“Ne me quitte pas” is the most famous song by Belgian singer Jacques Brel. First released in 1959, it later became the title track of his 1972 album. The phrase means “Don’t leave me” or “Do not leave me.” In this lesson, you’ll find a line-by-line breakdown of the lyrics, with vocabulary and grammar explained.
Ne me quitte pas : Song Background
The lyrics of “Ne me quitte pas” are deeply sorrowful. In the song, Brel pleads with his lover not to leave him, repeating the cry “Don’t leave me!” and weaving poetic images drawn from nature.
Brel wrote the song after a breakup with his partner Zizou (Suzanne Gabriello) following a disagreement over a pregnancy. Since its release, the song has been covered by countless artists in many languages.
Listen to “Ne me quitte pas”
Ne me quitte pas – Lyrics with English Translation
Ne me quitte pas
Don’t leave me
Il faut oublier
We must forget
Tout peut s’oublier
All can be forgotten
Qui s’enfuit déjà
That has already disappeared
Oublier le temps
Forget the time
Des malentendus
Of misunderstandings
Et le temps perdu
And the wasted time
A savoir comment
To know how
Oublier ces heures
To forget these hours
Qui tuaient parfois
Which sometimes killed
A coups de pourquoi
The blows of why
Le cœur du bonheur
The heart of happiness
Ne me quitte pas (4x)
Do not leave me
Moi je t’offrirai
I will give you
Des perles de pluie
Pearls of rain
Venues de pays
Coming from countries
Où il ne pleut pas
Where it doesn’t rain
Je creuserai la terre
I will work the land
Jusqu’après ma mort
Until after my death
Pour couvrir ton corps
To cover your bosom
D’or et de lumière
With gold and light
Je ferai un domaine
I will create an area
Où l’amour sera roi
Where love will be king
Où l’amour sera loi
Where love will be the law
Où tu seras reine
Where you will be queen
Ne me quitte pas (4x)
Do not leave me
Ne me quitte pas
Don’t leave me
Je t’inventerai
For you I will make up
Des mots insensés
Incredible words
Que tu comprendras
That you’ll understand
Je te parlerai
And I’ll tell you
De ces amants-là
About lovers
Qui ont vu deux fois
Who saw twice
Leurs cœurs s’embraser
Their hearts set ablaze
Je te raconterai
I’ll tell you about
L’histoire de ce roi
The story of a king
Mort de n’avoir pas
Who died from not
Pu te rencontrer
Being able to meet you
Ne me quitte pas (4x)
Don’t leave me
On a vu souvent
We’ve often seen
Rejaillir le feu
Flames flowing from
D’un ancien volcan
An ancient volcano
Qu’on croyait trop vieux
That one thought to be too old
Il est paraît-il
There exists, it seems
Des terres brûlées
Scorched fields
Donnant plus de blé
That yield more wheat
Qu’un meilleur avril
Than the best of April
Et quand vient le soir
And when the evening comes
Pour qu’un ciel flamboie
For a fiery sky
Le rouge et le noir
The red and the black
Ne s’épousent-ils pas
Do they not fuse together
Ne me quitte pas (4x)
Don’t leave me
Ne me quitte pas
Don’t leave me
Je ne vais plus pleurer
I won’t cry anymore
Je ne vais plus parler
I won’t speak anymore
Je me cacherai là
I will hide there
A te regarder
Watching you
Danser et sourire
Dancing and smiling
Et à t’écouter
And listening to you
Chanter et puis rire
Singing and then laughing
Laisse-moi devenir
Let me become
L’ombre de ton ombre
The shadow of your shadow
L’ombre de ta main
The shadow of your hand
L’ombre de ton chien
The shadow of your dog
Ne me quitte pas (4x)
Don’t leave me
Vocabulary and grammar of the lyrics
French verb quitter meaning
The French verb quitter has two main definitions: to leave a place and to leave a person. For example, Je quitte Paris means I am leaving Paris. Je quitte ma femme means I am leaving my wife.
In the context of the song title, the meaning of Ne me quitte pas is “Don’t leave me”. The phrase is in the imperative (commanding tense).
🔗 Explore my Word of the Day lesson on quitter »
Il faut tout oublier
Translations of il faut + infinitive include it’s necessary to, you have to, one has to. In this context of of these songs lyrics, Il faut tout oublier can translate to either you / we have to forget everything.
🔗 Explore my Word of the Day lesson on il faut »
Je creuserai la terre
Je creuserai la terre translates literally to I will dig the earth. The translation of creuser is to dig. However, creuser translates loosely to work the land or earth in the context of these song lyric as Brel expresses that he’ll work the land until after his death to cover her body in gold and light.
Je t’inventerai des mots insensés
In the above lyrics translation, we translated ‘Je t’inventerai des mots insensés’ to ‘For you I will make up incredible words’.
The French adjective insensé translates to insane, mad or crazy. However, a French-to-French definition is ‘incroyable’. Hence, we feel that ‘incredible’ works well with our translation.
Le rouge et le noir ne s’épousent-ils pas?
The line, Le rouge et le noir ne s’épousent-ils? translates literally to the red and the black, don’t they marry or mold to each other.
Using the definition of épouser on wordreference.com, we translated s’epouser to fuse: The red and the black, do they not fuse together?’
Je ne vais plus pleurer, je ne vais plus parler
The lines, Je ne vais plus pleurer, je ne vais plus parler translate to I am not going to cry anymore, I am not going to speak anymore.
The most basic rule for French negation is to wrap ne…pas around the verb. For example, Je ne mange pas means I don’t eat. In this situation, ne + verb + plus means ‘anymore’.
More French song lyrics:
- Le port d’Amsterdam (Jacques Brel)
- La Mer (Charles Trenet)
- La Bohème (Charles Aznavour)
- Le Sud (Nino Ferrer)
- La vie en rose (Édith Piaf)
- Non, je ne regrette rien (Edith Piaf)
- C’est Si Bon (Yves Montand)
- Les Champs Elysées (Joe Dessin)
- Alouette (kids song)
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