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.
Oublie Loulou
Charles Aznavour Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
D'une demoiselle Loulou
C'était une obsession
J'en perdais la raison
Je n'avais plus d'appétit
Je ne dormais plus la nuit
Et tous mes amis
Me disait ceci:
Oublie oublie Loulou
Mais oublie, mais oublie Loulou
Oublie-la donc
Oublie, oublie Loulou
Mais oublie, mais oublie Loulou
Oublie la-donc
Si tu ne le veux pas
Tu ne le peux pas
Tu ne le pourras pas ah! ah!
Si tu le veux
Tu le peux
C'est un jeux
Et voilà ah!
Oublie oublie Loulou
Mais oublie, mais oublie Loulou
Oublie-la donc
Oublie, oublie Loulou
Mais oublie, mais oublie Loulou
Oublie la-donc
A quoi bon t'en faire de la bile
Ne fait donc pas l'imbécile
Mon ami, je te dis
C'est la vie
Mais oublie mais oublie-la
Je vivais un cauchemar
J'en avais le cafard
Effroyables moments
Ou je claquais des dents
Et tout autour de moi
Je croyais entendre des voix
Ces voix jour et nuit
Me disais ceci:
Oublie oublie Loulou
Mais oublie, mais oublie Loulou
Oublie-la donc
Oublie, oublie Loulou
Mais oublie, mais oublie Loulou
Oublie la-donc
Si tu ne le veux pas
Tu ne le peux pas
Tu ne le pourras pas ah! ah!
Si tu le veux
Tu le peux
C'est un jeux
Et voilà ah!
Oublie oublie Loulou
Mais oublie, mais oublie Loulou
Oublie-la donc
Oublie, oublie Loulou
Mais oublie, mais oublie Loulou
Oublie la-donc
Et en parcourant la ville
J'ai trouvé une autre idylle
Qui m'a dit: "Mon ami
C'est la vie
Mais oublie, mais oublie-la"
Oublie oublie Loulou
Mais oublie, mais oublie Loulou
Oublie-la donc
Oublie, oublie Loulou
Mais oublie, mais oublie Loulou
Oublie la-donc
Si tu ne le veux pas
Tu ne le peux pas
Tu ne le pourras pas ah! ah!
Si tu le veux
Tu le peux
C'est un jeux
Et voilà ah!
Oublie oublie Loulou
Mais oublie, mais oublie Loulou
Oublie-la donc
Oublie, oublie Loulou
Mais oublie, mais oublie Loulou
Oublie la-donc
Et en parcourant la ville
J'ai trouvé une autre idylle
Qui m'a dit: "Mon ami
C'est la vie
Mais oublie-la"
The song "Oublie Loulou" by Charles Aznavour depicts the story of a man who was madly in love with a woman named Loulou, but it was an unhealthy obsession that had taken over his life. He had lost his appetite and couldn't sleep because of his feelings for her. His friends were worried about him and advised him to forget her, but he couldn't. He was haunted by her presence all the time, and he even started hearing her voice. It was a nightmare for him, and he was sinking deeper into depression until he found someone else who helped him move on.
The lyrics convey the message that sometimes we need to let things go and move on from them for our own well-being. The man's friends and the person he meets in the end advise him to forget Loulou as it is the best thing for him. The repetition of the phrase "Oublie Loulou" strengthens the message and shows how important it is to forget her. The song shows that sometimes we need to accept that things don't work out the way we want them to and move on to find happiness.
Overall, "Oublie Loulou" is a beautiful song that conveys an important message about the importance of letting go of unhealthy attachments and finding happiness elsewhere.
Line by Line Meaning
J'étais amoureux fou
I was madly in love
D'une demoiselle Loulou
With a girl named Loulou
C'était une obsession
It was an obsession
J'en perdais la raison
I was losing my mind
Je n'avais plus d'appétit
I had lost my appetite
Je ne dormais plus la nuit
I wasn't sleeping at night
Et tous mes amis
And all my friends
Me disait ceci:
Were telling me this:
Oublie oublie Loulou
Forget, forget Loulou
Mais oublie, mais oublie Loulou
But forget, forget Loulou
Oublie-la donc
So forget her
Si tu ne le veux pas
If you don't want to
Tu ne le peux pas
You can't do it
Tu ne le pourras pas ah! ah!
You won't be able to, ah! ah!
Si tu le veux
If you want to
Tu le peux
You can do it
C'est un jeu
It's a game
Et voilà ah!
And there you have it, ah!
A quoi bon t'en faire de la bile
What's the point of getting upset
Ne fait donc pas l'imbécile
Don't act foolish
Mon ami, je te dis
My friend, I tell you
C'est la vie
It's life
Je vivais un cauchemar
I was living a nightmare
J'en avais le cafard
I was depressed
Effroyables moments
Terrible moments
Ou je claquais des dents
Where I was chattering my teeth
Et tout autour de moi
And all around me
Je croyais entendre des voix
I thought I was hearing voices
Et en parcourant la ville
And while wandering through the city
J'ai trouvé une autre idylle
I found another love affair
Qui m'a dit: "Mon ami
Who told me: "My friend
C'est la vie
It's life
Mais oublie, mais oublie-la"
But forget, but forget her"
Contributed by Aiden N. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Guto Chaves
Il existe deux types de chansons ... L'éternel et qui ne sont rien! Il s'agit d'un bel exemple de la chanson éternelle.
Valentin2611
Extraordinaire
Anna Hakobyan
R.I.P Charles Aznavour - 1924 - 2018
cacanka77
J'adore <3 Even if I don't speak French in a level I want to :)
Benzene
I love you Charles Aznavour :(