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.
Les Amants de Venise
Édith Piaf Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Où les ruisseaux débordaient d'une eau grise"
Comme il pleuvait. Comme il pleuvait
Elle lui disait "On se croirait en gondole,
J'entends ton cœur qui joue sa barcarolle."
Comme il pleuvait Comme il pleuvait
Ils étaient là, blottis dans leur roulotte
Elle lui disait "On se croirait à Venise."
Il répondait "Mais on est à Venise!"
Comme ils s'aimaient. Comme ils s'aimaient
Voici les feux scintillant par centaines,
La jolie nuit bariolée de lanternes.
Ferme les yeux
Tu verras mieux
Mais on ne voyait qu'un pauvre réverbère
Qui n'éclairait même pas leur misère
Et tout là-bas, au coin de la rue,
Une petite plaque d'un bleu pâli,
Où l'on voyait, écrit dessus
"Porte d'Italie"
La-la-la
The lyrics of Edith Piaf's song Les amants de Venise tell a story of two lovers who are seeking refuge in their caravan from the rain and thunder outside. The female protagonist says that they could imagine themselves in Venice, where the canals overflow with grey water. She also says that she can hear the beating of her lover's heart, to her, it sounds like a barcarolle, a traditional Italian song sung by gondoliers. The lover responds by saying that they are, in fact, in Venice which shows the deep desire they have for each other and the fantasy world they have created in their minds.
As the night deepens, they see the lights of the city, the lanterns which have bariolées (streaked) the beauty of the night. The woman tells him to close his eyes, and he will witness the city's magic. However, their actual surroundings are meagre, with only a poor streetlamp that cannot even light up their misery, and a small sign on the street corner denoting "Porte d'Italie" (the door to Italy). The last line of the song is 'La-la-la,' suggesting that their love continues to exist in their imagination and in the melody that lingers.
Les amants de Venise is one of Piaf's lesser-known songs but is a beautiful testament to the power of the imagination and the human heart's ability to create its love story amidst poverty and limitations.
Line by Line Meaning
Elle lui disait "On se croirait à Venise
She tells him "It feels like we're in Venice"
Où les ruisseaux débordaient d'une eau grise"
Where the streams overflowed with gray water"
Comme il pleuvait. Comme il pleuvait
As it was raining. As it was raining
Elle lui disait "On se croirait en gondole,
She tells him "It feels like we're in a gondola"
J'entends ton cœur qui joue sa barcarolle."
"I hear your heart playing its barcarolle."
Ils étaient là, blottis dans leur roulotte
They were there, huddled in their trailer
Avec la nuit et l'orage à la porte.
With the night and the storm at the door.
Il répondait "Mais on est à Venise!"
He responds "But we are in Venice!"
Comme ils s'aimaient. Comme ils s'aimaient
As they loved each other. As they loved each other
Voici les feux scintillant par centaines,
Here are the hundreds of shimmering fires,
La jolie nuit bariolée de lanternes.
The beautiful night filled with colorful lanterns.
Ferme les yeux
Close your eyes
Tu verras mieux
You'll see better
Mais on ne voyait qu'un pauvre réverbère
But all they could see was a poor streetlamp,
Qui n'éclairait même pas leur misère
Which didn't even light up their misery
Et tout là-bas, au coin de la rue,
And far away, at the corner of the street,
Une petite plaque d'un bleu pâli,
A little plate of pale blue,
Où l'on voyait, écrit dessus
Where it said, written on it
"Porte d'Italie"
"Italy Gate"
La-la-la
La-la-la
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: JACQUES PLANTE, MARGUERITE MONNOT
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Consuelo Avalos
Que hermosa canción, miren esa voz diáfana, aterciopelada #edithpiaf 🌹
Doriedson Donato
Uma memorável musica imortal dessa grande cantora que é e sempre sera Mon Piaf , MAGNIFIQUE MERCI AMOUR MOUA...
anthony berrot
C'est très beau....Merci pour Edith
TheOrientalDream
Magnifique Merci beaucoup!
octavia salcudean
Merci bien!!! J'adore Edith Piaf!!!
felipe salvador arias
wonderful! beautiful images!
Mauro Asti
Splendida Edith, bellissima canzone e grandi immagini. Bravo. Ciao.
Ｋａｚｕｓｈｉｇｅ Ｉｋｅｕｃｈｉ
良いですね！有難う御座います。
Brian Hamilton
Parfaite.
playmobil18
super vive Edith Piaf