Non, Je ne regrette rien

[JustJohn or JJ]

Non, Je ne regrette rien

[karl]

J.J.

Yes yes, Edith Piaf and that most famous song she sing so well: Non, Je ne regrette rien or,, "I do not regret any thing", her last name means in English," Sparrow", not sure why she chose that for her name, but a name is a name, and all things and people must have a name.

She is, it would so appear, the icon of France and of course, their Paris as she must be from there by her accent.

Thank you for presenting such a lady and her song.

Karl

[Jaga]

This is a very powerful song. Karl and me are familiar with it probably more than people from the US, since we have heard it so many times.
Thanks for this beautiful reminder

[Jaga]

Karl, John,

I did not realize that Edith Piaf's career was so unusual. She died when she was not even fifty, growing up in unusual conditions.

Here are parts from Wikipedia's bio:

Piaf's mother abandoned her at birth, and she lived for a short time with her maternal grandmother, Emma (Aïcha). When her father enlisted with the French Army in 1916 to fight in World War I, he took her to his mother, who ran a brothel in Bernay, Normandy. There, prostitutes helped look after Piaf.
...
From the age of three to seven, Piaf was allegedly blind as a result of keratitis. According to one of her biographers, she recovered her sight after her grandmother's prostitutes pooled money to accompany her on a pilgrimage honouring Saint Thérèse of Lisieux. Piaf claimed this was the result of a miraculous healing
...
In 1929, at age 14, she joined her father in his acrobatic street performances all over France, where she first sang in public.[15] At the age of 15, Piaf met Simone "Mômone" Berteaut (fr), who may have been her half-sister, and who became a companion for most of her life. Together they toured the streets singing and earning money for themselves.
...
In 1932, she met and fell in love with Louis Dupont. Within a very short time, he moved into their small room, where the three lived despite Louis' and Mômone's dislike for each other. Louis was never happy with the idea of Piaf's roaming the streets, and continually persuaded her to take jobs he found for her. She resisted his suggestions, until she became pregnant and worked for a short while making wreaths in a factory.[16]

In February 1933, the 17-year-old Piaf gave birth to her daughter, Marcelle (nicknamed Cécelle) at the Hôpital Tenon. Like her mother, Piaf found it difficult to care for a child while living a life on the streets, as she had little maternal instinct, parenting knowledge, or domestic skills. She rapidly returned to street singing, until the summer of 1933, when she opened at Juan-les-Pins, Rue Pigalle.
...
Piaf's career and fame gained momentum during the German occupation of France.[21] She performed in various nightclubs and brothels, which flourished during the 1940–1945 Années Erotiques (book title of Patrick Buisson, director of the French history channel)[22][23] Various top Paris brothels, including Le Chabanais, Le Sphinx, One Two Two,[24] La rue des Moulins, and Chez Marguerite, were reserved for German officers and collaborating Frenchmen.[25] In 1942, Piaf was able to afford a luxury flat in a house in the fancy 16th arrondissement of Paris (today rue Paul-Valéry).[26] She lived above the L'Étoile de Kléber, a famous nightclub and bordello close to the Paris Gestapo headquarters.[27] Friends joined her, just for the reason that she had access to heating materials. She was, for example, invited to take part in a concert tour to Berlin, sponsored by the German officials, together with artists such as Loulou Gasté, Raymond Souplex, Viviane Romance and Albert Préjean.[28]

Piaf was deemed to have been a traitor and collaboratrice. She had to testify before a purge panel, as there were plans to ban her from appearing on radio transmissions.[2] However, her secretary Andrée Bigard, a member of the Résistance, spoke in her favour after the Liberation

[karl]

Jaga and J.J.

I knew Edith Piaf had lead a very difficult early life but was not aware of how difficult until now. In past whilst in situation of changing addresses, I lost an album of some of her songs and missed it very much. Yes, I think Jaga is most correct with us as Europeans to enjoy over the many years most all of her music, with this though, Most likly Kai with his military service in Europe and over the years working on various projects in Europe, had most likely as well very familiar as well with the music of Edith Piaf.

Karl

[pieter]

[pieter]

[pieter]

[Jaga]

Karl, Pieter, thanks for looking at Edith Piaf's life. I should probably watch the movie which's trailer Pieter submitted.

[karl]

Pieter and Jaga

To say the least, my self was so struck by two videos of Edith Piaf singing: One was her final scene video which was remarkable by virtue of her obvious very bad health during her appearance. For it was of her courage, love of what she does best with her singing. For she loved also her audience with obvious wish to give to her audience all that was in her to give, and that was her music.

The other video was of year 1948 with Lavie En Rose. This brought back a complete flood of memories of that year in personal feelings. Yes, I admit that as a child, was my self a bit over sensitive of my surroundings, love of my family and fear of any possible harm that may come to them. It was that year to realize feelings of sensitivity of smells of the sea, the evening sea fog that would flow over land, around our house, through the trees and the smell of wet grass. To feel what ever was in the air around people of their excitement/anger and expectations of what ever. It was the first time in my life to learn to love life and those around me in the home. With this was the fear of any possible harm to come to them and the loss I would suffer.

It is strange some times, for music to bring back a memory of a time and place, I would only suppose this is the price of life.

Karl