Tall As The Pines, Neither Heroes Not Clowns

My Favorite Song, Not A Love Song But A Song About Love: Happy Valentine's Day

I wanted to post something on the theme of love, as it’s Valentine’s Day.

I’m jet-lagged and the day is almost over.

I settled on a Brel song I love so much. I hadn’t seen this performance of it. I was four when my mother began playing “Jacques Brel Is Alive And Singing In Paris” over and over on the sunken record player. I asked her to please tell me what he was singing about.

He was so full of love this guy, it was on another level altogether.

The lyric of this song deserve special mention. Here they are in both French:

Quand on n'a que l'amour
À s'offrir en partage
Au jour du grand voyage
Qu'est notre grand amour

Quand on n'a que l'amour
Mon amour toi et moi
Pour qu'éclatent de joie
Chaque heure et chaque jour

Quand on n'a que l'amour
Pour vivre nos promesses
Sans nulle autre richesse
Que d'y croire toujours

Quand on n'a que l'amour
Pour meubler de merveilles
Et couvrir de soleil
La laideur des faubourgs

Quand on n'a que l'amour
Pour unique raison
Pour unique chanson
Et unique secours

Quand on n'a que l'amour
Pour habiller matin
Pauvres et malandrins
De manteaux de velours

Quand on n'a que l'amour
À offrir en prière
Pour les maux de la terre
En simple troubadour

Quand on n'a que l'amour
À offrir à ceux-là
Dont l'unique combat
Est de chercher le jour

Quand on n'a que l'amour
Pour tracer un chemin
Et forcer le destin
À chaque carrefour

Quand on n'a que l'amour
Pour parler aux canons
Et rien qu'une chanson
Pour convaincre un tambour

Alors sans avoir rien
Que la force d'aimer
Nous aurons dans nos mains
Amis le monde entier

Here’s an interpretation by a Pastor:

“The lyrics of “If We Only Have Love” by Jacques Brel, from his play, “Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris,” speak to me of the essence of the transforming power of the Eucharist:

“If we only have love, then tomorrow will dawn, And the days of our years will rise on that morn...

If we only have love to embrace without fears,
We will kiss with our eyes; we will sleep without tears...

If we only have love, with our arms open wide, The young and the old will stand at our side...

If we only have love, love that’s falling like rain
Then the parched desert earth will grow green again...

If we only have love for the hymn that we shout,
For the song that we sing, then we’ll have a way out...

If we only have love, we can reach those in pain,
We can heal all our wounds; we can use our own names...

If we only have love, we can melt all the guns,
And then give the new world to our daughters and sons...

If we only have love, then Jerusalem stands,
And then death has no shadows; there are no foreign lands...

If we only have love, we will never bow down,
We’ll be tall as the pines, neither heroes nor clowns...

If we only have love, then we’ll only be men
And we’ll drink from the grail to be born once again...

Then with nothing at all, but the little we are
We’ll have conquered all time, all space, the sun and the stars.”

And here’s Dionne Warwick’s recording of the song.

Maybe WE should translate the song? Much closer to the French. I have always wondered what might happen if one tried, not to say Mort Schuman and Elly Stone didn't do a good job but I’ve always wondered if it would be possible to achieve something closer to the original.

Happy Valentine’s Day everybody.