Yesterday I went to the Brel exhibition in Brussels. An interesting view of his life, though maybe a bit one-sided. It is the kind of exhibition where you take a tour and have to stay with a group so you don’t get to wander around to take things at your own pace. It meant we had to rush past a few items and some screens. There was a lot of film footage, songs and interviews and that were interesting to watch.
He is quite an amazing man, he has his own view of the world, probably different from most people’s. He has all the ideals, and the courage to strive to achieve them. He seems to be the ultimate romantic. It is the kind of view that is tempting, and I guess we should all have a little bit of his daring and originality, but it is also the kind of view that can be hard on the people around you. I remember in one documentary on his life one of his daughters saying that he was never around. That is the tragedy of it. I guess you can never have it all.
But he is wonderful to watch in action. When he performs he really performs. He seems to have been so skinny, but there is all this energy to watch on stage. He doesn’t just sing his songs, he seems to live them, and all of his body is part of the performance. It is quite amazing.
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