A couple of years back I was fiddling around on the computer when a commercial for Stella Artois beer came on TV, and as a trumpet dreamily played a melody, I was certain I knew the song it was playing. In a roundabout way I did--it's been featured in commercials, movies, and TV shows many times (I'm certain there are numerous classical pieces that have the same familiarity without knowledge of the particular piece). However, I did not know that this week's tune was the most famous song of one of France's most famous performers. It took about two listens to fall in love with, and it's been a favorite ever since....
The Little Sparrow (La Mome Piaf), Edith Piaf, was born in Paris in 1915, and had about as unfortunate of a life as any artist featured here on Friday Night Jukebox. Abandoned at birth by her mother, she was originally raised by her maternal grandmother until being returned to her father before he went off to fight World War I at which point she was passed off to her paternal grandmother...who ran a brothel. Piaf was blind from the age of three until the age of seven due to keratitis (it was supposedly miraculously healed when the prostitutes who helped raise her pooled their money and paid for a pilgrimage honoring St. Therese of Lisieux). In her teens Piaf joined her father, a street performer, and began performing music and skits on the streets of Paris. She was pregnant at seventeen, abandoned her daughter as her mother did her, and the daughter would pass away at two from meningitis. Piaf's gifted vocals were eventually discovered, and she began performing in brothels and nightclubs before becoming possibly France's greatest performer. Along the way Piaf fell in love with the love of her life, Marcel Cerdan (middleweight boxing champion of the world), who died in a plane crash in 1949 while en route to see her in New York City. During her lifetime, Piaf would also be accused of being an accessory to murder (acquitted), a traitor during the Nazi occupation of France (acquitted), suffered from crippling rheumatoid arthritis, had a stomach ulcer, was in three car accidents, and also was addicted to painkillers and alcohol. Unfortunately, such a tragic life led to an all too early death, as Piaf passed from what was believed to be a liver ailment at the age of forty-seven. Piaf's funeral procession through Paris drew thousands of people, and her ceremony at the cemetery was attended by over 100,000 of her fans.
Fun Fact: If you're a movie fan, I would highly recommend the 2007 biopic La Vie en rose. Marion Cotillard, who won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance, is absolutely dazzling as Piaf (she's pretty much dazzling, period).
"La Vie en rose" (lyrics were written by Piaf) was released on a ten-inch single, Chansons Parisiennes, in 1947. Her version peaked at #23 (with a bullet!) on the Billboard charts. English lyrics were eventually written for the song and in 1950 six different versions reached the Billboard chart.
"La Vie en Rose" translates as "life through rose-colored glasses" (literal translation is "life in pink"), and the song describes how lovely life looks when we're in love. Piaf's voice takes on a serenity as she sings it, and the song becomes a veritable love lullaby. The melody is lush which is very convenient for me as I neither speak nor read French so at least I've been able to hum it all week. It's a beautiful song from another era by a unique talent--and a very fine addition to the annals of Friday Night Jukebox.
Lyric Sheet: As noted above I am not familiar with French except in the most trivial of ways (C'est la vie!), so there isn't much sense in featuring lyrics here. For those interested, though, at the link to the French lyrics I provided if you scroll down there is another link to an English translation. Have fun!
Enjoy:
Republicans = Nazis
Peace,
emaycee
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