Le Plat Pays
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Le Plat Pays
"Le Plat Pays" (Translation: 'The Flat Country') is a French-language song by Belgian singer Jacques Brel about his home country. It also exists in a Dutch-language version as "Mijn vlakke land" ('My Flat Country'), also performed by him. The French lyrics are by Jacques Brel, the Dutch lyrics by Ernst van Altena. Concept Recorded on 6 March 1962, the song describes the North Sea as the final wasteland of Belgium's borders, then mentions the mist, the winds from all corners and cathedrals as "the only mountains" his country has. Brel sees the sky as "so low" that "a canal gets lost", and "so gray", that "a canal would hang itself". The low brooding sky brings his people humility. Yet, despite the grey skies and rain he still declares his country as "his". The flat country referred to in the song is West Flanders, the region in Belgium from which his family originated. It is a region with many open fields and few trees. Because this landscape is rather typical not only of the West Fl ...
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Jacques Brel
Jacques Romain Georges Brel (, ; 8 April 1929 – 9 October 1978) was a Belgian singer and actor who composed and performed literate, thoughtful, and theatrical songs that generated a large, devoted following—initially in Belgium and France, later throughout the world. He is considered a master of the modern chanson. Although he recorded most of his songs in French and occasionally in Dutch, he became an influence on English-speaking songwriters and performers, such as Scott Walker, David Bowie, Alex Harvey, Marc Almond, Neil Hannon, and Rod McKuen. English translations of his songs were recorded by many performers, including Bowie, Walker, Ray Charles, Judy Collins, John Denver, The Kingston Trio, Nina Simone, Shirley Bassey, James Dean Bradfield, Frank Sinatra, and Andy Williams. Brel was a successful actor, appearing in 10 films. He directed two films, one of which, ''Le Far West'', was nominated for the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 1973. Having sold over 2 ...
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Alcoi
Alcoy ( ca-valencia, Alcoi) is an industrial and university city, region and municipality located in the Valencian Community, Spain. The Serpis river crosses the municipal boundary of Alcoy. The local authority reported a population of 61,135 residents in 2018. History The first traces of human presence in the area date to c. 60,000 years ago, when Neanderthal hunters settled here, in a site now called El Salt. A site with rock paintings, dating to c. 10,000/6,500 years ago, has been discovered near la Sarga. From around the mid-3rd millennium BC people started to move from the caves to the plain where cereals were grown, while mountain fortifications were erected (''Mola Alta de Serelles'', ''Mas del Corral'', ''Mas de Menente'', ''El Puig''). After the Roman conquest of the Iberians, several rural villas were built in the area, as well as a necropolis. The town was established in 1256 by James I of Aragon, with the construction of a castle on a strategic position over the Ser ...
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French-language Songs
French ( or ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages. French evolved from Gallo-Romance, the Latin spoken in Gaul, and more specifically in Northern Gaul. Its closest relatives are the other langues d'oïl—languages historically spoken in northern France and in southern Belgium, which French (Francien) largely supplanted. French was also influenced by native Celtic languages of Northern Roman Gaul like Gallia Belgica and by the ( Germanic) Frankish language of the post-Roman Frankish invaders. Today, owing to France's past overseas expansion, there are numerous French-based creole languages, most notably Haitian Creole. A French-speaking person or nation may be referred to as Francophone in both English and French. French is an official language in 29 countries across multiple continents, most of which are members of the ''Organisation internationale de la Francophonie'' (O ...
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Songs Written By Jacques Brel
A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetition and variation of sections. Written words created specifically for music, or for which music is specifically created, are called lyrics. If a pre-existing poem is set to composed music in classical music it is an art song. Songs that are sung on repeated pitches without distinct contours and patterns that rise and fall are called chants. Songs composed in a simple style that are learned informally "by ear" are often referred to as folk songs. Songs that are composed for professional singers who sell their recordings or live shows to the mass market are called popular songs. These songs, which have broad appeal, are often composed by professional songwriters, composers, and lyricists. Art songs are composed by trained classical compo ...
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1959 Songs
Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of Earth's Moon, and was also the first spacecraft to be placed in heliocentric orbit. * January 3 ** The three southernmost atolls of the Maldive Islands, Maldive archipelago (Addu Atoll, Huvadhu Atoll and Fuvahmulah island) United Suvadive Republic, declare independence. ** Alaska is admitted as the 49th U.S. state. * January 4 ** In Cuba, rebel troops led by Che Guevara and Camilo Cienfuegos enter the city of Havana. ** Léopoldville riots: At least 49 people are killed during clashes between the police and participants of a meeting of the ABAKO Party in Kinshasa, Léopoldville in the Belgian Congo. * January 6 ** Fidel Castro arrives in Havana. ** The International Maritime Organization is inaugurated. * January 7 – The United States reco ...
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Jacques Brel Songs
Ancient and noble French family names, Jacques, Jacq, or James are believed to originate from the Middle Ages in the historic northwest Brittany region in France, and have since spread around the world over the centuries. To date, there are over one hundred identified noble families related to the surname by the Nobility & Gentry of Great Britain & Ireland. Origins The origin of this surname ultimately originates from the Latin, Jacobus which belongs to an unknown progenitor. Jacobus comes from the Hebrew name, Yaakov, which translates as "one who follows" or "to follow after". Ancient history A French knight returning from the Crusades in the Holy Lands probably adopted the surname from "Saint Jacques" (or "James the Greater"). James the Greater was one of Jesus' Twelve Apostles, and is believed to be the first martyred apostle. Being endowed with this surname was an honor at the time and it is likely that the Church allowed it because of acts during the Crusades. Indeed ...
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Herbert Pagani
Herbert Avraham Haggiag Pagani (25 April 1944 in Tripoli – 16 August 1988 in Palm Springs, California) was a Jewish-Italian artist and musician. Biography Pagani was born in a Jewish family in Libya, just around the time when the country stopped being an Italian Colonial Administration. He spent his childhood and adolescence between Italy, Germany and France. This nonstop wandering about different cultures drove him to seek out a personal language that would enable him to express himself non-verbally, and he started drawing. In 1964 Pagani, at the age of twenty, had his first exhibition at the Pierre Picard Gallery in Cannes, where he exhibited a group of Indian-ink drawings and engravings. The French poet Jean Rousselot wrote an enthusiastic review in '' Planete'', describing Pagani as a "Twenty-years-old Visionary". Among his first Italian collectors were Giorgio Soavi, Federico Fellini, Bernardino Zapponi and the Olivetti Collection. Shortly afterwards, he was invited to ...
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Oppidum
An ''oppidum'' (plural ''oppida'') is a large fortified Iron Age settlement or town. ''Oppida'' are primarily associated with the Celtic late La Tène culture, emerging during the 2nd and 1st centuries BC, spread across Europe, stretching from Britain and Iberia in the west to the edge of the Hungarian plain in the east. These settlements continued to be used until the Romans conquered Southern and Western Europe. Many subsequently became Roman-era towns and cities, whilst others were abandoned. In regions north of the rivers Danube and Rhine, such as most of Germania, where the populations remained independent from Rome, ''oppida'' continued to be used into the 1st century AD. Definition is a Latin word meaning 'defended (fortified) administrative centre or town', originally used in reference to non-Roman towns as well as provincial towns under Roman control. The word is derived from the earlier Latin , 'enclosed space', possibly from the Proto-Indo-European , 'occupi ...
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Vitalstatistix (character)
This is a list of characters in the ''Asterix'' comics. Main characters Asterix, Obelix and Dogmatix are the first characters with short descriptions usually listed at the beginning of each of the ''Asterix'' books (after the map of Gaul). They each have separate articles containing more information. Unless otherwise stated, this article uses the names chosen for the English translations of the books. Asterix Asterix is the main character. He is a brave, intelligent and shrewd warrior of somewhat diminutive size, who eagerly volunteers for all perilous missions. * french: Astérix (from ', meaning "asterisk", which is the typographical symbol * indicating a footnote, from the Hellenic (Greek) word ἀστήρ (''aster''), meaning a "star"). As the titular character, he is usually the star of the story. His name is usually left unchanged in translations, aside from accents and the use of local alphabets: for example, in Esperanto, Polish language, Polish, Slovene language, Sloven ...
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Obelix
Obelix (; french: Obélix) is a cartoon character in the French comic book series ''Asterix''. He works as a menhir sculptor and deliveryman, and is Asterix's best friend. Obelix is noted for his obesity, the menhirs he carries around on his back and his superhuman strength. He fell into a cauldron of the Gauls' magic potion when he was a baby, causing him to be the only Gaul in Asterix's village who is in a permanent state of superhuman strength. Because of this already enormous strength, Obelix is not allowed to drink the magic potion ever again, a ban he regards as being tremendously unfair. Other characteristics are his simplemindedness, his love and care for his dog Dogmatix, his anger when someone refers to him as being ''"fat"'', his enthusiasm for hunting and eating wild boars, and beating up Romans. His catchphrase is: ''"Ils sont fous ces romains"'', which translates into "These Romans are crazy!", although he considers nearly every other nationality, even other Gauls, t ...
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Asterix
''Asterix'' or ''The Adventures of Asterix'' (french: Astérix or , "Asterix the Gaul") is a ''bande dessinée'' comic book series about a village of indomitable Gaulish warriors who adventure around the world and fight the Roman Republic, with the aid of a magic potion, during the era of Julius Caesar, in an ahistorical telling of the time after the Gallic Wars. The series first appeared in the Franco-Belgian comic magazine ''Pilote'' on 29 October 1959. It was written by René Goscinny and illustrated by Albert Uderzo until Goscinny's death in 1977. Uderzo then took over the writing until 2009, when he sold the rights to publishing company Hachette; he died in 2020. In 2013, a new team consisting of Jean-Yves Ferri (script) and Didier Conrad (artwork) took over. , 39 volumes have been released, with the most recent released in October 2021. Description Asterix comics usually start with the following introduction: '' The year is 50 BC. Gaul is entirely occupied by the Ro ...
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Asterix In Belgium
''Asterix in Belgium'' (french: Astérix chez les Belges, lit=Asterix among the Belgians/Belgae) is the twenty-fourth volume of the Asterix comic book series, by René Goscinny (story) and Albert Uderzo (illustrations). It is noted as the last Asterix story from Goscinny, who died during its production. Plot summary After fighting the Belgians in the northern part of Gaul, Caesar states that they are the bravest enemies he has ever faced ( historically claimed by Caesar). His soldiers agree with him, to the point when they consider being posted to the camps outside Asterix's village as a period of leave. Chief Vitalstatistix is aghast at the idea that his village, which has been the terror of the Romans for years, is now looked upon as relatively harmless. He is further outraged when he hears of Caesar's remarks. He claims that "his villagers" are in fact the bravest men of Gaul, and travels to Belgium to prove his point. A reluctant Asterix and Obelix go with him after Getafix ...
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