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The Red and the Black
It seems to me highly unlikely that this is a reference to Stendhal's novel, in which the red and black are generally interpreted as referring to the two careers that are possible for Julien, the church and the military; and blood (the attempted murder) and death (Julien's by execution, Mme de Rênal's of despair) [see [1]] for example], not the meeting of opposites the song talks about. If a case has been made by any reputable critic that it is, there should be a reference; unless I hear to the contrary, I propose to tag the statement preparatory to removing it. Awien (talk) 17:00, 9 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Strange that the English version is "If you go away", while the original translation is very clearly "Don't leave me". Is this because English language artists couldn't cope with the begging tone of the original? Gymnophoria (talk) 02:13, 13 August 2017 (UTC)[reply]
Given the difficulty of translating verse, it's the rule rather than the exception for a version in a different language to be an adaptation rather than a straight translation. A cringe-worthy example of an English-language version of another Brel song is Le Moribond/Seasons in the Sun where Brel's sardonic disenchantment has been turned into sentimental self-pity. Then there's always the possibility that the translator's grasp of the foreign language is insufficient to grasp the tone of the original. Many possibilities. Awien (talk) 12:27, 13 August 2017 (UTC)[reply]
(adds) Then there are excellent translations, like Brel's own of The Impossible Dream, La Quête. Awien (talk) 13:28, 13 August 2017 (UTC)[reply]
