Two anniversaries of the week

Two anniversaries of the week

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norman lebrecht

October 17, 2011

Not many outside the French-speaking world will notice but Georges Brassens would have been 90 on October 22 – had he not died 30 years ago on October 29.

Brassens was the roughest, rudest, funniest of the French chansonniers. His song about the gorilla who breaks out of the zoo and rapes a vicious judge is a counter-cultural classic. His attacks on the bourgeoisie are sharper than Marx.

Sadly, he has hardly been translated. So here are a pair of youtubes to commemorate his time of year.

 

Comments

  • Dr. Marc Villeger says:

    Brassens, Brel, Férré… Nothing compare today!

  • Orpheus says:

    A genius. Nothing makes me want to improve my French like listening to Brassens – the inventiveness of the poetry is incredible.

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