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.
C'est l'amour
Édith Piaf Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
C'est l'amour qui fait rêver
C'est l'amour qui veut qu'on s'aime
C'est l'amour qui fait pleurer
Mais tous ceux qui croient qu'ils s'aiment
Ceux qui font semblant d'aimer
Oui, tous ceux qui croient qu'ils s'aiment
Dans l'amour, il faut des larmes
Dans l'amour, il faut donner
Et ceux qui n'ont pas de larmes
Ne pourrons jamais aimer
Il faut tant, et tant de larmes
Pour avoir, le droit d'aimer
Mon amour, oh, toi que j'aime
Tu me fais souvent pleurer
J'ai donné, donné mes larmes
J'ai pleuré pour mieux t'aimer
J'ai payé de tant de larmes
Pour toujours, le droit d'aimer
Pour toujours, le droit d'aimer
The lyrics of Édith Piaf's song C'est l'amour express the idea that love is what makes us love, dream, and cry. Without love, there can be no real tears, and without tears, there can be no real love. The song highlights the fact that true love requires sacrifices and that it is a journey that’s full of ups and downs. People who pretend to love without showing any emotions cannot truly love, and they cannot experience the depth of emotions that come with loving someone. In order to give and receive true love, one must be willing to give away their tears and emotions.
The chorus, "Dans l'amour, il faut des larmes, dans l'amour, il faut donner" (In love, you need tears, in love, you need to give), emphasizes the importance of giving and sacrificing in love. For love to flourish, it is important to have an emotional connection with the other person. Only when we give and show our emotions, can we truly experience the joy and sorrow that comes with true love.
Overall, C'est l'amour is a song that encapsulates the essence of what it means to love someone. It’s a reminder that love is not just about physical attraction, but it’s about giving oneself and showing emotions that cannot be put into words.
Line by Line Meaning
C'est l'amour qui fait qu'on aime
Love is the reason why we love
C'est l'amour qui fait rêver
Love is what makes us dream
C'est l'amour qui veut qu'on s'aime
Love is what makes us want to love each other
C'est l'amour qui fait pleurer
Love is what makes us cry
Mais tous ceux qui croient qu'ils s'aiment
But those who think they love each other
Ceux qui font semblant d'aimer
Those who pretend to love
Oui, tous ceux qui croient qu'ils s'aiment
Yes, those who think they love each other
Ne pourront jamais pleurer
Will never be able to cry
Dans l'amour, il faut des larmes
In love, tears are necessary
Dans l'amour, il faut donner
In love, giving is necessary
Et ceux qui n'ont pas de larmes
And those who don't have tears
Ne pourrons jamais aimer
Will never be able to love
Il faut tant, et tant de larmes
So many tears are needed
Pour avoir, le droit d'aimer
To have the right to love
Mon amour, oh, toi que j'aime
My love, oh, you who I love
Tu me fais souvent pleurer
You often make me cry
J'ai donné, donné mes larmes
I have given, given my tears
J'ai pleuré pour mieux t'aimer
I cried to love you better
J'ai payé de tant de larmes
I paid with so many tears
Pour toujours, le droit d'aimer
For always, the right to love
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: Marguerite Monnot, Edith Piaf
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@alexisbakopoulos7386
It is love that makes you love.
It is love that makes you dream.
It is love that wants us to love each other
It is love that makes us cry ...
But all those who believe they love each other,
Those who pretend to love,
Yes, all those who believe they love each other
Will never be able to cry ...
In love, there must be tears
In love, there must be giving...
And those who have no tears
Will never be able to love ...
There need to be so, so many tears
To have the right to love ...
My love, oh I love you,
You make me cry often ...
I have given, given my tears,
I have cried to love you better,
I have paid with so many tears
To always have the right to love ...
Forever ... the right to love!
@notreyever
C'est l'amour qui fait qu'on aime.
C'est l'amour qui fait rêver.
C'est l'amour qui veut qu'on s'aime.
C'est l'amour qui fait pleurer...
Mais tous ceux qui croient qu'ils s'aiment,
Ceux qui font semblant d'aimer,
Oui, tous ceux qui croient qu'ils s'aiment
Ne pourront jamais pleurer...
Dans l'amour, il faut des larmes,
Dans l'amour, il faut donner...
Et ceux qui n'ont pas de larmes
Ne pourront jamais aimer...
Il faut tant, et tant de larmes
Pour avoir le droit d'aimer...
Mon amour, oh toi que j'aime,
Tu me fais souvent pleurer...
J'ai donné, donné mes larmes,
J'ai pleuré pour mieux t'aimer,
J'ai payé de tant de larmes
Pour toujours le droit d'aimer...
Pour toujours... le droit d'aimer !
@filsbell7891
En cette chanson de la môme, j'eus la compréhension profonde de l'amour et une thérapie pour mes multiples tribulations amoureuses. MERCI ÉDITH PIAF.
@raulsvarmattick1277
J'ai entendu cette pièce, lorsque j'étais étudiant à l'Université, en 1999.
Vraiment j'ai beaucoup pleuré de l'intensité tant des mots comme de l'interprétation.
Depuis des années, je pleure encore en écoutant cette belle pièce. 😢.
60 ans déjà...
💐
@Zanoroun
This artist is reason no.1 for why you should consider learning French
@wildfires100
Piaf sings for all the ages. She sings from the heart. Incomparable -- there will never e another singer who inspires like Piaf. Bravo !
@hubertverlinden9406
Wat een prachtige vertolking van de diepste gevoelens die een mens kan hebben!
Echt aangrijpend " avec des larmes ".
Merci beaucoup!
@asli.mp4
French is the most romantic language on earth! *-* absolutely wonderful 3
@coriestern4931
Lots of great Finnish music too! I always loved Edith Piaf forever but I'm 1/2 Finnish American and Jenni Vartiainen is fantastic as well ! Corie
@karinglockner3100
all my admiration for the "little Sparrow" with the big voice !!! Thanks for sharing !
@soficochaurely1
there is no equal to Edit Piaf , and never will be ....!!!!!love you !!!!
@haileydrahota4412
This song is so familiar yet I can’t quite put my finger on it. It’s such an overwhelming feeling, that words can’t describe it had me in tears the first 3 seconds, because it overwhelmes me so much, but in a beautiful passionate way. Such a beautiful song. Such a beautiful voice