The first irony is that there's a whore, or courtesan, who lives on Madonna...(More)

The first irony is that there's a whore, or courtesan, who lives on Madonna Street. Next is that the John who comes to see her must say he's the utilities serviceman, come "for the gas." After that, we find that the respectable men in town from bourgeoisie and the working class, are also there "for the gas." It's like prohibibition era speakeasy where everyone had to give a password to get in. "Jacques Brel"of the Dialogus website says the essence of this song is about "text and pretext", hypocrisy, people pretending to be what they're not. The assemblage of men in this small funky house reminded Brel of the Marx Brothers famous cabin scene. Ema, of Rennes France tells me "my sisters hand" reminds her of an expression, "My sister's hand in the pants of a Zouave." Brel's hand gesture seems to confirm that.Thank's to Ema for her help with the translation of this funny song, full of alliterations and poetic devices best listened to in French. There's a Mort Shuman terrible adaptation of this is called Taxicab in the JB is Alive and Well movie.(Less)