Could you imagine this Square Brassens was a tribute? It honors the French singer-songwriter and poet Georges Brassens. He was an iconic figure in France. Brassens achieved fame through his elegant songs. His music was harmonically complex. His lyrics were articulate and diverse. He is considered one of France’s most accomplished postwar poets.
Georges Charles Brassens was born in Sète in 1921. He died in 1981. During World War II, the Germans forced him to work in a labor camp. It was at a BMW aircraft engine plant near Berlin in Germany. Brassens met some of his future friends there. One was Pierre Onténiente. Brassens called him Gibraltar because he was steady as a rock.
After being given sick leave in France, he decided not to return to the camp. Brassens took refuge in a small cul-de-sac. It was called Impasse Florimont in Paris. He lived there for several years with Jeanne Planche. She was a friend of his aunt. Planche lived with her husband Marcel in relative poverty. They had no gas, running water, or electricity. Brassens remained hidden there until the end of the war. He ended up staying for 22 years. Planche inspired Brassens’s song Jeanne.
He wrote and sang more than a hundred of his poems with his guitar. Between 1952 and 1976, he recorded fourteen albums. They include several popular French songs. Examples are Les copains d’abord and La mauvaise réputation. Most of his texts are tinged with black humor. They are often anarchist-minded.
In 1967, he received the Grand Prix de Poésie of the Académie française. Apart from Paris and Sète, he lived in Crespières and in Lézardrieux.
His friends urged him to try his songs out in a cabaret, café, or concert hall. He was shy. He had difficulty performing in front of people. At first, he wanted to sell his songs to well-known singers. But he met the singer Patachou. She brought him into the music scene. He later made several appearances at the Paris Olympia.
Brassens accompanied himself on acoustic guitar. Most of the time, his friend Pierre Nicolas played double bass. Sometimes a second guitar was added. His songs often decry hypocrisy in French society. This includes the religious, the wealthy, and those in law enforcement. He often used florid language and dark humor. This gave a jocular feel to even the grimmest lyrics.
Many artists have made cover versions of Brassens’s songs. His songs have been translated into 20 languages. He composed about 250 songs. 200 were recorded. The other 50 remained unfinished.
Many schools, theaters, parks, and public places are dedicated to Georges Brassens. A park built on the site of a former market was named Parc Georges-Brassens. Brassens lived near the slaughterhouses for a large part of his life. A nearby station of Tram line 3 in Paris is also named in Brassens’s honor.
So here we are at Square Brassens. It is a place to remember a great artist. Take a moment to reflect on his legacy. His songs continue to resonate with people around the world.