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)
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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
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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