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.
Exodus
Édith Piaf Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Ils sont partis courir la mer
Pour effacer la peur, pour écraser la peur
Que la vie a clouée au fond du cœur
Ils sont partis en croyant aux moissons
Du vieux pays de leurs chansons
Le cœur chantant d'espoir
Le cœur hurlant d'espoir
Ils ont pleuré les larmes de la mer
Ils ont versé tant de prières
Délivrez-nous, nos frères!
Délivrez-nous, nos frères!
Que leurs frères les ont tirés vers la lumière
Ils sont là-bas dans un pays nouveau
Qui flotte au mât de leur bateau
Le cœur brisé d'amour
Le cœur perdu d'amour
Ils ont retrouvé la terre de l'amour
Ah! Ah! Ah!
Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah!
Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah!
Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah!
In these lyrics, Edith Piaf tells the story of those who have left their homeland looking for a new life, in what seems like a collective exodus. The first two lines set the scene of their departure, in the winter sun, as they head towards the sea in order to leave the fears that the life they knew had embedded in their hearts. The third and fourth lines introduce us to their motivations for leaving - they believed that in the old country they left behind there were no longer opportunities, and with the little hope they had left they set out to find a new future, weighed down by the memory of everything they left behind.
In the second verse, Piaf reminds us of the difficulties that come with this journey. They shed tears, and say prayers in the hope that they will get help from their brothers. They plead "Liberate us, our brothers!" as they trust that somewhere in the world they will find their way and will finally reach freedom. In the end, they arrive in a new country, on a new land. Although they are in a new place where everything is different from what they have known, they will find love and comfort even with a broken heart.
Overall, “Exodus” is a song that speaks of the migrant experience. The journey for those leaving is not an easy one, yet they continue to move forward in the face of fear, with the hope of a new life. Piaf’s beautifully crafted lyrics provide insight into the struggles and emotions of a life-changing journey, something that many people can relate to.
Line by Line Meaning
Ils sont partis dans un soleil d'hiver
They departed in a winter sun
Ils sont partis courir la mer
They left to run to the sea
Pour effacer la peur, pour écraser la peur
To erase fear, to crush fear
Que la vie a clouée au fond du cœur
That life has nailed deep in the heart
Ils sont partis en croyant aux moissons
They left believing in the harvest
Du vieux pays de leurs chansons
Of the old country of their songs
Le cœur chantant d'espoir
The heart singing with hope
Le cœur hurlant d'espoir
The heart screaming with hope
Ils ont repris le chemin de leur mémoire
They took the path of their memory
Ils ont pleuré les larmes de la mer
They cried the tears of the sea
Ils ont versé tant de prières
They poured so many prayers
Délivrez-nous, nos frères!
Deliver us, our brothers!
Délivrez-nous, nos frères!
Deliver us, our brothers!
Que leurs frères les ont tirés vers la lumière
That their brothers pulled them towards the light
Ils sont là-bas dans un pays nouveau
They are there in a new country
Qui flotte au mât de leur bateau
That floats at the mast of their boat
Le cœur brisé d'amour
The heart broken in love
Le cœur perdu d'amour
The heart lost in love
Ils ont retrouvé la terre de l'amour
They have found the land of love
Ah! Ah! Ah!
Ah! Ah! Ah!
Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah!
Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah!
Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah!
Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah!
Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah!
Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah!
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Songtrust Ave, Peermusic Publishing, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Ernest Gold
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@DanielCommercon
+Leuter Hermida da Silva
Ils sont partis dans un soleil d'hiver
Ils sont partis courir la mer
Pour effacer la peur, pour écraser la peur
Que la vie a clouée au fond du cœur
Ils sont partis en croyant aux moissons
Du vieux pays de leurs chansons
Le cœoeur chantant d'espoir
Le coeœur hurlant d'espoir
Ils ont repris le chemin de leur mémoire
Ils ont pleuré les larmes de la mer
Ils ont versé tant de prières :
"Délivrez-nous, nos frères !
Délivrez-nous, nos frères !"
Que leurs frères les ont tirés vers la lumière
Ils sont là-bas dans un pays nouveau
Qui flotte au mât de leur bateau
Le cœoeur brisé d'amour
Le cœoeur perdu d'amour
Ils ont retrouvé la terre de l'amour.
Ah ! Ah ! Ah !
Ah ! Ah ! Ah ! Ah !
Ah ! Ah ! Ah ! Ah ! Ah !
Ah ! Ah ! Ah ! Ah ! Ah ! Ah ! Ah ! Ah !
@Myriemah
Magnifique et si émouvante chanson. Magnifique et si émouvante chanteuse. Tout simplement merci.
@reg35000
quelle voix....sublime, ne peut pas dire mieux!!! une si belle voix pour une sublime femme...hommage a toi, dame de la chansson francaise...
@edith5628
Magnifique cette chanson ! Et surtout d'actualité.
@anaili77777
cette chanson nous fait voyager... cette chanson nous fait pleurer... Edith Piaf est vraiment un diamont brillant de l'art!
@1510Ronald
Die beste Sängerin und das beste Lied aller Zeiten. The best Song every time.
@AnnaMargolin
Je suis conditionee pour aimer ce chanson en anglais, mais Edith Piaf le chante avec la flamme aux yeux...magnifique.
@aureacharpinel
Ils sont partis dans un soleil d'hiver Ils sont partis courir la mer Pour éffacer la peur Pour écraser la peur Que la vie a clouée au fond du cœur Ils sont partis en croyant aux moissons Du vieux pays de leurs chansons Le cœur chantant d'éspoir Le cœur hurlant d'éspoir Ils ont repris le chemin de leur mémoire
@areski51
C`est emouvant, c`est tragique, c`est touchant, c`est incomparable ... Merci Edith! Chante maintenant tes chansons a Jahwe , Il les aime autant que nous.
@MrJapaneseboy1111
what a voice !
@Danindy0848
J'en ai des frissons. J'a i 63 ans et j'ai vu e film avec mon père qui malheureusement n'est plus. Un mélange de souvenirs et des paroles qui sont toujours d'actualité. Et dire que les guerres ont été la cause de tant de malheur. Aucune leçon n'est prise car nous sommes encore soumis à des pouvoirs gérés par l'argent. L'humain est tellement plus important.. Vivement un monde ou nous pourrons aimer.