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.
Les Comédiens
Charles Aznavour Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Voir les musiciens
Voir les magiciens
Qui arrivent
Viens voir les comédiens
Voir les musiciens
Voir les magiciens
Les comédiens ont installé leurs tréteaux
Ils ont dressé leur estrade
Et tendu des calicots
Les comédiens ont parcouru les faubourgs
Ils ont donné la parade
A grand renfort de tambour
Devant l'église une roulotte peinte en vert
Avec les chaises d'un théâtre à ciel ouvert
Et derrière eux comme un cortège en folie
Ils drainent tout le pays, les comédiens
Viens voir les comédiens
Voir les musiciens
Voir les magiciens
Qui arrivent
Viens voir les comédiens
Voir les musiciens
Voir les magiciens
Qui arrivent
Si vous voulez voir confondus les coquins
Dans une histoire un peu triste
Où tout s'arrange à la fin
Si vous aimez voir trembler les amoureux
Vous lamenter sur Baptiste
Ou rire avec les heureux
Poussez la toile et entrez donc vous installer
Sous les étoiles le rideau va se lever
Quand les trois coups retentiront dans la nuit
Ils vont renaître à la vie, les comédiens
Viens voir les comédiens
Voir les musiciens
Voir les magiciens
Qui arrivent
Viens voir les comédiens
Voir les musiciens
Voir les magiciens
Qui arrivent
Les comédiens ont démonté leurs tréteaux
Ils ont ôté leur estrade
Et plié les calicots
Ils laisseront au fond du cœur de chacun
Un peu de la sérénade
Et du bonheur d'Arlequin
Demain matin quand le soleil va se lever
Ils seront loin, et nous croirons avoir rêvé
Mais pour l'instant ils traversent dans la nuit
D'autres villages endormis, les comédiens
Viens voir les comédiens
Les musiciens
Les magiciens
Qui arrivent
Viens voir les comédiens
Les musiciens
Les magiciens
Qui arrivent
Viens voir les comédiens
Les musiciens
Les magiciens
Qui arrivent
Viens voir les comédiens
Les musiciens
Les magiciens
Qui arrivent
Viens voir les comédiens
Les musiciens
Les magiciens
Qui arrivent
In Charles Aznavour’s classic French song "Les comédiens," the singer invites the listener to come see the actors, musicians, and magicians who have arrived. He urges the listener to come see the performers who have set up their stage, raised their banners, and traveled through the outskirts to perform. They have a green-painted caravan with chairs from an open-air theater in front of the church, and they are followed by a procession of people.
Aznavour goes on to invite the listener to watch the actors and laugh with the happy ones, cry with the sad, and become enamored with the romantics. He encourages the listener to push the curtain aside and be transported to the world of theater. When the three knocks resound through the night, he assures the listener that the performers will come back to life, rejuvenated by the sounds of the audience applauding.
The song concludes with Aznavour conveying that the performers have packed up, and the listener will be left with memories of their performance. The performers will move on to other towns, and the people will be left with the sweet music of Arlequin's happiness in their hearts.
Line by Line Meaning
Viens voir les comédiens
Come see the actors
Voir les musiciens
See the musicians
Voir les magiciens
See the magicians
Qui arrivent
Who are arriving
Les comédiens ont installé leurs tréteaux
The actors have set up their platforms
Ils ont dressé leur estrade
They have set up their stage
Et tendu des calicots
And hung banners
Les comédiens ont parcouru les faubourgs
The actors have traveled through the suburbs
Ils ont donné la parade
They have given their parade
A grand renfort de tambour
With a lot of drumming
Devant l'église une roulotte peinte en vert
In front of the church, a green painted caravan
Avec les chaises d'un théâtre à ciel ouvert
With the chairs of an open-air theater
Et derrière eux comme un cortège en folie
And behind them, like a wild procession
Ils drainent tout le pays, les comédiens
They attract the whole country, the actors
Si vous voulez voir confondus les coquins
If you want to see the scoundrels confused
Dans une histoire un peu triste
In a slightly sad story
Où tout s'arrange à la fin
Where everything turns out fine in the end
Si vous aimez voir trembler les amoureux
If you like to see lovers tremble
Vous lamenter sur Baptiste
To lament over Baptiste
Ou rire avec les heureux
Or laugh with the happy ones
Poussez la toile et entrez donc vous installer
Push the door and come and sit down
Sous les étoiles le rideau va se lever
Under the stars the curtain will rise
Quand les trois coups retentiront dans la nuit
When the three knocks will resound in the night
Ils vont renaître à la vie, les comédiens
The actors will be reborn
Les comédiens ont démonté leurs tréteaux
The actors have dismantled their platforms
Ils ont ôté leur estrade
They have removed their stage
Et plié les calicots
And folded the banners
Ils laisseront au fond du cœur de chacun
They will leave in everyone's heart
Un peu de la sérénade
A little of the serenade
Et du bonheur d'Arlequin
And the happiness of Harlequin
Demain matin quand le soleil va se lever
Tomorrow morning when the sun rises
Ils seront loin, et nous croirons avoir rêvé
They will be gone, and we will think we dreamed
Mais pour l'instant ils traversent dans la nuit
But for now, they are crossing through the night
D'autres villages endormis, les comédiens
Other sleeping villages, the actors
Viens voir les comédiens
Come see the actors
Les musiciens
The musicians
Les magiciens
The magicians
Qui arrivent
Who are arriving
Viens voir les comédiens
Come see the actors
Les musiciens
The musicians
Les magiciens
The magicians
Qui arrivent
Who are arriving
Viens voir les comédiens
Come see the actors
Les musiciens
The musicians
Les magiciens
The magicians
Qui arrivent
Who are arriving
Viens voir les comédiens
Come see the actors
Les musiciens
The musicians
Les magiciens
The magicians
Qui arrivent
Who are arriving
Viens voir les comédiens
Come see the actors
Les musiciens
The musicians
Les magiciens
The magicians
Qui arrivent
Who are arriving
Lyrics © EDITIONS MUSICALES DJANIK
Written by: Charles Aznavour, Jacques Plante
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind