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.
Esperanza
Charles Aznavour Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Le bonheur en nos cœurs suit son cours
Esperanza, Esperanza
Et l'espoir est en nous mon amour
L'amour est né de tous petits riens
De gestes anodins
Prenant forme malgré nous
S'est épanoui dans nos rêves un peu fous
Et pourtant au lieu de louer la providence
Et cette chance bien à l'avance
Tu veux savoir si plus tard je serai le même
Mais puisque je t'aime et que tu m'aimes
Oublie tout pour aimer, vis le moment qui vient
Et n'ait pas peur de tes lendemains
Qu'adviendra-t-il de nous
Qu'importe c'est la vie
Je ne connais en tout que ce cri
Cesse chérie de te tourmenter
De te torturer, tu t'inquiètes à quoi bon
Car ces pensées qui te font du mal
Me semblent anormales
Tu te ronges sans raisons
Crois-moi, oublie pour toujours ce qui te tracasse
Et tes angoisses car le temps passe
Et ce qui est perdu jamais ne revient rire
Mais sans rien dire il se retire
Tu vois, moi, je prend jour aux lueurs de ton cœur
Pourtant de notre amour le meilleur
Ne sachant si demain peux donner du nouveau
J'ai confié mon destin à ce mot
Esperanza, which means "hope" in Spanish, is a song by Charles Aznavour that talks about love and hope. The lyrics talk about how love is born from little things and gestures that take shape and grow in our hearts. The singer encourages his lover to forget about worrying about the future and instead live in the moment and enjoy their love. He assures her that even though they may not know what the future holds, they should not be afraid because life is unpredictable, and they should focus on the present and cherish their love. The word Esperanza is recurring in the chorus, signifying that hope is what will keep them going, and they should never lose it.
The first verse of the song discusses how happiness is continuing to exist in their hearts, despite the ups and downs of life. The second verse is the singer reassuring his lover not to worry about things that are out of their control and just live the moment. The bridge of the song talks about how love has its uncertainties, but the singer has decided to leave his fate to Esperanza, which is hope.
Esperanza was released in 1995 and was a major hit in Europe, particularly in France and Italy, where it reached the top of the charts. Despite being released later in his career, it remains one of Aznavour's most popular songs.
Line by Line Meaning
Esperanza, Esperanza
Hope, Hope
Le bonheur en nos cœurs suit son cours
Happiness in our hearts is following its course
Esperanza, Esperanza
Hope, Hope
Et l'espoir est en nous mon amour
And hope is within us, my love
L'amour est né de tous petits riens
Love was born from small things
De gestes anodins
From meaningless gestures
Prenant forme malgré nous
Taking shape despite ourselves
Et dans nos cœurs il a fait son nid
And in our hearts, it made its nest
S'est épanoui dans nos rêves un peu fous
Bloomed in our slightly crazy dreams
Et pourtant au lieu de louer la providence
And yet instead of praising providence
Et cette chance bien à l'avance
And this chance in advance
Tu veux savoir si plus tard je serai le même
You want to know if I'll be the same later
Mais puisque je t'aime et que tu m'aimes
But since I love you and you love me
Oublie tout pour aimer, vis le moment qui vient
Forget everything to love, live in the moment that's coming
Et n'ait pas peur de tes lendemains
And don't be afraid of your tomorrows
Qu'importe c'est la vie
What matters is life
Je ne connais en tout que ce cri
I only know this scream in everything
Cesse chérie de te tourmenter
Stop tormenting yourself, my dear
De te torturer, tu t'inquiètes à quoi bon
Of torturing yourself, what's the point of worrying
Car ces pensées qui te font du mal
Because these thoughts that hurt you
Me semblent anormales
Seem abnormal to me
Tu te ronges sans raisons
You're gnawing at yourself for no reason
Crois-moi, oublie pour toujours ce qui te tracasse
Believe me, forget forever what bothers you
Et tes angoisses car le temps passe
And your anxieties because time passes
Et ce qui est perdu jamais ne revient rire
And what is lost never comes back laughing
Mais sans rien dire il se retire
But without saying anything, it withdraws
Tu vois, moi, je prend jour aux lueurs de ton cœur
You see, I take day to the dawn of your heart
Pourtant de notre amour le meilleur
Yet the best of our love
Ne sachant si demain peux donner du nouveau
Not knowing if tomorrow can bring something new
J'ai confié mon destin à ce mot
I entrusted my destiny to this word
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Peermusic Publishing
Written by: CHARLES AZNAVOUR, RAMON CABRERA ARGOTE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Herberth Martins Santos
Lindíssima canção!Bravo!!
Helona 13
il avait 38 ans ... un de ses premiers succès. Inoubliable ...
Alain Cubeddu
Esperanza, Esperanza
Le bonheur en nos c?urs suit son cours
Esperanza, Esperanza
Et l'espoir est en nous mon amour
L'amour est né de tous petits riens
De gestes anodins
Prenant forme malgré nous
Et dans nos c?urs il a fait son nid
S'est épanoui dans nos rêves un peu fous
Et pourtant au lieu de louer la providence
Et cette chance bien à l'avance
Tu veux savoir si plus tard je serai le même
Mais puisque je t'aime et que tu m'aimes
Oublie tout pour aimer, vis le moment qui vient
Et n'ait pas peur de tes lendemains
Qu'adviendra-t-il de nous
Qu'importe c'est la vie
Je ne connais en tout que ce cri
[Refrain]
Cesse chérie de te tourmenter
De te torturer, tu t'inquiètes à quoi bon
Car ces pensées qui te font du mal
Me semblent anormales
Tu te ronges sans raisons
Crois-moi, oublie pour toujours ce qui te tracasse
Et tes angoisses car le temps passe
Et ce qui est perdu jamais ne revient rire
Mais sans rien dire il se retire
Tu vois, moi, je prend jour aux lueurs de ton c?ur
Pourtant de notre amour le meilleur
Ne sachant si demain peux donner du nouveau
J'ai confié mon destin à ce mot
[Refrain]