This is a 1959 ballad from the Belgian singer-songwriter Jacques Brel.
It has become a standard of French chanson and has been recorded by countless artists.
Including: Edith Piaf, Barbara (1961), Nina Simone (1965), Sandie Shaw (1967), Sylvie Vartan (1972), Serge Lama (1979), Johnny Hallyday (1984), Alison Moyet (1987), Juliette Gréco (1988), Sting (1993), Florent Pagny (2008), Wyclef Jean (2017), Maurane (2018)
It has also been translated in many languages:
English with: Ray Charles, Shirley Bassey, David Bowie, Scott Walker, Marc Almond, Niel Diamond, Glen Campbell, Dusty Springfield, Cindy Lauper, Ludwig von 88, Madonna, Barbara Streisand and many others.
Other languages: Italian with Dalida (1970), Portugues, German with Marlene Dietrich, Catalan, Czech, Hebrew, Polish, Turkish, Arabic, Wolof, Kabyle, Malagasy, Greek, Armenian, Afrikaans, Belarusian, Croatian, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, West Frisian, Macedonian, Persian, Russian, Serbian, Silesian, Slovene, Spanish, Swedish and Japanese.
The song is written as a visceral and desperate plea for a lover to stay in the relationship.
Jacques Brel wrote it after his mistress left him after a four-year relationship, as he refused to leave his wife and three children. She was pregnant at the time and had an abortion as a consequence.
Jacques Brel highlighted that he did not write it as a love song but as a commentary of men’s cowardice.
Ne me quitte pas
Il faut oublier
Tout peut s’oublier
Qui s’enfuit déjà
Oublier le temps
Des malentendus
Et le temps perdu
À savoir comment
Oublier ces heures
Qui tuaient parfois
À coups de pourquoi
Le cœur du bonheur
Ne me quitte pas (x4)
Moi, je t’offrirai
Des perles de pluie
Venues de pays
Où il ne pleut pas
Je creuserai la terre
Jusqu’après ma mort
Pour couvrir ton corps
D’or et de lumière
Je ferai un domaine
Où l’amour sera roi
Où l’amour sera loi
Où tu seras reine
Ne me quitte pas (x4)
Ne me quitte pas
Je t’inventerai
Des mots insensés
Que tu comprendras
Je te parlerai
De ces amants-là
Qui ont vu deux fois
Leurs cœurs s’embraser
Je te raconterai
L’histoire de ce roi
Mort de n’avoir pas
Pu te rencontrer
Ne me quitte pas (x4)
On a vu souvent
Rejaillir le feu
De l’ancien volcan
Qu’on croyait trop vieux
Il est, paraît-il
Des terres brûlées
Donnant plus de blé
Qu’un meilleur avril
Et quand vient le soir
Pour qu’un ciel flamboie
Le rouge et le noir
Ne s’épousent-ils pas?
Ne me quitte pas (x6)
Ne me quitte pas
Je ne vais plus pleurer
Je ne vais plus parler
Je me cacherai là
À te regarder
Danser et sourire
Et à t’écouter
Chanter et puis rire
Laisse-moi devenir
L’ombre de ton ombre
L’ombre de ta main
L’ombre de ton chien
Ne me quitte pas (x6)
Don’t leave me
We must forget
Everything can be forgotten
fading already
Forget the times
of misunderstandings
and the lost time
trying to know how
Forget those hours
that sometimes killed
with just a “why ?”
The heart of happiness
don’t leave me x4
I will bring you
rain drops
Coming from countries.
Where it never rains.
I will dig the earth
until after my death
to cover your body
with gold and light.
I will create a land
Where love will be king.
Where love will be law
Where you will be queen
Don’t leave me. x4
Don’t leave me
I will invent for you
some nonsensical words
That you’ll understand.
I will talk to you
about those lovers
who have seen a second time
their hearts are set on fire.
I will tell you
The story of this king
dead for not having
been able to meet you
Don’t leave me. x4
We have often seen
the fire rekindling
from the ancient volcano
that we believed was too old
I have heard them say
that some burnt lands
can yield more wheat
Then the best month of April
and when evening comes
for a sky to be ablaze,
red and black,
Don’t they fuse together?
Don’t leave me. x6
Don’t leave me
I will stop crying
I will stop talking
I will be hiding there
looking at you,
dancing and smiling,
listening to you,
Singing and then laughing.
Let me turn into
the shadow of your shadow,
the shadow of your hand,
The shadow of your dog.
But don’t leave me. (x6)
Between the French lyrics 
Leave a comment