July 14, 2020
In honor of Bastille Day, we offer the following song, Ne me quitte pas ("Don't leave me"), written in 1959 by the singer-songwriter Jacques Brel. This version is sung by the incomparable Nina Simone. (We've included an English translation of the lyrics below.) As healthcare professionals, these lyrics might be interpreted in a second way, different from the love song that the author intended, but as a plea for dying patients, “don’t leave me…”. In either interpretation, enjoy the dose of culture on this gloomy day.
Ne me quitte pas (Don’t leave me)
Jacques Brel
Don't leave me
We must forget
All can be forgotten
That has already passed away
Forget the time
Of misunderstandings
And the time lost
Trying to know "how"
Forget those hours
That sometimes kill
With slaps of "why"
The heart of happiness
Don't leave me
Don't leave me
Don't leave me
Don't leave me
I will give to you
Pearls made of rain
From countries
Where it never rains
I will work the land
All my life and beyond
To cover your body
With gold and with light
I will make a land
Where love will be king
Where love will be law
Where you will be queen
Don't leave me
Don't leave me
Don't leave me
Don't leave me
Don't leave me
I will invent, for you
Fanciful words
That you'll understand
I will tell you
About those lovers
Who have twice seen
Their hearts set ablaze
I will tell you
The story of the king
Who died of not having
Ever met you
Don't leave me
Don't leave me
Don't leave me
Don't leave me
We've often seen
Fire flowing again
From an ancient volcano
Considered too old
It's said that there are
Fire-scorched lands
That yield more wheat
Than the best April
And when evening comes
With a burning sky
The red and the black--
Are they not joined together?
Don't leave me
Don't leave me
Don't leave me
Don't leave me
Don't leave me
I won't cry anymore
I won't talk anymore
I will hide over there
To watch you
Dance and smile
And to hear you
Sing and then laugh
Let me become
The shadow of your shadow
The shadow of your hand
The shadow of your dog
Don't leave me
Don't leave me
Don't leave me
Don't leave me