Piaf’s French Anthem “La Vie en Rose”

Location-based songs for visual media has been an ongoing thing for quite some time. Such as Lynyrd Skynyrd’s song of the south “Sweet Home Alabama”, these songs have become the unofficial anthem of the setting or location in which the theme is taking place. Some have also been used to represent a whole country or particular city, such as Édith Piaf’s signature song “La Vie en Rose”.  

History

Written and performed by French singer Édith Piaf in 1945, “La Vie en Rose” (French for “Life in pink”) was released as a single in 1947. The song’s melody was composed by Margerite Monnot and Louis Guglielmi, mostly known as Louiguy. Originally, the song was registered with the French performing rights society/organization, SASEM (Société des auteurs, compositeurs et éditeurs de musique), as being written by Louiguy alone, due to Piaf not meeting the requirements for affiliation with SASEM at the time of the songs’ release. This has since then been corrected. The French lyrics speak of the joy and romance in a new love, the experience and gestures that we associate with falling in love. It was meant to uplift the people who had endured the tragedies and darkness of World War II, and reminding them of light and heartful moments in life. It was successfully received with warm reception, with millions of copies sold, and became a best-selling single in multiple countries. 

While the song was originally written and performed in French, the song became popularized in the US in 1950 and reached the Billboard charts due to the release of several English cover versions by English-speaking artists. Some famous versions, include that of Bing Crosby, Tony Martin, Dean Martin, and Louis Armstrong, among some others. The song constantly finds new life as it is still being covered to this day, with big name artists such as Michael Bublé, Andrea Bocelli, and Lady Gaga releasing their own versions over the years. 

How is it used?

 

The song “La Vie en Rose” has become a sort of unofficial anthem for the country of France. The most obvious use of the song, would be in the 2007 biographical film La Vie en Rose, directed by Oliver Dahan; a film about the life of Édith Piaf. 

 

We often find the song being used in American film and tv, during scenes set in France. Regardless of the version you are listening to, whether French or English, the song evokes a sense of romance, dreams, and reminiscence. For American productions, the idea of traveling to France, is much like a fever dream that we all have. The visual we most associate with France is the Eiffel tower, which also happens to be in the capital Paris, widely known as the “city of love”. We can find the song being referenced or sung by characters when in Paris, such as when Mindy sings the song in the Netflix drama Emily in Paris, directed by Andrew Fleming; or simply in the setting, like in the 1995 romantic comedy film Sabrina, directed by Sydney Pollack. 

While we do most often find this song being played in scenes set in France, we are also quite as often given “La Vie en Rose” in romantic contexts, regardless of setting. Such as in the 2008 Disney film WALL-E, directed by Andrew Stanton, where we hear the song being played as we watch WALL-E fall in love with EVE and fails to get her attention. 

 

Some other notable uses:

• Stage Fright (1950) – directed by Alfred Hitchcock
• Natural Born Killers (1994) – directed by Oliver Stone
• French Kiss (1995) – directed by Lawrence Kasdan
• The Bucket List (2007) – directed by Rob Reiner
• X-Men: First Class (2011) – directed by Matthew Vaughn
• Monte Carlo (2011) – directed by Thomas Bezucha
• A Star Is Born (2018) – directed by Bradley Cooper
• I Love Lucy “Hollywood Anniversary” (S4, E24) – directed by William Asher
• The Sopranos “Cold Stones” (S6, E11) – directed by Tim Van Patten
• How I Met Your Mother “How Your Mother Met Me” (S9, E16) – directed by Pamela Fryman

 

Classic or Cliché? 

While the song has been used countless of times, especially due to its large number of versions, all of this was achieved because of the achievements set by the original. There is a reason why all of these talented musicians and actors have taken and created their own version of the song. The song stands on its own. “La Vie en Rose” is the perfect example of a song that can express the intended emotions regardless of its language.  Yes, the association to France and romance genre is there in visual media, but that is what the song was meant for. An international classic.