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'homme au piano
Édith Piaf Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Au piano, au piano
De frapper à coups de marteau
Coups de marteau, coups de marteau
Qu'il tape à tire-larigot
Larigot, juste ou faux
J'sais qu'ses doigts ne sont pas en bois
Mais, quand il les cassera on les fera remplacer
Comme une machine à sous, jusqu'au bout, sans arrêt
P't'être que ton cœur entendra
Un peu de tout ce fracas
Et qu'alors tu comprendras
Que le piano joue pour toi
Je dois chasser comme je peux
Le fantôme silencieux
Si le bonhomme fait du bruit
C'est que moi je lui crie de frapper comme un sourd
Ça ne sonnera jamais plus faux
Que la chanson des mots qui parlaient de notre amour
Demandez à l'homme au piano
Au piano, au piano
De frapper à coups de marteau
Coups de marteau, coups de marteau
Pour casser dans mon cerveau
Mon amour en morceaux
Même s'il ne lui reste plus qu'un doigt
Qu'il tape avec les bras après tout, moi j' m'en fous
Le principal, c'est qu'il joue
Comme une machine à sous, jusqu'au bout, jusqu'au bout
Demandez à l'homme au piano
Au piano, au piano
Au piano, au piano
These lyrics are from the song "L'Homme Au Piano" by Edith Piaf and Robert Chauvigny. The song is a plea to the man playing the piano, asking him to play with intensity and force, as if hitting the keys with a hammer. The repetition of the line "Au piano, au piano" emphasizes the importance of the piano in conveying the emotions and pain of the singer.
The lyrics suggest that the piano's sound, with its loud and powerful strikes, may reach the heart of the listener. The singer hopes that amidst the cacophony created by the piano, the listener will understand that the music is playing specifically for them. The imagery of the piano as a "machine à sous" (slot machine) implies that the piano serves as an outlet for the singer to process and release their emotions.
The song touches on themes of heartbreak and the need to exorcise painful memories. The singer implores the piano player to strike the keys forcefully to help break their heart into pieces, even if it means breaking the piano player's fingers. The repetition of the line "Le principal, c'est qu'il joue" (The main thing is that he plays) reinforces the importance of the act of playing the piano as a form of catharsis and emotional release.
Overall, the lyrics of "L'Homme Au Piano" express a desire to channel and externalize pain and heartbreak through the power and intensity of the piano's sound.
Line by Line Meaning
Demandez à l'homme au piano
Ask the man at the piano
Au piano, au piano
At the piano, at the piano
De frapper à coups de marteau
To strike with hammer blows
Coups de marteau, coups de marteau
Hammer blows, hammer blows
Qu'il tape à tire-larigot
That he hits wildly
Larigot, juste ou faux
Wildly, right or wrong
J'sais qu'ses doigts ne sont pas en bois
I know that his fingers are not made of wood
Mais, quand il les cassera on les fera remplacer
But, when he breaks them, we will replace them
Le principal, c'est qu'il joue
The important thing is that he plays
Comme une machine à sous, jusqu'au bout, sans arrêt
Like a slot machine, non-stop
P't'être que ton cœur entendra
Maybe your heart will hear
Un peu de tout ce fracas
A bit of all this uproar
Et qu'alors tu comprendras
And then you will understand
Que le piano joue pour toi
That the piano plays for you
Je dois chasser comme je peux
I have to chase as best I can
Le fantôme silencieux
The silent ghost
Si le bonhomme fait du bruit
If the guy makes noise
C'est que moi je lui crie de frapper comme un sourd
It's because I'm yelling at him to hit like a deaf person
Ça ne sonnera jamais plus faux
It will never sound more false
Que la chanson des mots qui parlaient de notre amour
Than the song of the words that spoke of our love
Demandez à l'homme au piano
Ask the man at the piano
Au piano, au piano
At the piano, at the piano
De frapper à coups de marteau
To strike with hammer blows
Coups de marteau, coups de marteau
Hammer blows, hammer blows
Pour casser dans mon cerveau
To break in my brain
Mon amour en morceaux
My love in pieces
Même s'il ne lui reste plus qu'un doigt
Even if he only has one finger left
Qu'il tape avec les bras après tout, moi j' m'en fous
Let him hit with his arms after all, I don't care
Le principal, c'est qu'il joue
The important thing is that he plays
Comme une machine à sous, jusqu'au bout, jusqu'au bout
Like a slot machine, until the end, until the end
Demandez à l'homme au piano
Ask the man at the piano
Au piano, au piano
At the piano, at the piano
Au piano, au piano
At the piano, at the piano
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: Horst Henning, Jean-Claude Darnal
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Cody Green's Mom's Broken Vibrator
I have this on my favorites list:) What a delight! What joy! We love you always dear Edith. Even after all these years, your voice still sends chills down our backs:)
prettythings89
Je ne connait aucune chanson qui exprime mieu ce que c'est de soufrir d'une rupture. Merci Piaf. <3
Sydney Dani
If I ever could go back in time, I would love to be in third row of her performance.
VealParmigiana
I don't enjoy music from before the early 1950's music from the U.S. I only heard of a few Edith Piaf songs, with Milord being my favorite. I clicked on Edith on YouTube hoping to maybe find a couple of songs that I like. She was an outstanding singer, and to my surprise, several of her songs are now among my favorites.
Corinne SEAOFSPA
j'adore cette chanson, est-ce que vous savez s'il existe une version instrumentale ?
ubinev
This song is based on "Der Mann am Klavier" by Horst Heinz Henning / Christine Neuhausen, originally performed by Paul Kuhn in 1954. French lyrics by Jean-Claude Darnal.
Filomena Lima
Are there any movies of her life ? I wonder if there is someone out there that could play Edith Piaf, I would love to see it.
Cody Green's Mom's Broken Vibrator
BRAVA such delights, such sounds, can only be Paif.
Ernesto De La Cruz
exelente canciòn, acompañada claro de un buen trago de Güisqui, vìva x y para simpre edith piaf, amo ah esta mujer, la amo, güerita linda
rose/rose
@meusnetos2010 There is a movie, released in 2007, called La Vie en Rose starring Marion Cotillard as Piaf.