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About 80 years after its recording, La Vie En Rose by French singer Edith Piaf continues to colour our perceptions of Paris.
Hopeful and bittersweet, it's as French as the Eiffel Tower and the Seine. Therefore it is only fitting that, according to reports, it will be performed at the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics on Friday.
Taking on the task are singers with their own relationship with the song. Lady Gaga performed it as far back as 2015 in a gala concert celebrating the 90th birthday of crooner Tony Bennett, before taking it on the road as part of her 2017 Joanne world tour. Her most lauded rendition, however, is in the 2018 film A Star is Born, which earned her an Oscar nomination for Best Actress.
As for Celine Dion, her link to La Vie En Rose is less the familiarity – it was a staple of her eight-year Las Vegas residency ending in 2019 – but more to her life channelling the song’s values. Making her stage comeback, nearly two years after being diagnosed with the debilitating stiff person syndrome, the French-Canadian singer embodies La Vie En Rose's message of resilience and relentless optimism in the face of despair.
Here is everything you need to know about La Vie En Rose.
A song of hope
Officially released as a recording in 1945, the song’s title is thought to be inspired by a Parisian club Piaf performed in during the onset of her career. With a literal translation of "life in pink", La Vie En Rose is thought to mean "life in rosy hues" or "life through rose-coloured glasses".
Composed by Louis Guglielmi with Piaf responsible for the lyrics, the song expresses a devotion almost too good to be true; it tells a story about a former street girl who finally finds peace and stability in a secure relationship. "When he takes me into his arms, he speaks to me softly and I see life through rose-coloured glasses," Piaf sings.
Perhaps it was down to the subject matter or some of the whimsical arrangements, but Piaf was urged to initially forget the song and focus on other work by her collaborators. Mirroring the determination of the song's heroine, she refused to let the work die and first played it as part of a Paris concert in 1946 to an enthusiastic reception.
While arguably not as musically accomplished as Piaf's other signature songs such as 1956's Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien and 1959’s Milord, the song's success lies in striking an emotional chord with a nation emerging from the trauma of the Second World War. Released a year after the end of hostilities and two years after France's liberation from German occupation, it is the lyrics of La Vie En Rose that comforted and encouraged a nation that better days lie ahead.
While the song primarily talks about the security in a relationship, it also alludes to the strength that can be found in each other as family, friends and community. Piaf sums it up best in the declarative line: “It’s him for me, me for him in life.”
While Piaf had a bevvy of hits in her storied career, none has come to define her more than La Vie En Rose, even serving as the title for the Oscar-winning 2007 biopic about her life, starring Marion Cotillard, whose Best Actress win marked the first time an Academy Award was given for a French-language performance.
From Grace Jones to Bing Crosby, the many covers of La Vie En Rose
It didn't take long for the song to go viral for that era.
US trumpeter Louis Armstrong released a cover in 1950, pairing his gravelly vocals with a laid-back smooth jazz arrangement. Bing Crosby brought his signature warm croon in his 1953 attempt, the accompanying orchestra also accentuated the La Vie En Rose romantic vibes. It was the indomitable Grace Jones providing a radical departure through a 1977 version combining her deep voice with a throbbing disco bass line, while Donna Summer’s ebullient 1993 cover was laced with percolating synthesisers.
Hollywood also used the tune for a variety of films, ranging from the 1954 drama Sabrina starring Audrey Hepburn to capturing the ambiance of Paris in the 1995 romantic comedy French Kiss with Meg Ryan and Kevin Kline.
With La Vie En Rose now set to be heard on one of the grandest stages of all, the Paris Summer Olympics will preserve its timeless appeal for generations to come.
