Seventies hit song about Brussels becomes post-attacks anthem

A 1974 love song to the Belgian capital entitled "Bruxelles" has swept social media, becoming an anthem of resistance and support in the wake of this week's bombings, which killed 31 people.

The song by Dutch musician Dick Annegarn, representing an expat's anguish, has become a rallying call after the attacks with its lyrics: "Brussels, my lovely, I will be with you soon."

In the song, the cities are presented as lovers: he is hoping to flee "neurotic" Paris where he was living at the time, to "Mademoiselle Bruxelles".

The crooner this week praised the Belgian capital for its open and multi-cultural atmosphere.

Has it moved you to see your song played in homage to the victims?

Of course. I'm not Belgian, but I lived there from the age of six to 20. It's because this town welcomed me as a foreigner that I am so affected.

I'm sensitive to the pain of the victims who clearly had nothing to do with the motives of the killers, but I believe the victims are not only the Belgians or Australians walking through the airport, but also the people who live in the affected neighbourhoods.

It's a conflict that is trying to turn people against each other: the objective of Daesh (the Islamic State group) is to turn Europeans into racists, to make people scared. We must not be scared.

You have lived in France for 40 years. What does Brussels represent for you?
It's a pop music town, it's one big concert hall. I saw John Lee Hooker, Yes, Pink Floyd, (Jacques) Brel there. It's a town that turned me on to international culture.

It is also a symbol, an international capital city, that has been targeted. They are trying to scare several countries at the same time. In a sense, it's a country where there is no nationality, where they speak five or six languages. And they are generous with foreigners: I was made an honorary citizen (in 2005) just for singing!

Where did your song about the loss of "Mademoiselle Bruxelles" come from?

I had just left Brussels because I could not really picture myself living there. I spent a year writing songs in Paris.

I was exiled from a borrowed homeland, I had lived 14 years in Brussels as a Dutchman and now I was in a third country. I fell to pieces recording it.