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.
L'Effet que tu me fais
Édith Piaf Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
La grandeur de leurs sentiments
Moi je n'ai aucune facilité
C'est une question d'tempérament
Je n'peux pas dire l'effet qu' tu m'fais
Mais vrai, tu m'fais un drôle d'effet
Ça commence là, ça passe par là
Je m'demande où, ça je n'sais pas
Mais ça revient, et ça remet ça
Il n'y a qu'un remède pour calmer ça
C'est quand tu me prends dans tes bras
T'as dans ta main ma ligne de chance
Et dans tes yeux, mes jours heureux
On peut bien dire que l'existence
A des moments si merveilleux
Que je m'demande si l'paradis
Quoi qu'on en dise, est mieux qu'ici
Si j'pouvais dire l'effet qu'tu m'fais
Mais vrai, tu m'fais un drôle d'effet
Si tu veux savoir mon impression
Notre amour c'est comme un peu d'blanc
C'est beau l'blanc, mais c'est salissant
Aussi j'y fais très attention
Je n'peux pas dire l'effet qu'tu m'fais
Mais vrai, tu m'fais un drôle d'effet
Ça commence là, ça passe par là
Ça continue, et ça s'en va
Je m'demande où, ça je n'sais pas
Mais ça revient, et ça remet ça
Il n'y a qu'un remède pour calmer ça
C'est quand tu me prends dans tes bras
Crois-tu vraiment qu'on a d'la chance
De nous aimer et d'être heureux?
Y a tant de gens dans l'existence
Qui voudraient bien être amoureux
T'as des façons de m'regarder
Vraiment, t'as pas besoin d'parler
Et si j'te fais l'effet qu'tu m'fais
Ben vrai, on s' fait un drôle d'effet
The song Effet Que Tu Me Fais by Edith Piaf is a story about the emotional and physical impact that the person she loves has on her. The lyrics convey how the songwriter lacks the ability to express her deep feelings compared to others who can easily express their emotions. The singer states that there is no cure for the strange effects that her lover has on her except when he takes her in his arms.
The singer acknowledges that her lover holds her future in his hand and that her happy days are reflected in his eyes. She wonders if the paradise that some say is better than earth is really better than the moments of pure happiness in their love life. The song emphasizes the uniqueness of their love and the emotional impact that it has on both of them, which is unexplainable.
The song's chorus repeats the line "Je n'peux pas dire l'effet qu' tu me fais" which means "I cannot explain the effect that you have on me," highlighting the deep emotional impact on the singer. Overall, the song is a beautiful expression of the deep connection and love that two people can share.
Line by Line Meaning
Y a des gens qui savent exprimer
There are people who know how to express
La grandeur de leurs sentiments
The greatness of their feelings
Moi je n'ai aucune facilité
I, however, have no ease
C'est une question d'tempérament
It's a matter of temperament
Je n'peux pas dire l'effet qu' tu me fais
I can't describe the effect you have on me
Mais vrai, tu m'fais un drôle d'effet
But really, you make me feel strange
Ça commence là, ça passe par là
It starts there, it goes through there
Ça continue, et ça s'en va
It continues, and then it goes away
Je m'demande où, ça je n'sais pas
I wonder where, but I don't know
Mais ça revient, et ça remet ça
But it comes back, and it does it again
Il n'y a qu'un remède pour calmer ça
There is only one remedy to calm it down
C'est quand tu me prends dans tes bras
And that's when you hold me in your arms
T'as dans ta main ma ligne de chance
You hold my line of luck in your hand
Et dans tes yeux, mes jours heureux
And in your eyes, my happy days
On peut bien dire que l'existence
It can be said that existence
A des moments si merveilleux
Has such wonderful moments
Que je m'demande si l'paradis
That I wonder if paradise
Quoi qu'on en dise, est mieux qu'ici
Despite what people say, is better than here
Si j'pouvais dire l'effet qu'tu m'fais
If only I could describe the effect you have on me
Mais vrai, tu m'fais un drôle d'effet
But really, you make me feel strange
Si tu veux savoir mon impression
If you want to know my impression
Notre amour c'est comme un peu d'blanc
Our love is like a bit of white
C'est beau l'blanc, mais c'est salissant
White is beautiful, but it gets dirty
Aussi j'y fais très attention
So I'm very careful with it
Crois-tu vraiment qu'on a d'la chance
Do you really believe that we are lucky
De nous aimer et d'être heureux?
To love each other and be happy?
Y a tant de gens dans l'existence
There are so many people in existence
Qui voudraient bien être amoureux
Who would love to be in love
T'as des façons de m'regarder
You have ways of looking at me
Vraiment, t'as pas besoin d'parler
Truly, you don't need to speak
Et si j'te fais l'effet qu'tu m'fais
And if I have the same effect on you
Ben vrai, on s' fait un drôle d'effet
Well, we both feel strange
Lyrics © Spirit Music Group
Written by: J M CUTOIS, J EDMOND, M MURRAY
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@Vagrarian
One of my favorite Piaf songs. You don't need to know French to know what she's singing about...that expressive voice communicates so much.
@Yokoriv
Edith Piaf es una artista completa, anacrónica, está fuera del tiempo porque en cualquier tiempo ella encanta, nos golpea el corazón y nos hace temblar de emoción. En Marte, Venus, Plutón escucharán a Piaf!!!
@DivineSimply
For just one day, Lord, give me Edith Piaf's voice and an audience where I can sing my heart out. Thank you.
@doriedsondonato3507
Não pósso deixar de agradecer sempre a Edith , pelas maravilhosas músicas que o seu ser grndioso nos da sempre que desejar-mos , obrigado Piaf.
@luminaraunduli2791
Edith Piaf and Maria Callas have such a deep pull on me, and they both left this world before I was even born. They both embodied their art and artistry like very few others. Pure artists like them live on forever and we are all blessed by the gifts they gave this world.
@mesinhadobravel6284
It`s realy!
@didou1563
j'adore cette chanson! merci!
@rionsunpeu5110
J’adore
@Etheline
You've chosen a wonderful song! Thanks!
@peterpan1194
I really like this song