longer than the standard
thirty two bar phrase. The Lovers, The Women, The Hunters, If You Go
Away and Reflections are among those works of mine that fall within this
framework. Through European Windows changes tempo seven times and has a
continuing story to tell, so it is longer than most songs. It was a
verse and chorus longer, until we edited it. The idea of doing
everything in your lifetime and finding in the end that you’ve done
nothing is not a new one, but it’s seldom employed in song form.
The Ever Constant Sea, Pushing the Clouds Away, Do You Like the Rain ?
and Gifts from The Sea have my words and Anita Kerr’s music.
The arrangements in this album are also the work of Anita. Being a
singer herself she knows how to frame a vocal, never crowding the frame
with excess notes. Her charts always complement and never detract from
the vocalist. To that end, she is the most gifted arranger I’ve yet had
the good fortune to work with, and this is the first album I’ve recorded
in a long time for which all the arrangements were done by one
individual.
I like these recordings because they bring to mind some recent and happy
experiences and because they chronicle a particular time in my life.
Maybe this isn’t a very commercial album, so I give thanks to RCA Victor
and Neely Plumb for their indulgence in letting me do something I’ve
really wanted to do for a long time.
- Rod McKuen
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