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.
La goualante du pauvre Jean
Édith Piaf Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
La goualante du pauvre Jean
Que les femmes n'aimaient pas
Mais n'oubliez pas
Dans la vie y a qu'une morale
Qu'on soit riche ou sans un sou
Sans amour on n'est rien du tout
(On n'est rien du tout)
Il vivait au jour le jour
Dans la soie et le velours
Il pionçait dans de beaux draps
Mais n'oubliez pas
Dans la vie on est peau de balle
Quand notre cœur est au clou
Sans amour on n'est rien du tout
(On n'est rien du tout)
Il bectait chez les barons
Il guinchait dans les salons
Et lichait tous les tafias
Mais n'oubliez pas
Rien ne vaut une belle fille
Qui partage votre ragoût
Sans amour on n'est rien du tout
(On n'est rien du tout)
Pour gagner des picaillons
Il fut un méchant larron
On le saluait bien bas
Mais n'oubliez pas
Un jour on fait la pirouette
Et derrière les verrous
Sans amour on n'est rien du tout
(On n'est rien du tout)
Esgourdez bien jeunes gens
Profitez de vos vingt ans
On ne les a qu'une fois
Et n'oubliez pas
Plutôt qu'une cordelette
Mieux vaut une femme à son cou
Sans amour on n'est rien du tout
(On n'est rien du tout)
Et voilà mes braves gens
La goualante du pauvre Jean
Qui vous dit en vous quittant
Aimez-vous, padam, padam pan, tsoin!
The song "La Goualante du pauvre Jean" by Édith Piaf tells the story of a man named Jean who lived a comfortable life in luxury with fine clothes and bedding, but he failed to find love. The opening lines of the song ask the listener to take a moment to listen to the tale of poor Jean, who was not well-liked by women. However, the song emphasizes that the crucial lesson in life is that without love, no matter how rich or poor one is, they are nothing.
Jean enjoyed the company of the wealthy and socialized with them, but the song reminds us that even with all the material pleasures of life, it is meaningless without love. The song notes that Jean was a thief in his efforts to gain wealth, and while he may have been respected at the time, he was ultimately destined for trouble. The song ends with the message to the listener to enjoy life and cherish love because it is better to have someone to love than it is to have all the riches in the world.
Line by Line Meaning
Esgourdez rien qu'un instant
Listen closely for just a moment
La goualante du pauvre Jean
The tale of poor Jean
Que les femmes n'aimaient pas
Whom the women did not love
Mais n'oubliez pas
But do not forget
Dans la vie y a qu'une morale
In life, there is only one moral
Qu'on soit riche ou sans un sou
Whether rich or penniless
Sans amour on n'est rien du tout
Without love, we are nothing at all
Il vivait au jour le jour
He lived from day to day
Dans la soie et le velours
In silk and velvet
Il pionçait dans de beaux draps
He slept in fine linens
Dans la vie on est peau de balle
In life, we are nothing
Quand notre cœur est au clou
When our heart is broken
Il bectait chez les barons
He dined with the barons
Il guinchait dans les salons
He danced in the salons
Et lichait tous les tafias
And drank all the drinks
Rien ne vaut une belle fille
Nothing is better than a beautiful girl
Qui partage votre ragoût
Who shares your stew
Pour gagner des picaillons
To earn a few coins
Il fut un méchant larron
He became a wicked thief
On le saluait bien bas
He was well-respected
Un jour on fait la pirouette
One day, you turn around
Et derrière les verrous
And behind bars
Profitez de vos vingt ans
Enjoy your twenties
On ne les a qu'une fois
You only get them once
Plutôt qu'une cordelette
Rather than a noose
Mieux vaut une femme à son cou
Better to have a woman at your side
Et voilà mes braves gens
And there you have it, my good people
Qui vous dit en vous quittant
Who tells you as I leave
Aimez-vous, padam, padam pan, tsoin!
Love one another, padam, padam pan, tsoin!
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, BEUSCHER ARPEGE
Written by: Rene Rouzaud, Marguerite Monnot
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@yilveroliva
Esgourdez rien qu'un instant
La goualante du pauvre Jean
Que les femmes n'aimaient pas
Mais n'oubliez pas
Dans la vie y a qu'une morale
Qu'on soit riche ou sans un sou
Sans amour on n'est rien du tout
(On n'est rien du tout)
Il vivait au jour le jour
Dans la soie et le velours
Il pionçait dans de beaux draps
Mais n'oubliez pas
Dans la vie on est peau de balle
Quand notre cœur est au clou
Sans amour on n'est rien du tout
(On n'est rien du tout)
Il bectait chez les barons
Il guinchait dans les salons
Et lichait tous les tafias
Mais n'oubliez pas
Rien ne vaut une belle fille
Qui partage votre ragoût
Sans amour on n'est rien du tout
(On n'est rien du tout)
Pour gagner des picaillons
Il fut un méchant larron
On le saluait bien bas
Mais n'oubliez pas
Un jour on fait la pirouette
Et derrière les verrous
Sans amour on n'est rien du tout
(On n'est rien du tout)
Esgourdez bien jeunes gens
Profitez de vos vingt ans
On ne les a qu'une fois
Et n'oubliez pas
Plutôt qu'une cordelette
Mieux vaut une femme à son cou
Sans amour on n'est rien du tout
(On n'est rien du tout)
Et voilà mes braves gens
La goualante du pauvre Jean
Qui vous dit en vous quittant
Aimez-vous, padam, padam pan, tsoin!
@OlymPigs2010
..what a voice and what a delivery !
@jeanpierrezutter587
Une très belle chanson !!
Belle voix d'Edith Piaf !!
@carolynzaremba5469
I love her.
@user-sz4te2hx4h
Дьтиэ
@edithpiaf7846
@Игорь Лунин what
@1001ruth
brilliant. And a joy to hear again ... after about 60 years or so. woo hooo.
@MarieProvost77
I need a "love" button for this.
@62francis
Une Artiste éternelle
@andrenadra639
Merveilleux
@icky5808
L'homme qui joue le banjo ...😍😍👌