Chaitanya Jadhav

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Stromae, Jacques Brel, and a Bridge Between Two Generations

31 Aug 2018 [  art  ]

A still of Stromae from the music video Tous les Memes

On the 16th of May 1967, in the small town of Roubaix, the father figure of the modern chanson bid adieu to the grand stage. A lyrical genius whose influence spread far and wide, touching not only the hearts of millions of Belgians and French, but also inspiring legendary singers such as David Bowie, Jacques Brel produced era-defining music with his thoughtful and theatrical songs, reaching out to a generation of listeners with his beautifully crafted lyrics.

A few years ago, in order to get to grips with the nuances of French and its wide variety of pronunciations and accents, I decided to immerse myself into the francophone culture in order to be better able to pick up on the language’s natural speech patterns.

I decided to start with French music. Given that rhythm is a universal language, I thought it would be relatively easier to acclimatize to a change in the language of lyrics, compared to, say, watching news channels or TV shows. One of the artists that I was fortunate enough to stumble upon was Paul Van Haver – better known by his stage name, Stromae.

At the time, he had established himself as a successful mainstream artist with the help of his debut album Racine Carrée, which followed up on his breakout hit Alors on Danse, a track that torched domestic charts and had a respectable amount of international success, even culminating in a remix by Kanye West that saw many listeners of English music turn their head towards the unorthodox Belgian singer of Rwandan origin.

A still of Stromae from the music video Papaoutai

It was clear from the start that there was something unique about his music. It wasn’t just about this surreal blend of genres – his songs combined the feel-good, envie de danser vibe of electronic music, the purity of acoustic instruments, and melodious vocal harmonies created with the help of his immensely talented group of musicians. However, what really brought his songs together were the lyrics. Melodiously written, yet so strikingly powerful, each of his songs tackled an idea that was truly important – not just singing for the sake of it.

Whether he explores the stereotypes of the male and the female in relationships, the consuming nature of social media, the tragedy of cancer or the importance of a father figure in a child’s upbringing, there is always a tremendous weight behind his lyrics that leaves the listener thinking and always eager to hear more.

There is also this certain dichotomy in his character – off stage, Stromae is quite shy, reserved, playful even, yet when he gets on stage, he has this thrilling, addictive energy – wowing his audience with spontaneous dancing or making them laugh with well-delivered jokes.

What interests me the most about him, however, are the similarities that he has with Jacques Brel, namely in the themes of their lyrics and their live performances.

“I also really admire Jacques Brel – he has been a huge influence on me – but also all sorts of other stuff, Cuban son, and the Congolese rumba which I heard as a child; that music rocked the whole of Africa.”

Brel and Stromae excel in making their audience feel and reflect on their lyrics. This can mainly be attributed to the fact that they don’t shy away from the depressing and controversial. However, how Stromae chooses to deliver these lyrics is interesting to see. While Brel’s instrumentals often mirror the mood of his songs, Stromae almost always uses electronic music as the medium through which he conveys his ideas, giving all of his songs an interesting vibe – they make you want to dance, while also making you think.

In terms of themes, the two have spoken about similar issues – for example, Brel uses the analogy of a Carousel to explore the peaks and troughs of life, while Stromae explores a similar polarity in “Alors on Danse”. In the words of Jamel Debbouze:

A verse that makes you want to die, and a refrain that makes you go wild … a type of verse that makes you want to decapitate yourself, and a refrain that makes you want to have a picnic! Something contradictory, and at the same time, homogeneous.

Their development as artists is also similar. Brel enjoyed a modest amount of success in his early years, but as he grew older, his outlook on the world darkened, and in the 60’s, he cemented himself as one of the headline stars in the francophone world. Stromae began as a struggling rapper, before transitioning to producing, and eventually becoming a complete musician. And the rest, of course, is history.

I stumbled upon both these artists by chance. And yet, the similarities between them have built for me a bridge between generations, while allowing me to view each artist in a different light and understand them better.

Which brings me back to the reason that made me want to listen to French music in the first place – the power that art has in creating links between different time periods, cultures and individuals, and the incredible outlook that someone can get by scrutinizing artists from different time periods. The cliché that “history repeats itself” is only partially applicable to the arts – the same messages can be portrayed through different mediums, leaving a breadcrumb trail through the years that can be retraced. And not only is this worth exploring, it also results in many surprising and interesting findings.

-Chaitanya

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