Le Plat Pays

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Le plat pays (French) or in Dutch Mijn vlakke land is a song by Jacques Brel, who performed the song in both languages. The flat country referred to in the song is West Flanders, the region in Belgium from which his family originated. It is a region with many open fields and few trees. Because this landscape is rather typical not only for West Flanders, but for vast areas of Low Countries, the Dutch version of the song is popular in the Netherlands. The French lyrics are by Jacques Brel, the Dutch lyrics by Ernst van Altena.