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.
Le chant d'amour
Édith Piaf Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Je vais chanter un chant d'amour,
Un chant d'amour banal ? souhait
Pour deux amants qui s'adoraient.
Si vous me laissez raconter
L'histoire d'amour belle ? r?ver,
Alors, laissez-moi chanter...
Je vais pleurer leur chant d'amour
Car h?las on a s?par?
Nos deux amants, nos fous d'amour.
Ils en sont morts d'un m?me chagrin.
Je ne peux chanter le chagrin,
Alors, laissez-moi pleurer...
Oui, mais ceux qui se sont aim?s,
Vraiment aim?s, aim?s d'amour,
Ils se retrouveront un jour,
L? dans le temps, et pour toujours
Et je suis s?re que, maintenant,
Ils sont ensembles nos amants,
Alors, laissez-moi chanter...
La-la-la...
La-la...
...
Alors, laissez-moi chanter...
The lyrics of Edith Piaf's Le chant d'amour talk about a love story between two people who were deeply in love with each other. The song expresses the pain and sadness of their separation, which led to their deaths. The singer wants to sing a love song for them, so the memory of their love will always be treasured. She asks the listeners to let her sing and tells them that she will be telling a beautiful love story that they can all dream about.
As she continues to sing, she breaks down and starts to cry as she sings about the heartbreak the two lovers experienced as they were separated from each other. She grieves their loss but remains hopeful that they will find each other again.
The last verse of the song is a message of hope that true love is eternal. The singer believes that the two lovers will be reunited in the afterlife and will be together forever. She asks the listeners to let her sing and continue to honor their love story.
Overall, the song Le chant d'amour is a powerful expression of love and loss. The singer's emotional delivery and heartfelt lyrics make this a beautiful tribute to two lovers who were meant to be together.
Line by Line Meaning
Si vous voulez bien ?couter,
If you will listen, please
Je vais chanter un chant d'amour,
I am going to sing a love song
Un chant d'amour banal ? souhait
A clich? love song, as desired
Pour deux amants qui s'adoraient.
For two lovers who adored each other
Si vous me laissez raconter
If you let me tell
L'histoire d'amour belle ? r?ver,
The beautiful love story to dream about
Alors, laissez-moi chanter...
Then, let me sing...
Je vais pleurer leur chant d'amour
I am going to cry for their love song
Car h?las on a s?par?
Because, unfortunately, they were separated
Nos deux amants, nos fous d'amour.
Our two lovers, our crazy ones in love.
Ils en sont morts d'un m?me chagrin.
They died from the same sorrow.
Je ne peux chanter le chagrin,
I cannot sing the sorrow,
Alors, laissez-moi pleurer...
So, let me cry...
Oui, mais ceux qui se sont aim?s,
Yes, but those who loved each other
Vraiment aim?s, aim?s d'amour,
Truly loved, loved with love
Ils se retrouveront un jour,
They will meet again one day
L? dans le temps, et pour toujours
There, in time, and forever
Et je suis s?re que, maintenant,
And I am sure that, now,
Ils sont ensembles nos amants,
Our lovers are together,
Alors, laissez-moi chanter...
So, let me sing...
La-la-la...
La-la-la...
La-la...
La-la...
...
...
Alors, laissez-moi chanter...
So, let me sing...
Contributed by Eva T. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@bethdenti8823
Edith Piaf um exemplo de amor aos palcos sua canções sempre melancólicas baseada algumas em decepção mas uma voz que quase esbocava um sorriso nada mais era o amor retido em seu amor e a vida que lhe tenha sido oferecida amo essa cantora e suas interpretação
@EJ-cv7he
Quelle belle chanson... et quelle voix incroyable !
@jjdaniel32
C'est la dernière chanson écrite de la main d'Edith, et malgré tous les compositeurs qui l'entourait a ce moment tel que Francis Lai, rene rouzeau Florence Veran et autre. Elle a choisi Charles Dumont preuve qu'eux deux ont former un couple artistique formidable
@lorenzogabanizzaofficial
Il n ya que de l'amour et que du respect pour cette femme. Une poete, un genie et, une ame capable d'aimer.
@coriestern3765
So glad my brother introduced me to her music at a young age of 13....she touched my Soul.
@lorenzogabanizzaofficial
@@coriestern3765 she touched the whole world
@FrancoiseBonnefoy1
J'adore comme elle regarde la foule avec émerveillement. La grande Piaf!
@coriestern3765
Love this song !
@gabrielacolan832
Elle est magnifique merveilleuse Édith un Genie unique qui est passé sur Terre comme une étoile 🌟 filante pour l éternité, bientôt 60 ans déjà qu elle est partie, beaucoup beaucoup trop tôt, rongée par sa polyarthrite et rhumatismes déformant ses membres, elle a du souffrir le martyrs, j espère qu pour la soixantaine année de sa disparition ils colorisent tte ses peux archives lives, elle a tout donné à son public, je l adore, elle chantait avec ses tripes sans artifice et sans micro 🎤 et je pense qu'elle restera toujours immortel intemporel dans le temps comme amadeus Mozart, elle est morte ruiné entourée de profiteur et pique assiette, L argent elle s en foutait, elle donnait beaucoup aux pauvres et clochard sans compter, c'est Charles Aznavour et Danièle Bonnel sa dernière secrétaire Marie à son accordéoniste Marc Bonnel qui le disait, quand elle est décédée, son dernier mari Theo Sarapo, à dû mettre des années à tout rembourser les arriéré et le reste
@danielbouju1688
Elle a un micro...