Aznavour has sung for presidents, popes and royalty, as well as at humanitarian events. In response to the 1988 Armenian earthquake, he founded the charitable organization Aznavour for Armenia along with his long-time friend impresario Levon Sayan. In 2009, he was appointed ambassador of Armenia to Switzerland, as well as Armenia's permanent delegate to the United Nations at Geneva. On 24 August 2017, Aznavour was awarded the 2,618th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. On 17 September 2018, his last concert took place in NHK Hall, Tokyo.
Charles Aznavour died on 1 October 2018.
Charles Aznavour was perhaps the best-known French music hall entertainer in the world -- renowned the world over for the bittersweet love songs he has written and sung, which seem to embody the essence of French popular song, and also for his appearances on screen in such wildly divergent fare as Shoot the Piano Player, Candy, and The Tin Drum. His status as the quintessential French popular culture icon is something of an irony for a man who identifies himself most closely with his Armenian heritage. His father was a singer and sometime-restaurateur, while his mother was an actress and part-time seamstress. His father's singing, done in a notably impassioned style, heavily influenced Aznavour's approach to singing as a boy. Although he had a voracious appetite for music, he also had a serious impediment growing up, in the form of a paralyzed vocal cord that gave his voice a raspy quality. He channeled some of his energy into theater, making both his stage and screen debuts at age nine, in 1933, in the theater piece Un bon petit diable and in the film La guerre des gosses. As an adolescent, he danced in nightclubs and sold newspapers, as well as touring with theatrical companies, and he wrote a nightclub act in partnership with Pierre Roche -- Aznavour wrote the lyrics to their songs and it was through that material that he began his singing career. Early on, he learned to overcome his fears about his vocal limitations, in part with help from singing legend Édith Piaf, for whom he worked as a chauffeur, among other capacities; with her help, he developed a style that suited his capabilities and played to his strengths and also continued writing songs in earnest, some of which were performed by Piaf.
His success came very slowly, however. Aznavour at first found some difficulty being accepted as a composer in France or anywhere else. His compositions, although considered tame by any modern standard, were regarded as too risqué for French radio and were banned from the airwaves for a decade or more, from the late '40s through the end of the 1950s; American publishers seemed equally reticent about them, as he discovered on a visit to New York in 1948. That trip did yield his first performing engagement in the city, however, at the Cafe Society Downtown in Greenwich Village. For the next decade, Aznavour made his living as a performer in second-tier clubs and middle- or bottom-of-the-bill berths on three continents. His mix of daringly original and frank love songs, coupled with a limited but very expressive singing style, left audiences somewhat bewildered at first.
His breakthrough came in 1956, during a vaudeville engagement in Casablanca, where the audience reaction was so positive that Aznavour was moved to headliner status. After this, it became easier for the singer to find better engagements in France; by 1958 he even had a recording contract. He made his screen debut that same year in a dramatic role, playing an epileptic in George Franju's La tête contre les murs. He also composed music for Alex Joff's Du rififi chez les femmes in 1958; From there, he moved on to bigger roles in better movies, including Jean Cocteau's Testament of Orpheus and Francois Truffaut's Shoot the Piano Player. The latter movie turned Aznavour into a screen star in France and opened the way for his breakthrough in America. He sang at Carnegie Hall in the early '60s and followed this up in 1965 with a one-man show, The World of Charles Aznavour, at the Ambassador Hotel in New York, which drew rave notices from audiences and critics alike. By that time, the once-struggling singer had secured his first American LP release with the similarly titled album The World of Charles Aznavour on Reprise Records, the label founded and run by Frank Sinatra.
Aznavour would be the last to compare himself with those whom he regards as truly gifted vocalists, such as Sinatra and Mel Tormé, preferring to think of himself as a composer who also happens to sing. His style of performing has been compared variously to Maurice Chevalier and Sinatra and has remained enduringly popular for four decades. Almost all of Aznavour's songs deal with love and its permutations, running the gamut from upbeat, joyous pieces such as Après l'amour and J'ai perdu la tête to the dark-hued J'en déduis que je t'aime and Bon anniversaire. A teetotaler and a racing car enthusiast, Aznavour has been married three times and has four children.
Au creux de mon épaule
Charles Aznavour Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Si j'ai noirci ton passé
Viens pleurer
Au creux de mon épaule
Viens tout contre moi
Et si je fus maladroit
Je t'en prie, chérie, pardonne-moi
Laisse ta pudeur
Du plus profond de ton cœur
Viens pleurer
Au creux de mon épaule
Oublie si tu peux
Nos querelles d'amoureux
Et chérie
Nous pourrons être heureux
Oh, mon amour
Ne m'enlève pas le souffle
De ma vie
Ni mes joies
Pour ce qui ne fût
Qu'un instant de folie
Ne dis pas adieu
Nous serions trop malheureux
Viens pleurer
Au creux de mon épaule
Car si tu partais
Si mon bonheur se brisait
Mon amour
C'est moi qui pleurerais
Oh, oh, mon amour
Ne m'enlève pas le souffle
De ma vie, ni mes joies
Pour ce qui ne fût
Qu'un instant de folie
Ne dis pas adieu
Nous serions trop malheureux
Viens pleurer
Au creux de mon épaule
Car si tu partais
Si mon bonheur se brisait
Mon amour
C'est moi qui pleurerais
The lyrics of Charles Aznavour's "Au Creux De Mon Épaule" tell a story of a lover who has hurt their partner in the past but is now offering comfort and asking for forgiveness. The singer acknowledges their mistakes and asks for their partner's forgiveness in a longing and tender tone. The lyrics express a sense of vulnerability and a need for connection, with the singer asking the listener to come to them and cry on their shoulder. The repeated phrase "Viens pleurer au creux de mon épaule" (come cry in the hollow of my shoulder) emphasizes this desire for intimacy and closeness.
As the song continues, the singer pleads with their partner not to leave them, promising that they would be the one to cry if their happiness were shattered. The final line, "Mon amour, c'est moi qui pleurerais" (my love, it's I who would cry), reinforces the idea that the singer is willing to be vulnerable and offer comfort to their partner in order to maintain their relationship.
Overall, "Au Creux De Mon Épaule" is a powerful and emotional love song that explores themes of forgiveness, vulnerability, and the need for human connection.
Line by Line Meaning
Si je t'ai blessée
If I have hurt you
Si j'ai noirci ton passé
If I have darkened your past
Viens pleurer au creux de mon épaule
Come cry on my shoulder
Viens tout contre moi
Come close to me
Et si je fus maladroit
And if I was clumsy
Je t'en prie, chérie, pardonne-moi
I beg you, dear, forgive me
Laisse ta pudeur
Leave your modesty
Du plus profond de ton coeur
From the depths of your heart
Oublie si tu peux
Forget if you can
Nos querelles d'amoureux
Our lovers' quarrels
Et, chérie, nous pourrons être heureux
And, dear, we can be happy
Ô, mon amour
Oh, my love
Ne m'enlève pas le souffle de ma vie
Do not take away the breath of my life
Ni mes joies
Nor my joys
Pour ce qui ne fut qu'un instant de folie
For what was only a moment of madness
Ne dis pas adieu
Do not say goodbye
Nous serions trop malheureux
We would be too unhappy
Car si tu partais
Because if you left
Si mon bonheur se brisait
If my happiness shattered
Mon amour, c'est moi qui pleurerais
My love, it is I who would cry
Lyrics © RAOUL BRETON EDITIONS
Written by: Charles Aznavour
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@lilitsahakyan8365
… Si je t'ai blessée
Si j'ai noirci ton passé
Viens pleurer au creux de mon épaule
Viens tout contre moi
Et si je fus maladroit
Je t'en prie, chérie, pardonne-moi
Laisse ta pudeur
Du plus profond de ton cœur
… Viens pleurer au creux de mon épaule
Oublie si tu peux
Nos querelles d'amoureux
Et chérie, nous pourrons être heureux
… Oh, mon amour
Ne m'enlève pas le souffle
De ma vie, ni mes joies
Pour ce qui ne fût qu'un instant de folie
Ne dis pas adieu
Nous serions trop malheureux
… Viens pleurer au creux de mon épaule
Car si tu partais
Si mon bonheur se brisait
Mon amour, c'est moi qui pleurerais
… Oh, mon amour
Ne m'enlève pas le souffle
De ma vie, ni mes joies
Pour ce qui ne fût qu'un instant de folie
Ne dis pas adieu
Nous serions trop malheureux
… Viens pleurer au creux de mon épaule
Car si tu partais
Si mon bonheur se brisait
Mon amour c'est moi qui pleurerais
@inconnu9844
Je ne parviens pas à écouter cette chanson( et d'autres de Charles) sans verser une larme et mes yeux se mouillent immédiatement!!Comment est-ce possible?
@pamelie5671
tout a fait je suis comme vous c est tres belles chansons me donne souvent des frissons c est pas croyable et c est tres vrai ca fait plus 65 ans que je l ecoute je l adore
@inconnu9844
@P amelie Idem ici.Mon divorce s'est résolu,amenuisé en écoutant ses 40 chansons d'or!!
@Di-Mi-TRi
Les musiques modernes sont enregistré sur une tonalité différente, on utilise quasiment plus le 432 hz, les musiques modernes n'atteignent plus l'âme.
@emiliepalazon5738
Ces merveilleuses chansons anciennes sont aussi des chefs d oeuvres inoubliable comme toute les 14oo qui la ecrite❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
@chantalsinanian8370
CHARLES TU COMPRENAIT SI BIEN LES FEMMES ET L AMOUR MERCI
@smoothie3488
Mon Papou mon papou😭😭😭en larmes je suis
@bessiraalagoz7933
Pour ce qui fut , un instant de folie
@Lalagartitita
Une merveille cette chanson...
@JoanMoreauyt
J’aurais aimé voir un jour cette artiste mais malheureusement il est mort j’aisepaire que je le rencontrerais la haut