I notice no one took the bait on those French songwriters...:dispirited:
I thought Sandy did, but to add to what he said, Gainsbourg was a chain smoking alcoholic rebel with some undisputed artistic genius, who lived his life on his terms and his terms only, directing his unfiltered speech in the exact same form, whether he spoke to a TV studio janitor or the president of the French Republic.
Love him or hate him, but no one was left in the middle with him, and you could always bet on one thing anytime he was invited to any TV show: He would say what he wanted to say with the words he wanted to use, and chances are it would ruffle some "establishment" feathers and likely make the next day news.
As to Brel, he was definitely a major "message" singer with powerful lyrics, but I must confess I was more into music than poetry and therefore never got much into his work.