Home | Songs By Year | Songs from 1962
Marieke (song)
Buy Marieke (song) now from AmazonFirst, read the Wikipedia article. Then, scroll down to see what other TopShelfReviews readers thought about the song. And once you've experienced the song, tell everyone what you thought about it.
Wikipedia article
"'Marieke'" is a 1961 song by the Belgian singer Jacques Brel.
The song
In "Marieke" Brel sings about a Flemish girl, Marieke, whom he once loved and who lived "between the towers of Bruges and Ghent". He wants her to love him again in the "flat country of Flanders" (a reference to another song by him, "Le Plat Pays").
It is the only song where he sings both in his native French language and in Flemish, the other major language of his bilingual home country Belgium. Brel recorded a version of the song entirely in Flemish, as well, with lyrics by Eric Franssen.
Covers
"Marieke" has been covered numerous times, among others by Marie Bill, Hans de Booij, Donald Cant, Judy Collins, Shawn Elliott, Jure Ivanui, Elly Stone, Chad Mitchell, Mort Shuman, Alice Whitfield, Amanda McBroom, Des de Moor, Barb Jungr, Liza Minnelli, Danile Pascal, Laurika Rauch, Las, Karin Hougard, Klaus Hoffman, Herman van Veen, Evabritt Strandberg, Michael Heltau, Gay Marshall, etc.
Brel told singers who covered "Marieke" that he didn't mind that they changed the French lyrics, but preferred the Dutch lyrics to remain intact.Johan Anthierens, "De Passie en de Pijn", Olympus/Contact, 1998, page 68-69.
Statue
In 1988 a statue was created by Jef Claerhout depicting Marieke.
References
Category:Jacques Brel songs
Category:1962 songs
Category:Macaronic songs
Category:French-language Belgian songs
Category:Dutch-language Belgian songs
Category:Songs written by Jacques Brel
Category:Songs about Belgium
Category:Songs about cities
Category:Ghent in fiction
Category:Bruges in fiction
Buy Marieke (song) now from Amazon
<-- Return to songs from 1962