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 rendez-vous
Édith Piaf Lyrics
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Qui se regardaient, les yeux fous.
Ils étaient trois au coin de la rue
Mais l'un n'était pas attendu.
Ils étaient trois qui savaient bien
Que l'un d'eux tenait dans sa main
De quoi faire d'un ciel de mai
Un ciel de deuil à tout jamais.
Un de trop...
En ce court moment
Où un nouveau roman
D'un autre prend la place,
Un de trop...
Qu'un seul bras étendu
Peut laisser étendu
Parmi les gens qui passent.
Ils étaient trois au rendez-vous
Qui se regardaient, les yeux fous.
Ils étaient trois qui savaient bien
Que tout tenait dans une main.
Comme je l'aimais...
Comme elle m'aimait...
Que de belles heures...
Songeait celui qui venait du passé.
Comme je l'aime...
Et comme elle m'aime...
Cela vaut bien qu'on meure...
Songeait celui qui l'avait remplacé,
Mais elle... Mais elle...
A quoi songeait-elle,
En cet instant où tout peut s'effacer ?
Ils étaient trois au rendez-vous
Qui se regardaient, les yeux fous.
Ils étaient trois au coin de la rue,
Mais l'un n'était pas attendu.
Et celui-là savait très bien
Que le passé n'y pouvait rien,
Que l'avenir est le plus fort,
Plus fort que tout et que la mort.
Et soudain... le bras s'est baissé.
Qui pouvait arreter
Un amour près de naitre ?
Le bonheur peut encore danser
Et cette vie chanter,
Qui pouvait ne plus etre...
Ils étaient deux au rendez-vous
Qui s'en allaient heureux et fous
Vers leur soleil sans voir celui
Qui revenait seul dans sa nuit...
"Le Rendez-vous" by Edith Piaf tells the story of three people who meet up on a street corner. They are all aware that one of them holds the power to change their lives dramatically, but only two of them are there for a rendezvous. The third person, an unwanted guest, carries the potential to ruin their plans.
The song describes a moment of tension and passion between three people, all of whom summon the courage to risk something for love. The lyrics convey the idea that sometimes even when two people are deeply in love, the past and the future intersect in such a way that their love can be threatened. As Piaf sings "They were three who knew that everything depended on one hand." This line serves as a warning to the audience that a small gesture can change everything.
At the climax, the tension breaks, and everything becomes clear. The one who was unexpected puts their hand down, and two lovers walk away from the rendezvous feeling happy and crazy, while the third person is left alone in the night. The chorus, "Ils étaient trois au rendez-vous qui se regardaient, les yeux fous" (They were three at the rendezvous who looked at each other, crazy eyes), anchors the story and reinforces the idea that, in love, nothing is more critical than a look, a touch, or a gesture.
Overall, "Le Rendez-vous" tells a story of love, passion, and the perplexing nature of fate. It highlights the importance of the present moment, and how one decision can determine the course of our lives.
Line by Line Meaning
Ils étaient trois au rendez-vous
Three of them met up at that place
Qui se regardaient, les yeux fous.
They looked at each other with crazy eyes
Ils étaient trois au coin de la rue
At the street corner there were three of them
Mais l'un n'était pas attendu.
But one of them wasn't expected
Ils étaient trois qui savaient bien
They were three who knew well
Que l'un d'eux tenait dans sa main
That one of them held in his hand
De quoi faire d'un ciel de mai
Something that could turn a sky in May
Un ciel de deuil à tout jamais.
Into a sky of mourning forever.
Un de trop...
One too many...
En ce court moment
In this brief moment
Où un nouveau roman
When a new romance
D'un autre prend la place,
Takes the place of another's
Un de trop...
One too many...
Qu'un seul bras étendu
That one outstretched arm
Peut laisser étendu
Can leave one left behind
Parmi les gens qui passent.
Among the people passing by.
Ils étaient trois au rendez-vous
Three of them met up at that place
Qui se regardaient, les yeux fous.
They looked at each other with crazy eyes
Ils étaient trois qui savaient bien
They were three who knew well
Que tout tenait dans une main.
That everything depended on one hand.
Comme je l'aimais...
How I loved her...
Comme elle m'aimait...
How she loved me...
Que de belles heures...
Thought the man who came from the past, what beautiful hours...
Songeait celui qui venait du passé.
The one who came from the past was thinking.
Comme je l'aime...
How I love her...
Et comme elle m'aime...
And how she loves me...
Cela vaut bien qu'on meure...
That is worth dying for...
Songeait celui qui l'avait remplacé,
Thought the one who replaced him.
Mais elle... Mais elle...
But her... But her...
A quoi songeait-elle,
What was she thinking,
En cet instant où tout peut s'effacer ?
At this moment when everything could disappear?
Ils étaient trois au rendez-vous
Three of them met up at that place
Qui se regardaient, les yeux fous.
They looked at each other with crazy eyes
Ils étaient trois au coin de la rue,
At the street corner there were three of them
Mais l'un n'était pas attendu.
But one of them wasn't expected
Et celui-là savait très bien
And he knew very well
Que le passé n'y pouvait rien,
That the past couldn't do anything about it,
Que l'avenir est le plus fort,
That the future is the strongest,
Plus fort que tout et que la mort.
Stronger than everything and death.
Et soudain... le bras s'est baissé.
And suddenly... the arm lowered.
Qui pouvait arreter
Who could stop
Un amour près de naitre ?
A love that was almost born?
Le bonheur peut encore danser
Happiness can still dance
Et cette vie chanter,
And this life can sing,
Qui pouvait ne plus etre...
Who could no longer exist...
Ils étaient deux au rendez-vous
Two of them left happy and crazy
Qui s'en allaient heureux et fous
As they went off, happy and crazy
Vers leur soleil sans voir celui
Towards their sun without seeing the one
Qui revenait seul dans sa nuit
Who returned alone to his night.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: Rouzaud Rene, Lai Francis
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind