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.
Si je n'avais plus
Charles Aznavour Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Si ne n'avais plus
Plus qu'une heure à vivre
Une heure et pas plus
Je voudrais la vivre
Au creux de ton lit
Car j'aurais ma mie
Ma peur à combattre
Penché sur ta vie
Pour l'entendre battre
Je pourrais garder
Au fond de mon c?ur
Sous la terre froide
Un peu de chaleur
Que j'emporterais
Si je n'avais plus
Si je n'avais plus
Plus qu'une heure à vivre
Une heure et pas plus
Je voudrais la vivre
A l'aube d'un jour
Sur un lit d'amour
Pour n'avoir à dire
Que des mots d'amour
Pour te voir sourire
Et ne plus penser
Et ne plus penser
Qu'un autre après moi
Te verras sourire
Qu'un autre après moi
Pourra t'enlacer
Et dans un baiser
Et dans un baiser
Le corps apaisé
Le c?ur allégé
D'un million de doutes
Mon dernier sommeil
M'ouvrira la route
Qui mène au soleil
The lyrics of Charles Aznavour's song "Si je n'avais plus" translate to "If I only had one more hour to live, I would like to spend it with my lover on her bed, fighting off my own fears. I would listen to her heartbeat to keep a little warmth in my heart for when I will rest in peace, and then end my life with a final kiss."
The song is about fear of the unknown, of death and of losing someone you love. It highlights the power of love in the face of death and how it is the only thing that can truly bring us warmth and happiness in our final moments. The song is written in a romantic and poetic style, with beautiful and touching metaphors that capture the emotions of the singer as he faces the end of his life.
Overall, "Si je n'avais plus" is a poignant and powerful song that touches on the universal themes of love, loss, and mortality. The lyrics are simple but effective, conveying a deep sense of emotion and pathos that will resonate with anyone who has ever experienced the fear of death or the pain of love.
Line by Line Meaning
Si je n'avais plus
If I didn't have anything left
Si ne n'avais plus
If I had nothing left
Plus qu'une heure à vivre
Only one hour to live
Une heure et pas plus
One hour and no more
Je voudrais la vivre
I would want to live it
Au creux de ton lit
In the warmth of your bed
Car j'aurais ma mie
Because I would have my beloved
Ma peur à combattre
To fight my fear
Penché sur ta vie
Leaning on your life
Pour l'entendre battre
To hear it beating
Je pourrais garder
I could keep
Au fond de mon cœur
Deep in my heart
Sous la terre froide
Under the cold earth
Un peu de chaleur
A bit of warmth
Que j'emporterais
Which I would take with me
A l'aube d'un jour
At dawn of a day
Sur un lit d'amour
On a bed of love
Pour n'avoir à dire
To have nothing to say
Que des mots d'amour
But words of love
Pour te voir sourire
To see you smile
Et ne plus penser
And to no longer think
Qu'un autre après moi
That another after me
Te verras sourire
Will make you smile
Qu'un autre après moi
That another after me
Pourra t'enlacer
Will be able to embrace you
Et dans un baiser
And in a kiss
Le corps apaisé
The body at peace
Le cœur allégé
The heart lightened
D'un million de doutes
Of a million doubts
Mon dernier sommeil
My last sleep
M'ouvrira la route
Will open the road for me
Qui mène au soleil
That leads to the sun
Contributed by Jeremiah F. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Janine Izart
Chacune des chansons de CH. Aznavour est un chef d'oeuvre.
Il est irremplaçable
Et les souvenirs qu'il évoque pour ceux qui l'ont connu à ses débuts, sont un puits sans fond d'émotions incommunicables.
annette chellouf
toutes ses chansons c'est pour moi un ravissement merci pour ce partage
NoSpleen2.0
Un maestro, un chef-d’œuvre
annette chellouf
toutes ses chansons c'est pour moi un ravissement merci pour ce partage
Elisabeth Vignoli
C'est la chanson que j'aime par dessus tout.merci et Bonne Année à Charles Aznavour à TOUS.
Dora Dorly
Un jour nous nous retrouverons, tu me l'as promis. J'ai confiance en toi.
Ghislaine Durand
Juste bonheur
Ghislaine Durand
Elisabeth Vignoli avec plaisir
Elisabeth Vignoli
Ghislaine Durand merci Ghislaine à bientôt.
Ghislaine Durand
Elisabeth Vignoli toi aussi bonne soirée