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.
Mon légionnaire
Édith Piaf Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Où parfois passaient des éclairs
Comme au ciel passent des orages
Il avait plein de tatouages
Que j'ai jamais très bien compris
Son cou portait, "pas vu, pas pris"
Sur son cœur on lisait, "personne"
Je sais pas son nom, je ne sais rien de lui
Il m'a aimée toute la nuit
Mon légionnaire
Et me laissant à mon destin
Il est parti dans le matin
Plein de lumière!
Il était mince, il était beau
Il sentait bon le sable chaud
Mon légionnaire!
Y avait du soleil sur son front
Qui mettait dans ses cheveux blonds
De la lumière!
Bonheur perdu, bonheur enfui
Toujours je pense à cette nuit
Et l'envie de sa peau me ronge
Parfois je pleure et puis je songe
Que lorsqu'il était sur son cœur
J'aurais dû crier mon bonheur
Mais je n'ai rien osé lui dire
J'avais peur de le voir sourire!
Je sais pas son nom, je ne sais rien de lui
Il m'a aimée toute la nuit
Mon légionnaire
Et me laissant à mon destin
Il est parti dans le matin
Plein de lumière!
Il était mince, il était beau
Il sentait bon le sable chaud
Mon légionnaire
Y avait du soleil sur son front
Qui mettait dans ses cheveux blonds
De la lumière
On l'a trouvé dans le désert
Il avait ses beaux yeux ouverts
Dans le ciel passaient des nuages
Il a montré ses tatouages
En souriant puis il a dit
Montrant son cou, "pas vu, pas pris"
Montrant son cœur, "ici personne"
Il ne savait pas, je lui pardonne
Je rêvais pourtant que le destin
Me ramènerait un beau matin
Mon légionnaire
Qu'on s'en irait loin, tous les deux
Dans quelque pays merveilleux
Plein de lumière
Il était mince, il était beau
On l'a mis sous le sable chaud
Mon légionnaire
Y avait du soleil sur son front
Qui mettait dans ses cheveux blonds
De la lumière
The lyrics to Edith Piaf's song Mon légionnaire tell the story of a fleeting romance with a man who is a member of the French Foreign Legion, a regiment of foreign volunteers who serve in the French Army. The singer describes the man's physical appearance, including his clear, stormy eyes and tattoos, and reflects on their night together where he loved her passionately but then left her alone in the morning, full of light. She remembers his scent and the warmth from the sun on his forehead that shone on his blonde hair. The longing for him is palpable and she regrets not declaring her love when she had the chance.
The song is a poignant and nostalgic reflection on a lost love that is more idealized in memory than in reality. The man is a figure of mystery, as the singer doesn't even know his name, and there is a sense of transcendence in his status as a member of the Foreign Legion. The lyrics convey the beauty and tragedy of a fleeting romance, where her lover's departure leaves her with only memories to cling to. The chorus repeats phrases that emphasize his beauty, while the verses reveal the secrets and memories that the singer cherishes.
Line by Line Meaning
Il avait de grands yeux très clairs
He had large, clear eyes
Où parfois passaient des éclairs
Sometimes lightning flashes passed through them
Comme au ciel passent des orages
Like storms pass through the sky
Il avait plein de tatouages
He had lots of tattoos
Que j'ai jamais très bien compris
That I never quite understood
Son cou portait, "pas vu, pas pris"
His neck had the phrase "not seen, not caught"
Sur son cœur on lisait, "personne"
On his heart, you could read the word "nobody"
Sur son bras droit un mot, "raisonne"
On his right arm, a word read "reason"
Je sais pas son nom, je ne sais rien de lui
I don't know his name, I don't know anything about him
Il m'a aimée toute la nuit
He loved me all night
Mon légionnaire
My legionnaire
Et me laissant à mon destin
And leaving me to my fate
Il est parti dans le matin
He left in the morning
Plein de lumière!
Full of light!
Il était mince, il était beau
He was slim, he was handsome
Il sentait bon le sable chaud
He smelled of hot sand
Y avait du soleil sur son front
There was sunshine on his forehead
Qui mettait dans ses cheveux blonds
Which shone in his blond hair
De la lumière!
With light!
Bonheur perdu, bonheur enfui
Lost happiness, escaped happiness
Toujours je pense à cette nuit
I always think about that night
Et l'envie de sa peau me ronge
And the desire for his skin eats away at me
Parfois je pleure et puis je songe
Sometimes I cry and then I ponder
Que lorsqu'il était sur son cœur
That when he had on his heart
J'aurais dû crier mon bonheur
I should have shouted my happiness
Mais je n'ai rien osé lui dire
But I didn't dare tell him anything
J'avais peur de le voir sourire!
I was scared to see him smile!
On l'a trouvé dans le désert
They found him in the desert
Il avait ses beaux yeux ouverts
He had his beautiful eyes open
Dans le ciel passaient des nuages
Clouds passed through the sky
Il a montré ses tatouages
He showed his tattoos
En souriant puis il a dit
Smiling, then he said
Montrant son cou, "pas vu, pas pris"
Showing his neck, "not seen, not caught"
Montrant son cœur, "ici personne"
Showing his heart, "nobody here"
Il ne savait pas, je lui pardonne
He didn't know, I forgive him
Je rêvais pourtant que le destin
However, I dreamed that destiny
Me ramènerait un beau matin
Would bring him back one beautiful morning
Mon légionnaire
My legionnaire
Qu'on s'en irait loin, tous les deux
That we would go far away, just the two of us
Dans quelque pays merveilleux
To some marvelous country
Plein de lumière
Full of light
On l'a mis sous le sable chaud
They put him in the hot sand
Y avait du soleil sur son front
There was sunshine on his forehead
Qui mettait dans ses cheveux blonds
Which shone in his blond hair
De la lumière
With light
Lyrics © SEMI, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Marguerite Monnot, Raymond Asso
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@omanmc
The Voice France brought me here
@nyavomahefaandrianjatovo3402
2024?
@madeleineelhelou8153
Ma mère l a passé en boucle mon père était légionnaire
@joepesci680
Chaque légionnaire à cette époque serait mort pour elle après cette chanson.
@TheGuendar
De toute beauté
@sbellan69
mon légionnaire je l'ai oui dans ma vie ma flamme jumelle 🙏🔥❤🔥🙏 je t'aime 💚 💚
@philippejenvrin2741
Quelle voix ! Quelle talent ! Chanteuse inégalable !! La grande Piaf !
@adriaanvanderbiest1209
Piaf ❤
@diddine1000
2023?
@alessiarambaldi-fk1sw
Très belle chanson ❤❤