Despite the numerous biographies, many facts and events of Édith's life are shrouded in mystery. She was born Édith Giovanna Gassion in Belleville, Paris, France, the high-immigration district later described by Daniel Pennac. Legend has it that she was born on the pavement of Rue de Belleville 72 but according to her birth certificate that was at Hôpital Tenon, the Belleville arrondissement hospital. She was named Édith after the executed British nurse Edith Cavell (Piaf —Parisian jargon for "sparrow"— came from a nickname she would receive twenty years later).
Her mother, Annetta Giovanna Maillard (1898 – 1945), was a partly-Italian 17-year-old girl, native of Livorno, working as a café singer under the pseudonym Line Marsa; from her, Édith took the middle name of Giovanna. Her father, Louis-Alphonse Gassion (1881 – 1944), was a street acrobat with a theatrical past. The little Édith was soon abandoned and left for a short time to her maternal grandmother, Mena (probably a Kabyle). Shortly after, Édith's father brought the child to his mother, who ran a brothel in Normandy, and then joined the French Army (1916). Thus Édith was in contact with the prostitutes and the various attenders of the brothel since her early years, a circumstance which must have had a deep impact on her personality and vision of life.
From the age of three to seven she was blind. As part of Piaf's legend, she allegedly recovered her sight after her grandmother's prostitutes went on a pilgrimage to Saint Thérèse de Lisieux. In 1929 she joined her father in his acrobatic street performances. Then took a room at Grand Hôtel de Clermont (18 rue Veron, Paris 18ème) and separated from him, going her own way as a street singer in Pigalle, Ménilmontant and Paris suburbs (cf. the song "Elle fréquentait la Rue Pigalle"). She was about 16 years of age when she fell in love with a delivery-boy, Louis Dupont, and shortly after had a child, a little girl named Marcelle. Sadly, Marcelle died in infancy of meningitis.
In 1935, Édith was discovered in the Pigalle area of Paris by the nightclub owner Louis Leplée, whose club was frequented by the upper and lower classes alike. He persuaded her to sing despite her extreme nervousness, which, combined with her height of only 4' 8" (142 cm) inspired him to give her the nickname that would stay with her for the rest of her life and become her stage name: La Môme Piaf (The Little Sparrow). Her first record was produced in the same year. Shortly afterwards, Leplée was murdered and Piaf was accused of being an accessory; she was acquitted.
In 1940, Jean Cocteau wrote the successful play Le Bel Indifférent for her to star in. She began to make friends with famous people, such as the actor Maurice Chevalier and the poet Jacques Borgeat. She wrote the lyrics of many of her songs, and collaborated with composers on the tunes.
Her signature song, "La vie en rose" (which was voted a Grammy Hall of Fame Award in 1998) was written in the middle of the German occupation of Paris in World War II. During this time, she was in great demand and very successful. She befriended many high-ranking Germans and sang for them. It is said that she collaborated with the Nazis, too. After the war, she toured Europe, the United States, and South America, becoming an internationally known figure. Her popularity in the U.S. was such that she appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show eight times. She helped to launch the career of Charles Aznavour, taking him on tour with her in France and the United States.
The great love of Piaf's life, the boxer Marcel Cerdan, died in 1949. Piaf was married twice. Her first husband was Jacques Pills, a singer; they married in 1952 and divorced in 1956. Her second husband, Theophanis Lamboukas (also known as Théo Sarapo), was a hairdresser-turned-singer and actor, and was twenty years younger than Piaf; they married in 1962.
In 1951 she was in a car accident, and thereafter had difficulty breaking a serious morphine habit.
The Paris Olympia is the place where Piaf achieved fame and where, just a few months before her death, she gave one of her most memorable concerts while barely able to stand. In early 1963, Piaf recorded her last song, "L'homme de Berlin".
At the early age of 47, Piaf died of cancer in Plascassier, on the French riviera, on October 10, 1963. Her friend Jean Cocteau, very shocked and afflicted by her death, died a few hours later. Her body was returned to Paris where her death was only announced on October 11, the official date of her death. She was buried in Père Lachaise cemetery, Paris. Although she was forbidden a Mass by the Roman Catholic archbishop of Paris (because of her lifestyle), her funeral procession drew hundreds of thousands of mourners onto the streets of Paris and the ceremony at the cemetery was jammed with more than forty thousand fans. Charles Aznavour recalled that Piaf's funeral procession was the only time, since the end of World War II, that Parisian traffic came to a complete stop.
There is a museum dedicated to Piaf, the Musée Édith Piaf at 5, rue Crespin du Gast, 75011, Paris.
Today she is still remembered and revered as one of the greatest singers France has ever produced. Her life was one of sharp contrasts: the range of her fame as opposed to her tragic personal life, and her fragile small figure on stage with the resounding power of her voice.
Boulevard du crime
Édith Piaf Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Pour voir la pantomime
Ce soir, on se bouscule
Au théâtre des Funambules
Les amours de Pierrot
Ça fait pleurer Margot
Et rire dans la tourmente
Le Paris de mille huit cent trente
Et la foule coasse
Au milieu du carnaval des grimaces
Mais dans la foule qui rit de Pierrot
Il y a toujours un Arlequin
Dans la vie, faut des arlequins
Sans quoi l'amour, ce ne serait que des mots
Aussi, lorsque Pierrot sourit
C'est là-haut vers les amants du paradis
Sur le boulevard du Crime
Pour voir la pantomime
Ce soir, on se bouscule
Au théâtre des Funambules
Les amours de Pierrot
Ça fait pleurer Margot
Et rire dans la tourmente
Le Paris de mille huit cent trente
Masques sont vert damasques
Pour des danses fantasques
Et la foule coasse
Au milieu du carnaval des grimaces
Mais tous ces gens qui rient de Pierrot
Il n'y a que lui, pleure pour de vrai
Puisque la femme qu'il aimait
Est partie ce soir sans un mot
Aussi, lorsque Pierrot sourit
Tout là-haut pleurent les amants du paradis
Sur le boulevard du Crime
Pour voir la pantomime
Ce soir, on se bouscule
Au théâtre des Funambules
Les malheurs de Pierrot
Sous les cris, les bravos
Font rire dans la tourmente
Le Paris de mille huit cent trente
Quel talent fantastique
Qu'il est drôle et comique
Ça, c'est un vrai Pierrot
Allez, vas-y, refais ton numéro
Tout là-haut pleurent les amants du paradis
The lyrics of Édith Piaf's song Boulevard du Crime present a picture of Paris in the year 1830, on Boulevard du Crime where people gather to watch a pantomime at the Funambules Theatre. Pierrot's love story is the main attraction of the play, making Margot cry and others to laugh in the midst of the carnival of masks. However, in the crowd watching Pierrot, there is always an Arlequin, without whom love would be only words. While Pierrot smiles onstage, all of the lovers in paradise cry, suggesting that the heartbreak he experienced was genuine. The song continues to describe the atmosphere of the theatre and the carnival-like environment, with masks and outrageous dancers, before returning to Pierrot and his tragic love story. Despite everyone laughing at his misfortunes, only he cries for real as the woman he loves left him without a word.
Line by Line Meaning
Sur le boulevard du Crime
On the notorious Boulevard du Crime, known for its sensational theatrical productions and seedy reputation.
Pour voir la pantomime
People gather to watch pantomimes, plays with exaggerated physical performances often featuring stock characters like Pierrot and Harlequin.
Ce soir, on se bouscule
Tonight is a popular event, as people push and shove to get a good spot in the theater.
Au théâtre des Funambules
At the Funambules Theater, a popular entertainment venue at the time.
Les amours de Pierrot
Pierrot, a classic and tragic clown character, is the subject of the play being performed.
Ça fait pleurer Margot
The play's tragic themes move the character Margot to tears.
Et rire dans la tourmente
Despite the somber story, the audience also finds moments of comic relief.
Le Paris de mille huit cent trente
Referring to the year 1830, when the play takes place and Paris was undergoing significant political and social change.
Masques sont vert damasques
The masks worn by the performers are made of green damask fabric.
Et la foule coasse
The crowd at the theater makes a racket, like a chorus of croaking frogs.
Au milieu du carnaval des grimaces
The theater is like a carnival of grotesque and exaggerated facial expressions.
Mais dans la foule qui rit de Pierrot
Among the audience who laughs at Pierrot's follies and antics.
Il y a toujours un Arlequin
There is always a Harlequin, Pierrot's comic foil and sometimes love rival, in the background.
Dans la vie, faut des arlequins
In life, there need to be comedic and silly characters to balance out the serious ones.
Sans quoi l'amour, ce ne serait que des mots
Without those contrasts, love would be a hollow concept.
Aussi, lorsque Pierrot sourit
Therefore, when Pierrot smiles and performs, there is always a bittersweet element to it.
C'est là-haut vers les amants du paradis
Up above, in the afterlife, Pierrot's lost love and other deceased lovers mourn their missed chances.
Les malheurs de Pierrot
Pierrot's misfortunes and heartbreaks.
Sous les cris, les bravos
Throughout the play, the audience alternates between applauding and shouting at the performers.
Font rire dans la tourmente
Pierrot's tragicomedy brings laughter even in the midst of emotional storms.
Quel talent fantastique
What fantastic talent the actors display.
Qu'il est drôle et comique
How funny and comic Pierrot can be.
Ça, c'est un vrai Pierrot
This, this is what a true Pierrot looks like in flesh and blood.
Allez, vas-y, refais ton numéro
Come on, do your act again, Pierrot.
Tout là-haut pleurent les amants du paradis
Up in heaven, the lovers who have passed on cry for Pierrot's impossible love.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: Joseph Gerard Leveillee Claude, Michel Rivgauche
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@philipponphil8753
Une grande chanson de Claude Léveillée. Un magnifique arrangement et une interprétation unique d'Édith Piaf.
@xmut3721
J'adore cette chanson. Vive la chanson française!
@onibru
Musique québécoise dans ce cas-ci (Claude Léveillée).
Du grand art, cette Édith Piaf.
@bastobasto4866
@onibru Effectivement
@monichat
@onibru Paroles: Michel Rivegauche
@hswatnik
very fine-
@kathypencheva7539
❤️
@jansumi
Translation: https://lyricstranslate.com/en/boulevard-du-crime-boulevard-crime.html
@grecia.gabriela
I want to learn French.