“Je t’appartiens” (I belong to you), 1955

Pierre Delanoë

​Gilbert Bécaud’s 1955 song "Je t'appartiens" translates literally as “I Belong to You.” It is said that Pierre Delanoë (né Pierre Leroyer) wrote the lyrics for the song as apology for missing one of Bécaud’s premier appearances at the Olympia music hall in Paris. The two became frequent collaborators and Delanoë was one of France’s most prolific lyricists, credited with writing 4000 songs for dozens of singers.

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"Je t'appartiens" was an early song in Bécaud’s singing career that began in 1953 while touring as a pianist with Edith Piaf’s husband Jacques Pills. Piaf suggested that he turn to singing. "Je t'appartiens" was one of his first efforts released as a single in 1955. It made few waves in the day, but was boosted into the stratosphere in 1960 when the Everly Brothers released Manny Curtis's adaptation.

Bécaud’s song is in classic form of 10 stanzas with 4 lines each and a fixed end-of-line rhyming scheme of AAAB (except the 8th stanza which is AABB). The specific sound patterns vary in each stanza although the last sound in the 10 fourth (B) lines is the same in all stanzas.

Comme l'argile
L'insecte fragile
L'esclave docile
Je t'appartiens
 
De tout mon être
Tu es le seul maître
Je dois me soumettre
Je t'appartiens
 
Si tu condamnes
Jetant mon âme
Au creux des flammes
Je n'y peux rien
 
Si tu condamnes
Si tu me damnes
Voici mon âme
Voici mes mains
 
Avec les peines
L'amour et la haine
Coulant dans mes veines
Je t'appartiens
 
Que puis-je faire
Pour te satisfaire
Patron de la terre
Sur mon chemin
 
Comme les anges
Chanter tes louanges
Mais je ne suis pas un ange
Tu le sais bien
 
Je ne suis qu'un homme
Rien qu'un pauvre homme
Je t'aime bien
Comme un copain
 
Souvent je pense
Que dans ton immense
Palais de silence
Tu dois être bien
 
Parfois je pense
Que dans ton immense
Palais de silence
On doit être bien

Like clay
The fragile insect
The docile slave
I belong to you

With all my being
You are the only master
I must submit
I belong to you

If you condemn
Throwing my soul
Into the flames
I can't help it

If you condemn
If you damn me
Here is my soul
Here are my hands

With the sorrows
Love and hate
Flowing in my veins
I belong to you

What can I do
To satisfy you
Master of the earth
On my path

Like the angels
Sing your praises
But I am not an angel
You know well

I am just a man
Just a poor man
I like you well
Like a buddy

Often I think
That in your immense
Palace of silence
You must be well

Sometimes I think
That in your immense
Palace of silence
One must be well

​Adaptation (“Let It Be Me”)

Manny Curtis

Gilbert Bécaud’s 1955 song “Je t’appartiens” became a significant hit 5 years after its appearance, but on another continent and with other interpreters. American songwriter Manny Curtis (1911-1984) adapted it into English and gave it the title “Let It Be Me.” Curtis, who was born Emanuel Kurtz, operated under several pen names. American actress Jill Corey was first to perform Curtis’ adaptation in a 1957 television series called “Climax!” and released it as a single that same year when it reached #57 on the Billboard Hot 100.

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The Everly Brothers

​The Everly Brothers recorded the song in 1959 and released it as a single in 1960. It reached #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Don and Phil Everly were masters of vocal harmony who worked as a duet between 1956-73 and also from 1983-2005, while going solo during the interval. It was the first song by the Everly Brothers to use strings (violin and cello) and represented a stylistic departure for them.

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The lyrics in both songs declare devotion and commitment to another party, but the two titles ring somewhat different bells. Bécaud’s “I belong to you” is a bit more affirmative compared with the beseeching quality of “Let it be me.” Nevertheless, the texts drive in the same direction on parallel but different roads. The side-by-side comparison of the Bécaud/Delanoë lyrics and translation with the Curtis adaptation is here.

Manny Curtis’s lyrics are highly repetitive. There are 8 stanzas of 4 lines each. After the first 2 stanzas, the remaining 6 stanzas consist of only 2 different stanzas with 3 repetitions each, so effectively there are only 4 distinct stanzas in the 8-stanza song. Curtis’ rhyming is also spotty. Eight stanzas of 4 lines each account for 32 last-word sounds. “Be” and “me” account for eight; “love” accounts for nine; and “only”/“lonely” for six.

An endless succession of singers eventually recorded hundreds of versions of “Let it Be Me,” including Elvis Presley, Nina Simone, Willie Nelson, Nancy Sinatra, Bruce Springsteen, George Harrison, Chet Atkins, and even Bob Dylan. It is well worth listening to several of them in succession to appreciate how individual performance and instrumental arrangement can affect appreciation for a song. It's nice how Willie Nelson’s twangy voice and relaxed tempo tones down the saccharine qualities of the music and lyrics.
 
In any case, it’s a long way from the Paris Olympia Music Hall in 1955.

The Everly Brothers, 1960

Willie Nelson, 1982