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"Ne me quitte pas" ("Don't leave me") is a French language song by the late Jacques Brel, published in 1959 by Warner-Chappell Publishing. It has been covered in French by many artists such as Nina Simone, as well as translated into many other languages, in English as "If You Go Away". It is considered by some as "Brel's ultimate classic"^[1].

The part Moi, je t'offrirai des perles de pluies venues de pays où il ne pleut pas quotes a theme from the Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 by composer Franz Liszt.

• Jacques Brel's first version was recorded on 11 September 1959 and appears on his album "La Valse à Mille Temps".

• in 1961, he recorded a Dutch version of the song, entitled "Laat Me Niet Alleen".

• Thirteen years after the original, Jacques Brel recorded another version as title track of his album Ne Me Quitte Pas. This version was recorded on 20 June 1972 and the album was released later the same year.

An anecdote, odd as it may seem - It is rarely known that ("ne me quitte pas") was written after Brel was thrown out of Zizou's (Suzanne Gabriello - his mistress at the time) life after casting shame and sadness upon her. Zizou was pregnant from Brel and had an abortion after Brel refused fatherhood.

Contents 1 Cover versions 1.1 French 1.2 English 1.3 German 1.4 Hebrew 1.5 Italian 1.6 Spanish 1.7 Afrikaans 1.8 Dutch 1.9 Greek 1.10 Polish 2 References 3 External links 3.1 Lyrics

• 1959:

• Simone Langlois (Possibly the very first recording: Brel would have passed it to her prior to recording his own version^[2])

• 1961:

• The late Barbara chante Brel

• 1965:

• Nina Simone in her June 1965 I Put A Spell On You album (this is the most famous cover of the song)

• 1966:

• Marianne Faithfull in Loveinamist

• 1974:

• Gigliola Cinquetti in Bonjour Paris (album CGD 65978)

• 1988:

• Juliette Gréco in Gréco 88 : Hommage à Brel

• 1995:

• Isabelle Aubret in her "Chante Brel" album

• 1998:

• Hugues Aufray in "Hommage - Ils chantent Jacques Brel" CD

• 1999:

• The late Frida Boccara in her posthumous Un jour, un enfant CD

• 2001:

• Natacha Atlas in her album Ayeshteni
• Maria Bill sings Jacques Brel

• 2002:

• Paloma Berganza in the Avec le temps CD
• Cirque du Soleil's 2002 production Varekai features a performance of the song.

• 2004:

• In-Grid in her album La vie en rose
• Angélique Beauvence in the Still...love you CD

• 2005:

• Pierre Bachelet in the "Tu ne nous quittes pas" CD.

• 2006:

• Estrella Morente, a flamenco singer, on her album Mujeres, whose arrangement and performance is based on Nina Simone's.

See the If You Go Away article. There is also another translation of the song by Nick Currie, aka Momus, called "Don't Leave". This is closer lyrically to the original song than "If You Go Away", and was released first in 1986 on the Jacques EP and later on an extended version of the album Circus Maximus.

Bitte Geh Nicht Fort

• 1963:

• Marlene Dietrich

• 1992: The late Yossi Banai sings Al tilchi mikan, a translation by Naomi Shemer, in the Im neda' le'ehow - Songs of Jacques Brel record

• 1962:

• Gino Paoli, Non Andare Via

• 1970:

• Patty Pravo, Non Andare Via

• 2006:

• Petra Magoni & Ferruccio Spinetti, Non Andare Via

• 1997:

• Sandy Aruba's salsa music version "No Me Dejes Mas"

• Angelica Maria "No me dejes"

• 1997:

• Laurika Rauch's version "Moenie weggaan nie"

• 1961:

• Jacques Brel's version "Laat me niet alleen"

• 1968:

• Liesbeth List's version "Laat me niet alleen"

• 2007:

• Yiannis Parios's live version "Min me afinis mi"

• 1995:

• Michał Bajor's version "Nie opuszczaj mnie"

• 1995:

• Edyta Górniak's version "Nie opuszczaj mnie"

• 1998:

• Edyta Jungowska's Version "Nie opuszczaj mnie"

• (English)Ne Me Quitte Pas cover hierarchy
• (Italian)[1]
• Cirque du Soleil version

• http://fr.lyrics-copy.com/jacques-brel/ne-me-quitte-pas.htm