Amsterdam (song)

One of Brel's most famous works, inferior in popularity only to Ne me quitte pas , is written on the motif of an old English song Greensleeves , at the altered pace of the characteristic “Brel crescendo”. For the first time, the song was performed at a concert in Olympia on October 16, 1964, where it was an extraordinary success with the public, who made a long standing ovation. According to Pascal Sevran , the evening of the presentation of this masterpiece was one of the largest events in the history of Olympia.

October 21 of the same year was released as part of the Olympia 1964 live album. No studio recording was made, and a popular legend explains this fact by the fact that the author himself, allegedly, did not like this work. This opinion is based on the fact that Brel initially intended to perform Amsterdam at the very beginning of the concert, probably not counting on her success with the audience, but the reaction of the audience present at the rehearsal made him change his mind.

The broadcast of the concert by Europe 1 also contributed to the phenomenal success of the song. Brel usually didn’t perform his encore works, and one of two well-known exceptions, as his accompanist , was made specifically for this song, at the request of the public at a concert in Moscow in 1965.

Amsterdam is still often performed by various musicians in many languages. The English translation was made by Mort Schumann , and the first English version was recorded in 1967 by Scott Walker . The most famous English version is by David Bowie (1973).

• Mort Schumann - in English (1978)
• (with its rougher version of the text) (1986)
• Michelle Torr (who has her own song of the same name) for a tribute collection
• Isabelle Boulet - Au moment d'être à vous (2002)
• Les Enfoirés ( Garoux , Serge Lama , Helene Segara ) - Tous dans le même bateau (2002)
• Ute Lemper - But One Day ... (2002), in French and English
• I Muvrini - in French and Corsican. They also performed this song with Ute Lemper, and on March 15, 2008 at a concert in Brussels with Florent Pagni and the choir
• Mark Almond - Brel Extras (2008), in English
• Shortparis - Amsterdam (2013)

• Ces chansons qui font l'histoire (neopr.) . Eduscol.education.fr. Date of treatment February 21, 2016.
• "Amsterdam", que n'aimait pas Jacques Brel (neopr.) . Franceinfo.fr, July 22, 2013. Date of treatment February 21, 2016.
• Jacques Brel - Amsterdam (Neopr.) (Link not available) . Memoirequichante.com, 2.10.2011. Date of treatment February 21, 2016. Archived February 17, 2016.
• Jacques Brel. Dans le port d'Amsterdam. Analyse des paroles (neopr.) . Storyanddrama.com, 11/27/2013. Date of treatment February 21, 2016.