IF WE ONLY HAVE LOVE (Quand On N'a Que l'Amour)
From "Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris" (1968)
(Jacques Brel / Mort Shuman / Eric Blau)
Original Cast Recording - 1968
Also recorded by:
Karen Akers; Shirley Bassey; Laurie Beechman; Jacques Brel; Dion;
Lesbian Gay Chorus of Washington D.C.; Vera Lynn; Barry Manilow;
Lena Martell; Marieann Meringolo; Olivia Newton-John;
Julie Rogers; Stig Rossen; Dionne Warwick; Nancy Wilson.
If we only have love
Then tomorrow will dawn
And the days of our years
Will rise on that morn
If we only have love
To embrace without fears
We will kiss with our eyes
We will sleep without tears
If we only have love
With our arms open wide
Then the young and the old
Will stand at our side
If we only have love
Love that's falling like rain
Then the parched desert earth
Will grow green again
If we only have love
For the hymn that we shout
For the song that we sing
Then we'll have a way out
If we only have love
We can reach those in pain
We can heal all our wounds
We can use our own names
If we only have love
We can melt all the guns
And then give the new world
To our daughters and sons
If we only have love
Then Jerusalem stands
And then death has no shadow
There are no foreign lands
If we only have love
We will never bow down
We'll be tall as the pines
Neither heroes nor clowns
If we only have love
Then we'll only be men
And we'll drink from the Grail
To be born once again
Then with nothing at all
But the little we are
We'll have conquered all time
All space, the sun, and the stars
*****
Although Brel's songs are almost impossible to dissociate from his
performance, here's a translation of "Quand On N'A Que L'Amour":
WHEN ONE ONLY HAS LOVE
(Translation by: Anne-Marie de Grazia)
When one only has love
As a give and take
At the dawn of the great journey
Of this our great love
When one only has love
My love, you and I
To make burst with joy
Every hour of every day
When one only has love
To live up to our promises
Without any other riches
Then to believe in it always
When one only has love
To furnish with wonder
And cover with light
The blight of the suburbs
When one only has love
As a sole purpose
As a sole song
And sole recourse
When one only has love
To clothe at dawn
The poor and the criminal
In mantles of velvet
When one only has love
To offer in prayer
For the suffering world
As a modest minstrel
When one only has love
To give to those
Whose only fight
Is to search for daylight
When one only has love
To trace a path
And force fate
At every crossroads
When one only has love
To speak to cannons
And only a song
To change the mind of a drum
Then without having nothing
But the strength to love
We shall hold in our hands
My friend, the entire world
*****
QUAND ON N'A QUE L'AMOUR (If We Only Have Love)
(Jacques Brel)
Jacques Brel (Belgium) - 1956
Also recorded by:
Thierry Amiel; Isabelle Aubret; Dalida; Celine Dion; James Germain;
Patricia Kaas; Nicoletta; François Rauber; Michele Torr.
Quand on n'a que l'amour
A s'offrir en partage
Au jour du grand voyage
Qu'est notre grand amour
Quand on n'a que l'amour
Mon amour toi et moi
Pour qu'éclatent de joie
Chaque heure et chaque jour
Quand on n'a que l'amour
Pour vivre nos promesses
Sans nulle autre richesse
Que d'y croire toujours
Quand on n'a que l'amour
Pour meubler de merveilles
Et couvrir de soleil
La laideur des faubourgs
Quand on n'a que l'amour
Pour unique raison
Pour unique chanson
Et unique secours
Quand on n'a que l'amour
Pour habiller matin
Pauvres et malandrins
De manteaux de velours
Quand on n'a que l'amour
A offrir en prière
Pour les maux de la terre
En simple troubadour
Quand on n'a que l'amour
A offrir à ceux-là
Dont l'unique combat
Est de chercher le jour
Quand on n'a que l'amour
Pour tracer un chemin
Et forcer le destin
A chaque carrefour
Quand on n'a que l'amour
Pour parler aux canons
Et rien qu'une chanson
Pour convaincre un tambour
Alors sans avoir rien
Que la force d'aimer
Nous aurons dans nos mains
Amis, le monde entier
(Corrections by Pr Fox - September 2006)
*****
