AM Foreign World Cup: Round 1 - Western Europe (Part 2)

[Stephan]

Bracket 4.3.5
Jacques Brel - Les bourgeois
The Gotan Project? - Sufism - Kingoftonga, are you sure this is a The Gotan Project song? All I can find is this Zeb song, which was incorrectly attributed to The Gotan Project on YouTube.

Bracket 4.3.6
Vive la Fête - Jaloux
Wim De Craene - Tim

Bracket 4.3.7
Edith Piaf - L'Accordéoniste
St Germain - Sure Thing

Bracket 4.3.8
Boudewijn de Groot - Testament
Tocotronic - Hi Freaks

[nicolas]

Here's an English translation of "Les Bourgeois"

[nicolas]

If the real artist playing "Sufism" is Zeb, then there's a problem because he's Italian as you can see on this link

[nicolas]

And the 1955 version of L'Accordéoniste is IMO much better than the original one

[Stephan]

Yeah, I noticed that too. I guess we can do two things in that case, either disqualify the song (and Brel will go on to the next round) or get a replacement. Let's wait until we hear from Kingoftonga though.

Updated the Piaf song link.

[Honorio]

The Spotify playlist with only 3 more songs.


Bracket 4.3.5
Jacques Brel - Les bourgeois (Belgium, 1962)
Zeb - Sufism (Italy/France??, 2001)
As nicolas and Stephan noticed, "Sufism" is wrongly attributed to Gotan Project but you only need to listen a few seconds to realize that this is NOT Gotan Project. It was released as the second song from the second CD of the French chill-out compilation Buddha Bar III (named after a Parisian club). The mistake probably comes because the first song on this CD was "Tríptico" by Gotan Project and, typically of these Internet times, a mistake is amplified by many others that simply copy and paste. Given the fact that Zeb (his real name is Moreno Vinisi) was born in Italy this song does not belong here (anyway it was a quite odd choice to represent the sound of France but probably it could represent quite well the cosmopolitan sound of Paris).
So my vote goes to Brel (anyway if I prefer the new song nominated by Kingoftonga I can reconsider my vote). The Brel song is a funny but deep rumination about the adoption of bourgeois ways that comes with age, no matter how revolutionary (or punk or whatever) you were when you were young. Everyone became kinda bourgeois at the end, or at least that's my case. I'm not a notary but I'm afraid that sooner or later the day will come when a group of young people could show me their asses singing "Les bourgeois c'est comme les cochons..."


Bracket 4.3.6
Vive la Fête - Jaloux (Belgium, 2003)
Wim De Craene - Tim (Belgium, 1975)
The only Moonbeam nomination for this game contains all the ingredients for a tasty Moonbeamian recipe: female singer, gorgeous synths, 80s flavours and quasi-funk beat. But my vote goes to "Tim", a beautiful song with some delicious (and typically seventies) sounds, like the Fender Rhodes electric piano or the twin guitar harmonies.


Bracket 4.3.7
Édith Piaf - L'accordéoniste (France, 1940)
St Germain - Sure Thing (France, 2000)
Good song by St Germain that offers, like "Sufism" on the first bracket, a sound not very representative of France but probably very representative of Paris, of its cosmopolitan and elegant ambiance. But I'm going to vote for the quintessential French sound of the accordion and the roots of chanson, the awesome Édith Piaf and her "Accordionist" (also called "La fille de joie est triste" that I translated on the 1900-1949 poll as "The Joyful Girl Is Sad" until Romain made me see that "fille de joie" really means "prostitute", lol). Both 1940 and 1955 showcase great vocal performances from Piaf but I agree with nicolas about the greatness of the 1955 version, listen how she actually screams at the end "Arrêtez! Arrêtez la musique" ("Stop! Stop the music").


Bracket 4.3.8
Boudewijn de Groot - Testament (Netherlands, 1966)
Tocotronic - Hi Freaks (Germany, 2002)
Delicate sounds coming from Netherlands with a beautiful clavichord part. But my vote goes to that "Fantastic song by Tocotronic" (I don't understand German but I think this could translate a comment on the YouTube link, "Fantastisches Lied von Tocotronic"). Indie-rock at its best.

[nicolas]

Bracket 4.3.5
Jacques Brel - Les bourgeois 5
Zeb - Sufism 4
This is a walkover win, as Zeb is Italian. Honorio said it all about Les Bourgeois, one of Brel's many masterpieces.

Bracket 4.3.6
Vive la Fête - Jaloux 2.5
Wim De Craene - Tim 3.5
"Jaloux" is not my type of music, and it gets on my nerves but I'm no good judge when it comes to techno. "Tim" is a more pleasant song to my ears, although it borders on cheesiness sometimes. It sounds like most European pop from the same era.

Bracket 4.3.7
Edith Piaf - L'Accordéoniste 5
St Germain - Sure Thing 4
My favorite Piaf song, so intense in its delivering in this 55 version (recorded live). The power of this little wrinkled woman's voice is unbelievable, telling this sad story of this whore who looses her accordionist lover in a war. Then she goes to see another accordionist and the music takes hold of her, but we don't know if it soothes her or awakes her grief. Probably both. I like the St Germain tracks, with its John Lee Hooker samples and groovy and relaxed athmosphere. I met Ludovic Navarre, the man behind St Germain, in a party before he got really famous. It must have been in the late nineties, and he told me he would like to work with real musicians. That's what happened on his great album of 2001. A very simple and humble guy.

Bracket 4.3.8
Boudewijn de Groot - Testament 4
Tocotronic - Hi Freaks 3.5
"Testament" is a good song, with nice arrangements, but I wish I knew what it is all about, because it really sounds like what we call a "chanson à texte", (song with significant words). The second German song of the turnament is not bad at all but I prefer de Groot's most straightforward sound.

[Honorio]

Phew, I was getting afraid of being the only one voting this week.
Hi nicolas, you can find on the net translations of “Testament” to both French and English.

[Romain]

Bracket 4.3.5
Jacques Brel - Les bourgeois

Bracket 4.3.6
Vive la Fête - Jaloux

Bracket 4.3.7
Edith Piaf - L'Accordéoniste

Bracket 4.3.8
Boudewijn de Groot - Testament

[Kingoftonga]

The Gotan Project? - Sufism - Kingoftonga, are you sure this is a The Gotan Project song? All I can find is this Zeb song, which was incorrectly attributed to The Gotan Project on YouTube.

Sorry it's taken me so long to get back! It's been a busy week.

Yes, that is the song I was thinking of. Judging from the comments on Youtube, it appears the song was originally mislabeled as a Gotan Project work. It is probably best that this track is disqualified. Sorry about the mix-up.

[Kingoftonga]

And here's my votes for the other three brackets:


Bracket 4.3.6
Vive la Fête - Jaloux
Wim De Craene - Tim

Bracket 4.3.7
Edith Piaf - L'Accordéoniste
St Germain - Sure Thing

Bracket 4.3.8
Boudewijn de Groot - Testament
Tocotronic - Hi Freaks

[Dan]

I'm posting from my phone. Won't be anywhere near a computer today (so no comments this week). My votes:

Jacques Brel
Wim De Craene
Edith Piaf
Boudewijn de Groot

[Stephan]

A quick translation of the Boudewijn de Groot song, my favorite Dutch song by my favorite Dutch singer. The song is basically about a young guy making a will of things from his youth. Of course I will not even try to make it all rhyme, and the use of idioms is impeccable and thus some of it is hard to translate properly as many things have double meanings. So yeah, it doesn't do it justice, but here it is:

Na tweeëntwintig jaren in dit leven,
maak ik een testament op van mijn jeugd.
Niet dat ik geld of goed heb weg te geven,
voor slimme jongen heb ik nooit gedeugd.

After 22 years of life,
I'm making the will of my youth.
Not that I have anything to give away,
I was never cut out to be the smart guy.

Maar ik heb nog wel wat mooie idealen,
goed van snit hoewel ze uit de mode zijn.
Wie ze hebben wil, die mag ze komen halen,
vooral jonge mensen vinden ze wel fijn.

But I do still have some beautiful ideals,
Well-intended but somewhat old-fashioned.
Whoever wants them, can come and get them,
Particularly young people might still enjoy them.

Aan mijn broertje dat zo graag wil gaan studeren,
laat ik met plezier 't adres na van mijn kroeg.
Waar ik te veel dronk om een vrouw te imponeren
en daarna de klappen kreeg waarom ik vroeg.

To my little brother who wants to become a student,
I leave the address of my pub.
Where I drank too much to impress a woman,
And then got the punches I asked for.

En dan heb ik nog een stuk of wat vriendinnen,
die welopgevoed en zeer verstandig zijn,
en waarmee je dus geen donder kunt beginnen,
maar misschien krijgt iemand anders ze wel klein.

Furthermore, I still have a couple of girlfriends,
Who are clever and who've been raised well.
And therefore they are pretty useless,
But perhaps someone else can cut them down to size.

Voor mijn neefje zijn mijn onvervulde wensen
wel wat kinderlijk maar ach ze zijn zo diep.
Ik behoorde immer tot die groep van mensen
voor wie 't geluk toch altijd harder liep.

To my nephew I leave my unfulfilled wishes,
A little childish, but oh so deep.
Because I belonged to that group of people,
For whom luck always ran a little faster.

Aan mijn vrienden laat ik gaarne het vermogen
om verliefd te worden op een meisjeslach.
Zelf ben ik helaas een keer te veel bedrogen
maar wie het eens proberen wil, die mag.

To my friends I leave the possibility,
To fall in love with the smile of a girl.
I myself have been betrayed once too often,
But whoever wants to give it a try, go for it.

M'n vriendinnetje, ik laat jou alle nachten
dat ik tranen om jouw ontrouw heb gestort.
Maar onthoud het wel,ik zal geduldig wachten
tot ik lach omdat jij ook belazerd wordt.

My girlfriend, I leave you all those nights,
In which I wept for your unfaithfulness.
But remember, I will wait patiently,
Until I can laugh because they betray you too.

En de leraar die mij altijd placht te dreigen
"Jongen, jij komt nog op het verkeerde pad!"
Kan tevreden zijn en hoeft niets meer te krijgen,
Dat wil zeggen hij heeft toch gelijk gehad.

And my teacher who was always threatening:
"Boy, you'll end up on the wrong side of the law!"
Can be satisfied and doesn't need anything anymore,
That's to say, he was right after all.

Voor mijn ouders is het album met de plaatjes,
die zo vals getuigen van een blijde jeugd.
Maar ze tonen niet de zouteloze praatjes
die een kind opvoeden in eer en deugd.

For my parents, the photo album with the pictures,
That falsely testify to a happy youth.
But they don't show the little white lies,
That raise a child with honor and virtue.

En verder krijgen z'alle dwaze dingen terug
die ze mij te veel geleerd hebben die tijd.
Ze kunnen mij tenslotte ook niet dwingen
groot te worden zonder diep berouw en spijt.

And they also get all those foolish things back,
Of which they taught me too many over the years.
Because they can't force me, after all,
To grow old without deep remorse and regret

En dan heb ik ook nog wat goede vrienden
maar die hebben al genoeg van mij gehad.
Dus ik gun ze nu het loon dat ze verdienden
Alle drank die ze van mij hebben gejat.

And then I have a couple of good friends,
But they've already had enough of me.
So I leave them with the fate they deserve,
For all the booze they stole from me.

Verder niets, er zijn alleen nog een paar dingen
die ik houd omdat geen mens er iets aan heeft.
Dat zijn mijn goede jeugdherinneringen
die neem je mee zolang je verder leeft.

And that's it, there's just a couple of things,
That I'll keep because they're no use to anyone.
They're my sweet childhood memories,
Because they'll last you a lifetime.

[Henrik]

Bracket 4.3.5
Jacques Brel - Les bourgeois

Bracket 4.3.6
Wim De Craene - Tim

Bracket 4.3.7
Edith Piaf - L'Accordéoniste

Bracket 4.3.8
Tocotronic - Hi Freaks

[Stephan]

Bracket 4.3.5
Jacques Brel - Les bourgeois
Zeb - Sufism
Brel wins by disqualification, but also because it's just the better song.

Bracket 4.3.6
Vive la Fête - Jaloux
Wim De Craene - Tim
Jaloux is great, and Tim's lyrics are excellent, so this was a really tough choice. But, in the end, I enjoyed Jaloux a little more.

Bracket 4.3.7
Edith Piaf - L'Accordéoniste
St Germain - Sure Thing
Edith <3

Bracket 4.3.8
Boudewijn de Groot - Testament
Tocotronic - Hi Freaks
So yeah, best Dutch song there is, although I must say Cars & Cars is climbing & climbing.

[Jirin]

Jacques Brel - Les bourgeois 9/10
Zeb - Sufism 9/10

Close vote here

Wim De Craene - Tim 8/10
Vive la Fete - Jaloux 8/10

Vive la Fete: Here in my car, I feel safest of all...

Edith Piaf - L'Accordeoniste 9/10
St Germain - Sure Thing 6/10

Sure Thing: Super repetetive and overlong

Boudewijn de Groot - Testament 7/10
Tocotronic - Hi freaks 3/10

[Stephan]

Bracket 4.3.5
Jacques Brel - Les bourgeois - W
Zeb - Sufism - DISQ

Bracket 4.3.6
Vive la Fête - Jaloux - 3
Wim De Craene - Tim - 5

Bracket 4.3.7
Edith Piaf - L'Accordéoniste - 7
St Germain - Sure Thing - 0

Bracket 4.3.8
Boudewijn de Groot - Testament - 5
Tocotronic - Hi Freaks - 3