If you’d like to discover some new French songs, check out my article about famous French music artists! Here’s the very famous version of Louis Armstrong: Since its creation, about 500 artists have recorded it for more than 1950 versions of “La Vie en Rose”, such as Louis Armstrong, in 1950, then Marlène Dietrich, Diane Dufresne, Montand, Ute Lemper, Iggy Pop, Grace Jones, Emilie Simon, Lady Gaga and a few others. However, these different versions do not take away from Piaf the creation of “La Vie en Rose”. The Contet’s one: during a first draft, no song is ever perfect, and the retouching is often a collective work. That of Piaf: Marianne Michel would have encouraged her to finish the text. That of Louiguy: the music and a few words were sketched out on the day of his daughter’s baptism. Louiguy’s late version seems to have gotten a little better over the years, and he never denied Edith’s version during his lifetime. This somewhat invalidates the version he will give after Piaf’s death, by specifying that they had sketched this song a few months before the official date of the meeting with Marianne Michel, and he indicates a date: the baptism of his daughter.īut in this case, Piaf, would likely have proposed the signature to him first, before Marguerite Monnot. Marguerite Monnot, the first to be approached, refuses this “ nonsense”, another composer dodges, several perhaps, and it is finally Louiguy who accepts, forced and coerced.Īt this time, he is one of Piaf’s “minor” composers. The song is finished, but Edith is not approved by Sacem as a composer, so she had to find someone to sign the music. Then, Henri Contet pointed out to her that for the first sentence, it is necessary to introduce the cause so that the continuation is coherent.Marianne Michel then suggested to her: “… la vie en rose” (life in pink). Piaf sketched out a few sentences, saying “the music was written” and in the words she scribbled, there is “Quand je vois les choses en rose” (When I see things in pink). Some time later Marianne Michel asked her to write a song for her.Piaf had an idea for a melody, which she worked with her conductor, Robert Chauvigny, on a draft text.There are several elements which tell the complete story of this song: For “La Vie en Rose”, Edith Piaf is the initiator and the author at 80%, and we should also mention Robert Chauvigny, Marianne Michel, Henri Contet, maybe Marguerite Monnot, and of course Louiguy. How is a song born? Sometimes in a collective creation, of which all the participants are not credited.

Lalalala La Vie en Rose: Meaning and Story of the Song La Vie en Rose: French lyrics and English translation You will find the French lyrics and the English translation below, along with information about the meaning of the song. Like the baguette de pain or the Eiffel Tower, La Vie en Rose belongs to a tourist imagery of France and its capital. For seventy years now, this song by Édith Piaf, recorded on October 9, 1946, has resonated in the streets of the world. “ Quand il me prend dans ses bras, Il me parle tout bas, Je vois la vie en rose…“.

La vie en rose lyrics