So do you love Edith Piaf? As a wonderfully talented singer who became widely regarded as France’s national diva of her time, her music is timeless! And what better way to celebrate the 100th anniversary of her birth than a marvellous exhibition in Paris? Check out the article below for more and watch the video for some French singing! (This week: the verb CHANTER – to sing)

Could you imagine Piaf at 100 years of age, leading a healthy life, being one of the others, like the others, having her little tea, taking her blood pressure regularly, sinking in anonymity?

Maybe this would be a good thought, but for me and many in France, Piaf could pass for the embodiment of “Mme Bovary”, the beauty of the butterfly burnt by the bright hot light, consumed by a dramatic life with its ups and downs, with its passions that burned even more than the light burned the butterfly, with its highs that made her bloom more than any camomile tea and clean air of the banlieues could have done to her.

As much as we would like to see her healthy and well, we know that she couldn’t have led a life of balanced diet with a bedtime at 10pm, because the drama was in her blood, the French drama was in her destiny. She burned like a candle to give us the light of her spirit, the beauty of her soul, the expression of her voice and the sin of her love.

Here is her story…

Born Édith Giovanna Gassion on 15 December 1915 to a mother who was a café singer, and a father who was an acrobat, she was raised by a grandmother in a brothel in Normandy. She started to sing at 15, and was discovered by Louis Leplée 5 years later. With her 4’8” and stage fright, she became the French version of Cinderella. She had a song for every occasion, made France love her and made the World listen to her. She lost her only child at 17, lost her secret love at 34 and at her death, the archbishop of Paris refused to officiate at a funeral mass, but the French people couldn’t disagree more. She was portrayed by Marion Cotillard in the movie “La vie en rose” in 2007 who received an Academy Award for her portrayal of the singer, and this December, at her 100th anniversary, her life and legacy is to be celebrated in an exhibition in Paris.

But let’s hear the story told in her own words…

La vie en rose (1946)

Des yeux qui font baisser les miens,
Un rire qui se perd sur sa bouche,
Voilà 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.

Il est entré dans mon cœur
Une part de bonheur
Dont je connais la cause.

C’est lui pour moi, moi pour lui dans la vie,
Il me l’a dit, l’a juré pour la vie.
Et dès que je l’aperçois
Alors je sens en moi
Mon cœur qui bat

Des nuits d’amour à ne plus en finir
Un grand bonheur qui prend sa place
Des ennuis, des chagrins, s’effacent
Heureux, heureux à en mourir.

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.

Il est entré dans mon cœur
Une part de bonheur
Dont je connais la cause.

C’est toi pour moi, moi pour toi dans la vie,
Il me l’a dit, l’a juré pour la vie.
Et dès que je t’aperçois
Alors je sens dans moi
Mon cœur qui bat

Hymne à l’amour (1950)
written for Marcel Cerdan

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

J’irais jusqu’au bout du monde
Je me ferais teindre en blonde
Si tu me le demandais
J’irais décrocher la lune
J’irais voler la fortune
Si tu me le demandais
Je renierais ma patrie
Je renierais mes amis
Si tu me le demandais
On peut bien rire de moi
Je ferais n’importe quoi
Si tu me le demandais

Si un jour la vie t’arrache à moi
Si tu meurs que tu sois loin de moi
Peu m’importe si tu m’aimes
Car moi je mourrais aussi
Nous aurons pour nous l’éternité
Dans le bleu de toute l’immensité
Dans le ciel plus de problèmes
Mon amour crois-tu qu’on s’aime
Dieu réunit ceux qui s’aiment

Non, je ne regrette rien (1960)

Non, Rien de rien
(No, nothing of nothing)
Non, Je ne regrette rien
(No, I regret nothing)
Ni le bien qu’on m’a fait
(Not the good things that have been done to me)
Ni le mal tout ça m’est bien égal
(Nor the bad things, it’s all the same to me)

Non, Rien de rien
(No, nothing of nothing)
Non, Je ne regrette rien
(No, I regret nothing)
C’est payé, balayé, oublié
(It’s paid for, swept away, forgotten)
Je me fous du passé
(I don’t care about the past)

Avec mes souvenirs
(With my memories)
J’ai allumé le feu
(I lit the fire)
Mes chagrins, mes plaisirs
(My troubles, my pleasures)
Je n’ai plus besoin d’eux
(I don’t need them anymore)
Balayés les amours

(Swept away my past loves)
Avec leurs trémolos
(With their tremors)
Balayés pour toujours
(Swept away for always)
Je repars à zéro
(I start again from zero)

Non, Rien de rien
(No, nothing of nothing)
Non, Je ne regrette rien
(No, I regret nothing)
Ni le bien qu’on m’a fait
(Not the good things that have been done to me)
Ni le mal tout ça m’est bien égal
(Nor the bad things, it’s all the same to me)

Non, Rien de rien
(No, nothing of nothing)
Non, Je ne regrette rien
(No, I regret nothing)
Car ma vie, car mes joies
(Because my life, my joys)
Aujourd’hui, ça commence avec toi
(Today, it begins with you)

We are celebrating her 100th birthday as if she was here because she is here, even if her body left us at only 47.

(lyrics and translation by metrolyrics .com)

Now it is your turn!

Tell us in the comments below, what is your favorite Edith Piaf song?

Make sure you watch the Learn Parisian French – verb CHANTER (to sing) on Youtube! While you’re there, and if you like it, please click the ‘Like’ button!

Don’t ever give up on your dream to become bilingual – the world needs your enthusiasm when you go to Paris and fully enjoy it!

Want to learn French to enjoy the French songs?
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using the comprehensive J’Ouellette® Intensif

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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Llyane Stanfield is a Parisian French language coach, and founder of the J’Ouellette® French Method – an organic method using techniques that are employed by the world’s finest linguists. She travels between Toronto, New York and Paris, while teaching French via Skype in more than 15 countries. She is French language coach for busy traveling professionals, and has produced an unprecedented Intensive Program and French Pronunciation Master Class, as well as other visual and teaching materials. She now spends a large portion of her time in Paris, where she also organizes an annual Immersion Retreat. Her unique methods produce a quantum leap in confidence and pronunciation, and a short session with her is the perfect start to brush up your French (whatever your level!) at the start of your Paris trip.

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