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.
Il te suffisait que je t'aime
Charles Aznavour Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Quand on a sous le meme toit
Combattu la misère ensemble
Nous étions encore presqu'enfants
Et l'on disait en nous voyant
Regardez comme ils se ressemblent
Nous avons la main dans la main
Et résolu bien des problèmes
Le ventre vide en privation
Tu te nourrissais d'illusions
Il te suffisait que je t'aime
Nous avons lutté tant d'années
Que la fortune s'est donnée
Mais l'âge a pris ton insouciance
Tu te traînes comme un fardeau
Et ne ris plus à tout propos
Et pleures ton adolescence
Et passes du matin au soir
Des heures devant ton miroir
Essayant des fards et des crèmes
Et moi, je regrette parfois
Le temps où pour forger tes joies
Il te suffisait que je t'aime
Si je le pouvais mon amour
Pour toi j'arreterais le cours
Des heures qui vont et s'éteignent
Mais je ne peux rien y changer
Car je suis comme toi logé
Tu le sais à la meme enseigne
Ne cultive pas les regrets
Car on ne récolte jamais
Que les sentiments que l'on sème
Fais comme au temps des années d'or
Et souviens-toi qu'hier encore
Il te suffisait que je t'aime
Pour moi rien n'a vraiment changé
Je n'ai pas cessé de t'aimer
Car tu as toujours tout le charme
Que tu avais ce jour béni
Où devant Dieu tu as dit: "oui"
Avec des yeux baignés de larmes
Le printemps passe, et puis l'été
Mais l'automne a des joies cachées
Qu'il te faut découvrir toi-même
Oublie la cruauté du temps
Et rappelle-toi qu'à vingt ans
Il te suffisait que je t'aime
Il Te Suffisait Que Je T'Aime is an emotional love song by the famous French songwriter, Charles Aznavour. The song portrays the journey of a couple who were once young, but growing old, the woman has lost her joy, and she is a mere shadow of her former self. They began their lives together young, and they faced numerous hardships, from poverty, hunger, and other problems, which they conquered together. The two people were once very much alike, and the world saw them as such, even as they have grown older, and perhaps apart.
Although they have struggled and their fortunes eventually reversed, the woman is now unhappy with her aging and is always in front of the mirror trying to find beauty in the cosmetics, reflecting on her better pastimes. The man, however, still loves her, and she still possesses the beauty that captivated him in her youth. The singer says if he could stop time, he would, but he knows he cannot change anything hence encouraging her to let go of the regret and instead reflect on the good times.
In conclusion, Il Te Suffisait Que Je T'Aime is a love song that reflects on the journey of a couple who have faced numerous life challenges together, and grew old together. It portrays how the woman is unhappy with her aging and is looking for joy in cosmetic products, while the man still loves her and reminiscent of their youthful past.
Line by Line Meaning
Nous avions vingt ans toi et moi
At the age of twenty, you and I were still children.
Quand on a sous le meme toit
We lived together under the same roof.
Combattu la misère ensemble
We fought against poverty together.
Nous étions encore presqu'enfants
We were still almost children.
Et l'on disait en nous voyant
People said when they saw us,
Regardez comme ils se ressemblent
Look how much they resemble each other.
Nous avons la main dans la main
We held hands.
Surmonté les coups du destin
We overcame the blows of fate.
Et résolu bien des problèmes
And solved many problems.
Le ventre vide en privation
With empty stomachs due to privation.
Tu te nourrissais d'illusions
You fed on illusions.
Il te suffisait que je t'aime
All you needed was my love.
Nous avons lutté tant d'années
We fought for so many years.
Que la fortune s'est donnée
Until fortune smiled upon us.
Mais l'âge a pris ton insouciance
But age has robbed you of your carefree spirit.
Tu te traînes comme un fardeau
You drag yourself like a burden.
Et ne ris plus à tout propos
And no longer laugh at everything.
Et pleures ton adolescence
And mourn your lost youth.
Et passes du matin au soir
And spend your days from morning to night.
Des heures devant ton miroir
Hours in front of the mirror.
Essayant des fards et des crèmes
Trying on makeup and creams.
Et moi, je regrette parfois
And sometimes I regret
Le temps où pour forger tes joies
The time when all I needed was to love you
Il te suffisait que je t'aime
To bring you joy.
Si je le pouvais mon amour
If I could, my love,
Pour toi j'arreterais le cours
I would stop time for you.
Des heures qui vont et s'éteignent
The hours that come and go.
Mais je ne peux rien y changer
But I can't change anything.
Car je suis comme toi logé
Because I'm just like you.
Tu le sais à la meme enseigne
You know we're in the same boat.
Ne cultive pas les regrets
Don't dwell on regrets,
Car on ne récolte jamais
Because you never reap
Que les sentiments que l'on sème
Anything but the feelings you sow.
Fais comme au temps des années d'or
Act as you did in the golden years.
Et souviens-toi qu'hier encore
And remember that just yesterday,
Il te suffisait que je t'aime
All you needed was my love.
Pour moi rien n'a vraiment changé
For me, nothing has really changed
Je n'ai pas cessé de t'aimer
I haven't stopped loving you,
Car tu as toujours tout le charme
Because you still have all the charm
Que tu avais ce jour béni
You had on that blessed day
Où devant Dieu tu as dit: "oui"
When you said "yes" in front of God.
Avec des yeux baignés de larmes
With tears in your eyes.
Le printemps passe, et puis l'été
Spring passes, then summer.
Mais l'automne a des joies cachées
But autumn has hidden joys
Qu'il te faut découvrir toi-même
That you must discover for yourself.
Oublie la cruauté du temps
Forget the cruelty of time,
Et rappelle-toi qu'à vingt ans
And remember that at the age of twenty,
Il te suffisait que je t'aime
All you needed was my love.
Lyrics © EDITIONS MUSICALES DJANIK
Written by: Charles Aznavour
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@Ramlot18
Une de mes chansons préférées, repose en paix mon idole 🕊
@houssamel-mouaffak1434
Amen
@01mecheri
Wouahhh ... Amour sans faux-semblant que sont le décorum, la famille, les amis ... Mais juste deux cœurs purs et vrais ! Très belle chanson my Love !
@user-yl1ys4ve5q
One of Aznavour's best melodies & lyrics with a long breth...
@sidahmednacer1664
A ma Sophie Marchand que j'ai jamais oublier
@jean-louissella1315
Génial Aznavour
@lylianemarc7199
LE TEMPS PRESENT EST Là ET ILFAUT ËTRE REALISTE , A CHAQUE JOUR SUFFIT SA PEINE ! tu dois y arriver et t; en sortir IL LE FAUT ! et je le veux , pour toi et ton fils!!!!!!! et pour moi si cela est ton souhait
@jponot
merci
@my3enemiesinjusticeracismp731
ya pas comme Aznavour