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.
Noël à Paris
Charles Aznavour Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Et nous sommes à Paris
C'est Noël chéri
Et tous ceux que nous aimons sont loin
Bien loin d'ici
Étrange fête
Sans nos enfants, sans nos parents,
Sans nos amis,
Ma chérie
C'est Noël mon coeur
Et nous sommes à l'hôtel
Moi le voyageur
Moi le nomade éternel
Toujours tombant du ciel
Et que m'importe
Seule avec toi je suis heureuse
Au coin du feu
Tous les sapins du monde tu les portes
Dans tes yeux
Restons ici, n'allons pas à l'église
J'ai fait dresser la table pour dîner
La chambre est toute encombrée de valises
Mais il faut peu de place pour s'aimer
C'est Noël chéri
Et nous voici réunis
Dans Paris tout gris
Tout maussade et tout contrit
Sans neige et sous la pluie
Dieu me pardonne
Nous connaîtrons des réveillons plus solennels
Ce soir embrassons-nous car minuit sonne
C'est Noël
The lyrics of Charles Aznavour's song "Noël À Paris" tell the story of a couple spending Christmas in Paris, far away from their loved ones. The first stanza expresses the melancholic feeling that comes with the holiday season, as it is a time to be with family and friends, yet they are alone, only with each other. As they sit down to have supper together, they are reminded of the distance that separates them from the ones they love but comforted by each other's company.
The second stanza describes the singer as a nomad, always on the move, yet finding solace with their partner, especially during the holiday season. They have no need for the material things that the holiday brings; they only need each other. The singer asks their partner not to go to church, instead preferring to have dinner in their hotel room. They know that true love requires very little and that they can create their own joy on this special night.
The song's lyrics touch on the isolation that can come with being away from family and friends during the holiday season. The couple is together but feels disconnected from the merriment happening in other parts of Paris. Nonetheless, they find meaning in their love for one another and create their own special holiday magic.
Line by Line Meaning
C'est Noël chéri
It's Christmas darling
Et nous sommes à Paris
And we are in Paris
C'est Noël chéri
It's Christmas darling
Et tous ceux que nous aimons sont loin
And all those we love are far away
Bien loin d'ici
Very far from here
Étrange fête
Strange celebration
Sans nos enfants, sans nos parents,
Without our children, without our parents
Sans nos amis,
Without our friends
Ce soir nous souperons en tête à tête
Tonight we will dine alone, just the two of us
Ma chérie
My darling
C'est Noël mon coeur
It's Christmas my heart
Et nous sommes à l'hôtel
And we are at the hotel
Moi le voyageur
Me, the traveler
Moi le nomade éternel
Me, the eternal nomad
Toujours tombant du ciel
Always falling from the sky
Et que m'importe
And what does it matter to me
Seule avec toi je suis heureuse
Alone with you I am happy
Au coin du feu
By the fire
Tous les sapins du monde tu les portes
You carry all the Christmas trees in the world in your eyes
Dans tes yeux
In your eyes
Restons ici, n'allons pas à l'église
Let's stay here, let's not go to church
J'ai fait dresser la table pour dîner
I had the table set for dinner
La chambre est toute encombrée de valises
The room is cluttered with suitcases
Mais il faut peu de place pour s'aimer
But love takes up little space
C'est Noël chéri
It's Christmas darling
Et nous voici réunis
And here we are together
Dans Paris tout gris
In gray Paris
Tout maussade et tout contrit
All sad and gloomy
Sans neige et sous la pluie
Without snow and in the rain
Dieu me pardonne
God forgive me
Nous connaîtrons des réveillons plus solennels
We will have more solemn Christmases
Ce soir embrassons-nous car minuit sonne
Tonight let's kiss because midnight is ringing
C'est Noël
It's Christmas
Contributed by Maya R. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@paris-wb4vi
Je vis avec les chansons de Charles Aznavour et j'aime l'âme heureuse de l'homme de Dieu
@nairapirumyan3379
❤❤🎶🌞🤶🌲
@princessendiaye5176
Bon fête de Noël à tous 🎄🎄🎄💚
@janineb309
Réciproquement à vous avec cette immortelle pièce . Une pensée à toutes les personnes de ce monde en souffrance 💚🌲
@juliogonzalez5032
Toi aussi
@nairapirumyan3379
💖🌞❤🌲🤶
@leo_599xd
Que bendicion
@oscargallego5854
que bendicion
@AgusXzz
Que bendicion
@Anto-Edits.
Que bendicion