A few days ago, I wrote an article about someone and in it mentioned the French cabaret singer Edith Piaf. She’s someone I’ve been in love with half my life, and whose music I’ve been obsessed with since I was in university.
Known for her so-called ‘torch songs’, songs about unrequited love, Edith Piaf was a tragic figure. Born in poverty and living in it much of her life, she suffered the death of a child at only age two, the loss of the love of her life, Marcel Cerdan, in a plane crash, several car crashes, morphine addiction due to pain from injuries, alcohol addiction, and, finally, death from liver cancer at the age of just 47. No. She didn’t have a happy life.
What she did have, though, was an incredible voice. A beautiful, yet so simple, stage presence and the ability to touch people’s hearts.
That’s why, for my Repeat Rotation Video today, I’ve been playing Edith Piaf’s song ‘ Non, je ne regrette rien‘ (No, I regret nothing) all day.
After all, if you understand the lyrics, you know it may be about love, loss and sorrow, but it’s also a song of hope.