Song overview

“Ne Me Quitte Pas” is Belgian singer Jacques Brel’s single most famous song. Brel first released the song in 1959 and released an album with the same title in 1972. The meaning of “Ne Me Quitte Pas” is “Don’t leave me” or “Do not leave me”. At the bottom of the post we’ve included the French lyrics with English translation as well as listening on YouTube and Spotify.

The song’s lyrics are sorrowful in nature. In the lyrics, Brel begs for his lover not to leave him by repeatedly crying “Don’t leave me!” and creating poetic images of attracting forces in nature.

Brel wrote the song after a breakup with his lover Zizou (Suzanne Gabriello) following the disagreement over a pregnancy. The song has been performed by countless other artists in many other languages.