Jacques Brel Marieke English subtitles

Brel's native Belgium is a land of two languages, French and Flemish Dutch. This unusual song goes back and forth between the two languages as he laments the loss of a woman from Bruges ( West Flanders) to Ghent (East Flanders). This is a shortened and simplified version of a song that can be found, in full, on Infiniment. It's been recorded in the original by Judy Collins and adapted in English by Shuman/Blau for the play Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris . Marieke is a fine example of Brel's use of crescendo , a building of emotion, force and passion to an explosive ending , even wilder on the CD than here.