Despite the numerous biographies, many facts and events of Édith's life are shrouded in mystery. She was born Édith Giovanna Gassion in Belleville, Paris, France, the high-immigration district later described by Daniel Pennac. Legend has it that she was born on the pavement of Rue de Belleville 72 but according to her birth certificate that was at Hôpital Tenon, the Belleville arrondissement hospital. She was named Édith after the executed British nurse Edith Cavell (Piaf —Parisian jargon for "sparrow"— came from a nickname she would receive twenty years later).
Her mother, Annetta Giovanna Maillard (1898 – 1945), was a partly-Italian 17-year-old girl, native of Livorno, working as a café singer under the pseudonym Line Marsa; from her, Édith took the middle name of Giovanna. Her father, Louis-Alphonse Gassion (1881 – 1944), was a street acrobat with a theatrical past. The little Édith was soon abandoned and left for a short time to her maternal grandmother, Mena (probably a Kabyle). Shortly after, Édith's father brought the child to his mother, who ran a brothel in Normandy, and then joined the French Army (1916). Thus Édith was in contact with the prostitutes and the various attenders of the brothel since her early years, a circumstance which must have had a deep impact on her personality and vision of life.
From the age of three to seven she was blind. As part of Piaf's legend, she allegedly recovered her sight after her grandmother's prostitutes went on a pilgrimage to Saint Thérèse de Lisieux. In 1929 she joined her father in his acrobatic street performances. Then took a room at Grand Hôtel de Clermont (18 rue Veron, Paris 18ème) and separated from him, going her own way as a street singer in Pigalle, Ménilmontant and Paris suburbs (cf. the song "Elle fréquentait la Rue Pigalle"). She was about 16 years of age when she fell in love with a delivery-boy, Louis Dupont, and shortly after had a child, a little girl named Marcelle. Sadly, Marcelle died in infancy of meningitis.
In 1935, Édith was discovered in the Pigalle area of Paris by the nightclub owner Louis Leplée, whose club was frequented by the upper and lower classes alike. He persuaded her to sing despite her extreme nervousness, which, combined with her height of only 4' 8" (142 cm) inspired him to give her the nickname that would stay with her for the rest of her life and become her stage name: La Môme Piaf (The Little Sparrow). Her first record was produced in the same year. Shortly afterwards, Leplée was murdered and Piaf was accused of being an accessory; she was acquitted.
In 1940, Jean Cocteau wrote the successful play Le Bel Indifférent for her to star in. She began to make friends with famous people, such as the actor Maurice Chevalier and the poet Jacques Borgeat. She wrote the lyrics of many of her songs, and collaborated with composers on the tunes.
Her signature song, "La vie en rose" (which was voted a Grammy Hall of Fame Award in 1998) was written in the middle of the German occupation of Paris in World War II. During this time, she was in great demand and very successful. She befriended many high-ranking Germans and sang for them. It is said that she collaborated with the Nazis, too. After the war, she toured Europe, the United States, and South America, becoming an internationally known figure. Her popularity in the U.S. was such that she appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show eight times. She helped to launch the career of Charles Aznavour, taking him on tour with her in France and the United States.
The great love of Piaf's life, the boxer Marcel Cerdan, died in 1949. Piaf was married twice. Her first husband was Jacques Pills, a singer; they married in 1952 and divorced in 1956. Her second husband, Theophanis Lamboukas (also known as Théo Sarapo), was a hairdresser-turned-singer and actor, and was twenty years younger than Piaf; they married in 1962.
In 1951 she was in a car accident, and thereafter had difficulty breaking a serious morphine habit.
The Paris Olympia is the place where Piaf achieved fame and where, just a few months before her death, she gave one of her most memorable concerts while barely able to stand. In early 1963, Piaf recorded her last song, "L'homme de Berlin".
At the early age of 47, Piaf died of cancer in Plascassier, on the French riviera, on October 10, 1963. Her friend Jean Cocteau, very shocked and afflicted by her death, died a few hours later. Her body was returned to Paris where her death was only announced on October 11, the official date of her death. She was buried in Père Lachaise cemetery, Paris. Although she was forbidden a Mass by the Roman Catholic archbishop of Paris (because of her lifestyle), her funeral procession drew hundreds of thousands of mourners onto the streets of Paris and the ceremony at the cemetery was jammed with more than forty thousand fans. Charles Aznavour recalled that Piaf's funeral procession was the only time, since the end of World War II, that Parisian traffic came to a complete stop.
There is a museum dedicated to Piaf, the Musée Édith Piaf at 5, rue Crespin du Gast, 75011, Paris.
Today she is still remembered and revered as one of the greatest singers France has ever produced. Her life was one of sharp contrasts: the range of her fame as opposed to her tragic personal life, and her fragile small figure on stage with the resounding power of her voice.
Au Bal De La Chance
Édith Piaf Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
L'eau coule et fait des ronds.
Le ciel superbe
Eblouit les environs.
Le grand soleil joue aux boules
Avec les pommiers fleuris.
Le bal, devant l'eau qui coule
Rabâche des airs de Paris.
Danse, danse au bal de la chance
Danse, danse ma rêverie
Les parasols sur la berge en gestes lents
Saluent d'une révérence
Les chalands.
Tandis qu'une fille danse
Dans les bras d'un marinier
Le ciel fait des imprudences
Mais l'amour n'est pas le dernier
Danse, danse au bal de la chance
Danse, danse au ciel printanier
Le vent, tournant dans les feuilles des bosquets
Avec le chant des pinsons, fait des bouquets
Mais elle n'écoute guère
Que les mots de ce garçon
Des mots d'amour si vulgaires
Qu'ils font rire au ciel les pinsons.
Danse, danse au bal de la chance
Danse, danse avec ma chanson
Je pense encore à ce jour de l'an dernier.
Sur mon épaule, mon rêve est prisonnier.
Cela n'a ni queue ni tête.
Pourtant, j'ai le cœur bien gros
Pour les marins en goguette.
L'amour, ça coule au fil de l'eau.
Danse, danse au bal de la chance
Danse, danse mon cœur d'oiseau
The lyrics of Edith Piaf's "Au bal de la chance" depict a picturesque scene of nature, with water flowing and making circles, a beautiful sky illuminating the surroundings, and the sun playing with the blooming apple trees. Despite the tranquil and serene environment, there is also a bustling party going on, where people are dancing to the sound of Parisian music. The atmosphere is further enhanced by the presence of parasols on the bank saluting the passersby, the wind turning the leaves of the bushes, and the song of the finches. Amidst all of this, a girl dances with a boatman, and love is felt in the air. The singer reminisces about the past year's New Year's Eve and how her dreams are still trapped within it. She acknowledges that love is constantly flowing like water, and she uses dancing as a metaphor to express her emotions.
The lyrics of "Au bal de la chance" are quintessential Edith Piaf chansons, which exude a mixture of joy and melancholy. The song touches on various themes, including nature, love, and memories. It showcases the beauty of nature contrasted with the liveliness of the party, signifying how life is composed of many moments, some serene and some turbulent. The love story depicted in the lyrics is romantic but also a bit unrefined, with the boy's words being so clichéd that even the birds might laugh at them. Lastly, the song speaks of the unending flow of love and how it always finds a way to manifest itself.
Line by Line Meaning
Le long de l'herbe
Along the grass
L'eau coule et fait des ronds.
The water flows and makes circles.
Le ciel superbe
The superb sky
Eblouit les environs.
Dazzles the surroundings.
Le grand soleil joue aux boules
The big sun plays bowls
Avec les pommiers fleuris.
With the blossom apple trees.
Le bal, devant l'eau qui coule
The dance, in front of running water.
Rabâche des airs de Paris.
Repeats Parisian tunes.
Danse, danse au bal de la chance
Dance, dance at the ball of luck
Danse, danse ma rêverie
Dance, dance my reverie.
Les parasols sur la berge en gestes lents
The umbrellas on the bank with slow gestures.
Saluent d'une révérence
Salute with a bow.
Les chalands.
The barges.
Tandis qu'une fille danse
While a girl dances.
Dans les bras d'un marinier
In the arms of a bargeman.
Le ciel fait des imprudences
The sky makes imprudent moves.
Mais l'amour n'est pas le dernier
But love is not the last.
Danse, danse au bal de la chance
Dance, dance at the ball of luck.
Danse, danse au ciel printanier
Dance, dance in the spring sky.
Le vent, tournant dans les feuilles des bosquets
The wind, turning in the leaves of the groves.
Avec le chant des pinsons, fait des bouquets
With the singing of the finches, makes bouquets.
Mais elle n'écoute guère
But she hardly listens.
Que les mots de ce garçon
Only the words of this boy.
Des mots d'amour si vulgaires
Words of love so vulgar.
Qu'ils font rire au ciel les pinsons.
That even the finches in the sky laugh.
Danse, danse au bal de la chance
Dance, dance at the ball of luck.
Danse, danse avec ma chanson
Dance, dance with my song.
Je pense encore à ce jour de l'an dernier.
I still think of that day last year.
Sur mon épaule, mon rêve est prisonnier.
On my shoulder, my dream is trapped.
Cela n'a ni queue ni tête.
This makes no sense.
Pourtant, j'ai le cœur bien gros
Yet I have a heavy heart.
Pour les marins en goguette.
For the sailors on a spree.
L'amour, ça coule au fil de l'eau.
Love flows along with the water.
Danse, danse au bal de la chance
Dance, dance at the ball of luck.
Danse, danse mon cœur d'oiseau
Dance, dance my bird heart.
Contributed by Jordyn B. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@gabrielacolan832
❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤j adore ❤❤❤❤❤❤🎉en l ecoutant, elle vous fait rêver vibrer, merveilleuse Édith ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤que c'est bien triste qu ils be l ont jamais filmé entièrement, dans tous ses sublimes spectacles lives
@isellesueromatos2918
La môme Piaf... Éternelle!!!! ❤️😍
@Ammax78
une musique intemporelle qui a fait rêver plus d'une génération, franchement suis-je le seul à ne pas pouvoir m'empêcher de fredonner cette si douce mélodie :)
@patriciabrygej5835
Non vous n'êtes pas le seul 😅
@cecileuuh225
Magnifique !!! ❤🌠
@salcudean10
Un cantec minunat al minunatei Edith Piaf!
@papagena1991
speechless when seeing the photo of Piaf and Marcel together RIP!
@cliveuckfield5139
Still as beautiful in 2020.
@josersandoval
J'adore vous Édith, Viva la Môme Piaf!
@anaili77777
merveilleux!