La Non-Demande en mariage

"La Non-Demande en mariage" is the second track of side two of the 1966 album, 4:17, words and music by Brassens, published by Editions Musicales 57 and recorded in July 1966 with Pierre Nicolas on double bass. It was reportedly meant to be recorded first, before "L'Epave" and the "Supplique", but the order was not kept. A 1966 Philips single in the Succes series (B 373.886 F) put it with "Le Grand Chene" on the B-side, and an EP of August 1967 (Philips 437.368 BE) carried "La Fessee" and "Les Quatre Bacheliers" instead. The song is about love without marriage, and a lightweight ranking at 10h26 puts it first among fifteen of his songs. Universalis cites it as an example of how Brassens twists stock phrases, the line "J'ai l'honneur de ne pas te demander ta main" inverting the formal proposal.

Setlist.fm shows it on page one of 63 Brassens setlists in four: on September 16, 1966 at the Theatre National Populaire in Paris, October 14, 1969 at Bobino, March 3, 1970 at the Theatre Municipal in Lausanne and January 19, 1972 at Bobino; the other pages were not checked, so the total is unknown. Francois Morel sang it on the compilation Brassens sur parole(s), compiled by Louis Chedid with actors, and Alexander Avanesov made a Russian translation. Nothing from Brassens about the song was found, and our upload is presumably the 1966 recording.