Editing Jacques Brel (section)

==Translations==
The songs of Jacques Brel have been translated into at least 95 languages.<ref name="brelitude"/>

===Dutch===
Brel occasionally included parts of his songs in [[Dutch language|Dutch]], one of the three official languages of Belgium, as in "[[Marieke (song)|Marieke]]". He also recorded eight other Dutch versions of songs, such as "Mijn vlakke land" ("Le plat pays"), "Laat me niet alleen" ("Ne me quitte pas"), "Rosa", "De Burgerij" ("Les Bourgeois"), and "De Nuttelozen van de Nacht" ("Les paumés du petit matin"). Brel also recorded two obscure singles in Dutch, "De apen" ("Les Singes") and "Men vergeet niets" ("On n'oublie rien"), which were included in the 16-CD box set ''[[Boîte à bonbons]]'' by Barclay. So far unreleased is the song "Als men niets dan liefde heeft" ("Quand on n'a que l'amour").<ref name="seghers">Seghers R. (2003). ''Jacques Brel: Leven en liefde 1929–1978''</ref> "Marieke" was translated by Brel himself.<ref name="allmusic"/><ref name="discogs"/> Since his own command of Dutch was poor, most of Brel's later Dutch interpretations were translated by [[Ernst van Altena]], with Brel's cooperation, and are generally considered to be relatively true to the original French and poetic. "De Apen" was translated by Eric Franssen. "Men vergeet niets" was translated by well known Flemish artist Will Ferdy.  Popular singers from the Netherlands singing Brel's songs in Dutch have been [[Liesbeth List]], [[Jan Mesdag]] and [[Jeroen Willems]].

===English===
English versions of Jacques Brel songs have been recorded by a wide variety of artists. [[Rod McKuen]] was one of the first American artists to discover and translate Brel's songs. Canadian [[Terry Jacks]]' version of "[[Seasons in the Sun]]" (based on Brel's "[[Le Moribond]]") became a global pop hit in 1974, topping the charts internationally. "Seasons in the Sun" has seen its own renditions recorded by artists ranging from [[the Beach Boys]] to [[Nirvana (band)|Nirvana]]. McKuen and Brel formed a close friendship. McKuen later wrote, "When news of Jacques' death came, I stayed locked in my bedroom and drank for a week."<ref name="youtube-if"/>

During the 1960s, other English translations emerged on the folk music scene, including "The Dove" ("La colombe"), an anti-war lament recorded both by [[Joan Baez]] and [[Judy Collins]]. This was the only translation of a Brel song written by [[Alasdair Clayre]], an Oxford-educated Englishman who had a brief career as a singer-songwriter before becoming an author, academic, and sometime producer of BBC documentaries.<ref name="allmusic"/><ref name="discogs"/>

In 1968 an American experimental musical ''[[Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris]]'' made its debut. Consisting of 25 songs, the revue was performed by four vocalists, two males and two females. Jacques Brel contributed most of the music and French lyrics. English translations were provided by [[Eric Blau]] and [[Mort Shuman]], a [[Brill Building]] songwriter responsible for such hits as "[[This Magic Moment]]", "[[Viva Las Vegas (song)|Viva Las Vegas]]", "[[A Teenager in Love]]", and others. The production enjoyed considerable international success, and has since played throughout the world in various productions.<ref name="allmusic"/><ref name="discogs"/>

[[Scott Walker (singer)|Scott Walker's]] first three solo albums, titled ''[[Scott (album)|Scott]]'', ''[[Scott 2]]'', and ''[[Scott 3]]'', released between 1967 and 1969, each contains three of the Blau–Shuman translations. The songs on the first of these, and Walker's single release of "Jackie", were the earliest releases of the Blau-Shuman translations. Several of the original songs on these albums, and on the later ''[[Scott 4]]'', can be seen as heavily influenced by Brel. The compilation ''[[Scott Walker Sings Jacques Brel]]'' contains all the Brel material that Walker covered on record. Walker also performed five Brel songs on his television series.<ref name="allmusic"/><ref name="discogs"/>

In the 1970s, [[David Bowie]] began singing Brel's "[[Amsterdam (Jacques Brel song)|Amsterdam]]" at a BBC session with [[John Peel]] and Evilan Tom. This version was released as the [[B-side]] to "Sorrow" in 1973, and was released as a bonus track on the 1990 reissue of ''[[Pin Ups (album)|Pin Ups]]''. [[Dave Van Ronk]] also recorded this song, earlier, on ''[[Van Ronk]]''. Bowie also sang "My Death" during his Ziggy Stardust period. This popular concert piece was never recorded in the studio. It appears on two of David Bowie's live albums: ''[[Live Santa Monica '72]]'' and ''[[Ziggy Stardust - The Motion Picture]]''. A similar version of this song was also recorded by [[Show of Hands]].<ref name="allmusic"/><ref name="discogs"/>

[[Alex Harvey (musician)|Alex Harvey]] recorded "Next" (''Au suivant'').

In the early 1980s, a second Brel revue, ''Encore Brel'', was produced in Canada, a performance of which was aired on CBC Radio. In addition to Alasdair Clayre's "The Dove", the revue used mostly Brel's later songs, including "Friend, Don't Let Me See You Cry" ("Voir un Ami pleurer") and "To Grow Old" ("Vieillir").<ref name="allmusic"/><ref name="discogs"/>

In 1986 [[Momus (artist)|Momus]] and more recently [[Barb Jungr]] recorded new English translations of "Ne me quitte pas" which are much nearer to the original. Jungr used a translation titled "Don't leave me now" by [[Des de Moor]]. Momus translated and recorded "Don't Leave Me" because he was dissatisfied with the dominant English translations to date. "People always sing the versions by Rod McKuen, which are highly sentimentalised, or the versions by Mort Shuman which are better but still really Americanised. To me the strength of Brel is that he doesn't come from the American tradition of songwriting, it's a strongly European thing."<ref name="mathur"/>

In 1989, [[Marc Almond]], who had performed Brel songs on his early albums with [[Marc and the Mambas]], released his successful ''[[Jacques (Marc Almond album)|Jacques]]'', an album composed solely of Jacques Brel songs. In 1991 he released "[[Jacky (Jacques Brel song)|Jacky]]", which became a successful hit single. During his concerts, Almond nearly always plays at least one Brel song.<ref name="allmusic"/><ref name="discogs"/>

In the 1990s, Brel's widow said that Arnold Johnston, a professor at [[Western Michigan University]], translated Brel's work more accurately than Blau and Shuman, and eventually gave Dr. Johnston exclusive rights to translate Brel's work into English. Dr. Johnston recorded the album ''I'm Here!'', a collection of twenty songs, using a grant from the university. In 1991, the American band Vambo Marble Eye recorded a version of "Next" for their album ''Two Trick Pony'', 18 years after an English-language version of the song by the [[Sensational Alex Harvey Band]] in 1973, from their ''Next'' album.<ref name="allmusic"/><ref name="discogs"/>

Actor / singer [[Peter Straker]] debuted his tribute show to Brel in 1997 at the Edinburgh Fringe, and subsequently in a new version at the King's Head Theatre, London in 2004. In 2013 Straker released both a studio album and live DVD under the title ''Peter Straker's Brel''.

Anonymous Society, Based On The Music Of Jacques Brel ran in 2000 in the [[Lyric Theatre (Hammersmith)|Lyric Hammersmith]], directed by Andrew Wale.<ref>{{Cite web |date=January 2000 |title=Anonymous Society, Based On The Music Of Jacques Brel |url=https://totaltheatre.org.uk/archive/reviews/anonymous-society-based-music-jacques-brel |website=totaltheatre.org.uk |language=en}}</ref>

===German===
Belgian-German singer Dieter Kaiser has translated 30 of Brel's songs and has gathered them in a booklet with over 100 other French chansons in German. Kaiser also issued a CD in German and a CD in French with various chansons of Brel. [[Klaus Hoffmann]] is another important German interpreter of Brel's songs, as is the Austrian actor [[Michael Heltau]], who was asked by Brel himself to record his songs, using the translation of [[Werner Schneyder]].<ref name="allmusic"/><ref name="discogs"/>

===Other languages===
Other language versions of Jacques Brel songs have been recorded by a wide variety of artists throughout the world. The most frequently recorded song in other languages is "[[Ne me quitte pas]]" (Don't leave me), with at least 1400 different recorded versions in 52 different languages.<ref name="brelitude"/><ref name="lang"/> Most English versions use the freely translated "[[If You Go Away]]" by Rod McKuen, sung by [[Frank Sinatra]] and [[Barbra Streisand]]. [[Marlene Dietrich]] recorded the German version "Bitte geh' nicht fort" in 1963. At least 26 songs by Brel were translated to Hebrew (according to the Shironet website), and many of these translated versions were recorded by prominent singers, among them the famous [[Yossi Banai]]. Paris-based Colombian salsa singer Yuri Buenaventura performed the Spanish version, "No me dejes mas". Slovak chanteuse [[Hana Hegerová]] made the Czech version "Lásko prokletá" one of the pillars of her repertoire. Russian rock group [[Mumiy Troll]] recorded the Russian version, "Когда ты уйдёшь".<ref name="allmusic"/><ref name="discogs"/> Slovenian actor and songwriter [[Jure Ivanušič]] released the CD ''Srce v kovčku'' with his 16 authorial translations of Brel's songs into Slovenian in 2011. Armenian poet [[Slavik Chiloyan]], who met Brel in Yerevan in 1968, translated a number of Brel's songs into Armenian.<ref name="ayo"/> In 1968 singer Salome recorded the Catalan version "No em deixis mai".<ref name="cata"/> In 1970 Patty Pravo published the Italian version, "Non andare via", as a single, Gino Paoli had published the same version in 1962 as the B-side of his "Devi sapere" single. In 1968, English star [[Matt Monro]] and Mexican singer Angelica Maria recorded Spanish versions titled "No me dejes." In 2012, [[Mashrou' Leila]], an indie band from Lebanon sang "ما تتركني هيك - ne me quitte pas". They performed the cover-version at Paleo Festival Nyon – (Chapiteau / Switzerland) in 2012.