Piaf biography
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Book Review: "No Regrets: The Life of Edith Piaf"
I am not a chanteuse réaliste!” insisted Edith Piaf to an interviewer in It must have seemed like a shocking statement. Over the previous eight years, Piaf had become the foremost interpreter of this uniquely French song genre, filled with sordid stories of thugs, prostitutes, and tragic liaisons. Piaf, though, longed to sing sweeter refrains “that touch the hearts of those who hear them . . . men and women who are pure enough to be moved by love stories.” Not only did she believe that French audiences, especially in the midst of the German occupation, wanted more romantic fare, but it was also what she yearned for herself. For Piaf, the réaliste repertoire was a regular reminder of her sketchy beginnings on the rough Parisian streets.
No Regrets: The Life of Edith Piaf, an engaging, comprehensive new biography by Carolyn Burke ’71GSAS, offers a vivid and revelatory account of the tragedienne’s turbulent life
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Édith Piaf
French singer (–)
For other uses, see Edith Piaf (disambiguation).
Édith Giovanna Gassion (19 December – 10 October ), known as Édith Piaf (French:[editpjaf]), was a French singer and lyricist best known for performing songs in the cabaret and modern chanson genres. She is widely regarded as France's greatest popular singer and one of the most celebrated performers of the 20th century.[1][2]
Piaf's music was often autobiographical, and she specialized in chanson réaliste and torch ballads about love, loss and sorrow. Her most widely known songs include "La Vie en rose" (), "Non, je ne regrette rien" (), "Hymne à l'amour" (), "Milord" (), "La Foule" (), "L'Accordéoniste" (), and "Padam, padam" ().
Having begun her career touring with her father at age fourteen, her fame increased during the German occupation of France and in , Piaf's signature song, "La Vie en rose" ('life in pink') was published. She became France's most popular e
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Edith Piaf was born on månad 19, on a cold winter night. Her mother was alone when her labor pain began. She went out on the street to find a hyrbil, but it was too late. The baby was coming and two nearby policeman assisted in the delivery of Edith right there on the sidewalk.
Edith’s mother was a singer. She sang in cafes and other places. She left her daughter to be raised by her paternal grandmother who was the Madame of a brothel in Normandy. Edith became blind at 6 years old, so her grandmother and all the women that worked for her in the brothel traveled to Lisieux to ask Saint Theresa to heal Edith. Her eyesight recovered in Lisieux. It was during that time that Edith started to believe in God and in Jesus, but her prayers went always to Saint Theresa. Edith said, “We understand ourselves better between women”. The whole time that I knew Edith Piaf, she knelt down near her bed at night and said her prayers.
Edith’s father performed acrobatics in front of cafes on