Édith Piaf (born Édith Giovanna Gassion, 19 December, 1915 – 11 October, 19… Read Full Bio ↴Édith Piaf (born Édith Giovanna Gassion, 19 December, 1915 – 11 October, 1963), was a French singer and cultural icon who became universally regarded as France's greatest popular singer. Her singing reflected her life, with her specialty being ballads. Among her songs are "La Vie en rose" (1946), "Non, je ne regrette rien" (1960), "Hymne à l'amour" (1949), "Milord" (1959), "La Foule" (1957), "l'Accordéoniste" (1955), and "Padam... Padam..." (1951).

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.

Quand Meme
Édith Piaf Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Le bonheur quotidien,
Vraiment, ne me dit rien.
La vertu n'est que faiblesse
Qui voit sa fin dans le ciel.
Je préfère la promesse
Des paradis artificiels.
Je sais qu'à la porte d'un bar
Où j'aurai bu jusqu'à l'extreme,

On ramassera quelque part
Mon corps brûlé sur un brancard.
Je bois quand meme...
Que sous la drogue lentement,
D'extase en extase supreme,
Je m'approche implacablement
Du sombre asile des déments.
J'en prends quand meme...
Je sais qu'en la femme fatale,
Dans les bras d'un amant trop bleme,
S'infiltrera l'horrible mal
Dont on crève au lit d'hôpital.
J'aime quand meme...

Mes sens inapaisés,
Cherchant pour se griser
L'aventure des nuits louches,
Apportez-moi du nouveau.
Le désir crispe ma bouche.
La volupté brûle ma peau.
Je sais qu'à la porte d'un bar
Où j'aurai bu jusqu'à l'extreme,
On ramassera quelque part
Mon corps brûlé sur un brancard.
Je bois quand meme...
Que sous la drogue lentement,
D'extase en extase supreme,
Je m'approche implacablement
Du sombre asile des déments.
J'en prends quand meme...
Je sais qu'en la femme fatale,
Dans les bras d'un amant trop bleme,
S'infiltrera l'horrible mal

Dont on crève au lit d'hôpital.
J'aime quand meme...

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to Édith Piaf's song "Quand Même" convey a profound reflection on the pursuit of happiness and fulfillment in life. The opening lines, "Le bonheur quotidien, vraiment, ne me dit rien" (Daily happiness truly means nothing to me), suggest a dissatisfaction with the mundane pleasures of everyday life. The following line, "La vertu n'est que faiblesse qui voit sa fin dans le ciel" (Virtue is but weakness that sees its end in the sky), implies a belief that virtuous living is futile and lacks true fulfillment. Instead, Piaf prefers the allure and promise of "paradis artificiels" (artificial paradises), which could refer to indulging in vices or escaping reality through substances.

The lyrics continue to highlight Piaf's acceptance of the consequences of her choices, even if they lead to self-destruction. She acknowledges that her excessive drinking could lead to her body being found on a stretcher outside a bar. Similarly, she acknowledges that indulging in drugs will bring her closer to the dark asylum of the insane. Yet, she continues to drink and take drugs regardless, suggesting a preference for momentary pleasure and escape over long-term well-being.

The second verse explores Piaf's insatiable desires and her need for constant stimulation to feel alive. She seeks the thrill of "nuits louches" (dubious nights) and desires new experiences that can intoxicate her senses. She acknowledges the destructive nature of her pursuits but cannot resist them. Piaf recognizes that even in the arms of a lover, the terrible illness of suffering will infiltrate their existence, leading to eventual death in a hospital bed. Nonetheless, she still loves, suggesting a willingness to embrace the pain and pleasure that love can bring.

Overall, "Quand Même" captures Édith Piaf's complex and contradictory view on life, where she finds solace in escaping reality through vices and accepts the consequences, all while yearning for intense experiences and love, despite their inevitable hardships.

Line by Line Meaning

Le bonheur quotidien,
The daily happiness,

Vraiment, ne me dit rien.
Truly, means nothing to me.

La vertu n'est que faiblesse
Virtue is nothing but weakness

Qui voit sa fin dans le ciel.
Which sees its end in the sky.

Je préfère la promesse
I prefer the promise

Des paradis artificiels.
Of artificial paradises.

Je sais qu'à la porte d'un bar
I know that at the door of a bar

Où j'aurai bu jusqu'à l'extreme,
Where I will have drunk to the extreme,

On ramassera quelque part
They will collect somewhere

Mon corps brûlé sur un brancard.
My burnt body on a stretcher.

Je bois quand meme...
I still drink...

Que sous la drogue lentement,
That under the drug slowly,

D'extase en extase supreme,
From ecstasy to supreme ecstasy,

Je m'approche implacablement
I approach mercilessly

Du sombre asile des déments.
The dark asylum of the insane.

J'en prends quand meme...
I still take it...

Je sais qu'en la femme fatale,
I know that in the femme fatale

Dans les bras d'un amant trop bleme,
In the arms of a lover too pale,

S'infiltrera l'horrible mal
The horrible illness will infiltrate

Dont on crève au lit d'hôpital.
That we perish from in the hospital bed.

J'aime quand meme...
I still love...

Mes sens inapaisés,
My restless senses,

Cherchant pour se griser
Seeking to get intoxicated

L'aventure des nuits louches,
The adventure of shady nights,

Apportez-moi du nouveau.
Bring me something new.

Le désir crispe ma bouche.
Desire clenches my mouth.

La volupté brûle ma peau.
Voluptuousness burns my skin.