More on Edith Piaf

Visiting Piaf

I was in Paris for the last ten days. My first week was on business and the second week was a holiday with my mother who flew over from Finland and my cousin who works in Paris and stayed there for the weekend to join us.

We had a wonderful time roaming around Paris or ‘flaner’ in French.

One special event during our week was a musical on Edith Piaf’s life at Olympia where she had also performed. The voice and the gestures of the leading lady were wonderfully similar to Edith Piaf, which I believe suits the circumstances of telling her story.

I learned some fascinating facts. I was under the impression that Edith Piaf did not write music. I thought that she sang music, which was mostly written specifically for her. My mother told me that in fact Piaf wrote the lyrics to La Vie en Rose and L’hymne a l’amour and apparently others also….

La Vie en Rose

Des yeux qui font baiser les miens,
Un rire qui se perd sur sa bouche,
Voila le portrait sans retouche
De l’homme auquel j’appartiens
Quand il me prend dans ses bras
Il me parle tout bas,
Je vois la vie en rose.

Il me dit des mots d’amour,
Des mots de tous les jours,
Et ça me fait quelque chose.
….

L’hymne a l’amour

Le ciel bleu sur nous peut s’effondrer
Et la terre peut bien s’ecrouler
Peu m’importe si tu m’aimes
Je me fous du monde entier
Tant qu’l’amour inondera mes matins
Tant que mon corps fremira sous tes mains
Peu m’importe les problemes
Mon amour puisque tu m’aimes

….

Edith Piaf’s last concert in Olympia was around 1960. My mother was at that concert with her sister and parents on her visit to France. This is the concert where she sang “Non, je ne regrette rien” and this is depicted in the movie on her life.

……

Non, rien de rien
Non, je ne regrette rien
Ni le bien, qu’on m’a fait
Ni le mal, tout ça m’est bien égal !
Non, rien de rien
Non, je ne regrette rien
Car ma vie, car mes joies
Aujourd’hui, ça commence avec toi !

My mother was a singer/actor and came to Finland on a contract to sing. She sang many of Edith Piaf’s songs and “La Vie en Rose” was the song she sang to my father when they were dating.

Maybe I have Edith to thank for being around 🙂