La vie en rose, by Édith Piaf and Louiguy

By Bridget Skaggs

La vie en rose is the song that launched cabaret singer Édith Piaf to international success.  The original 1947 Colombia Records pressing of the single sold a million copies in the U.S. and was the number one best selling single in Italy that year.  Piaf, who authored the lyrics, collaborated with a number of composers on the music, although the musical authorship was ultimately attributed to Luiguy.  This became one of Piaf's signature songs and was included on most of the subsequent albums she recorded in her lifetime.

However, success was hardly prescribed in her life.  She fought to overcome many difficult circumstances to achieve success as a chanteuse, starting right from the beginning when her mother abandoned her at birth.  She was raised in a brothel until age 14, when her father took her on the road and trained her as a street performer and acrobat.  She became a young mother herself at age 17, and overcame extreme stage fright to make her cabaret debut at age 20.  Music changed the course of her life over the next 10 years, until 1947 when she would record La vie en rose.

Knowing the basic facts of Piaf's life, one can appreciate the sentiment of this song even more.  The title translates as "Life through rose colored glasses," and the lyrics describe the protective emotional cloak that a love affair can provide at it's height.  "When you press me to your heart / I'm in a world apart / A world where roses bloom."  This bittersweet sentiment was at the core of Piaf's greatest hits and very identity: life may do its best to break you down, but as humans we can still find beauty when we choose look for it.

I hope you enjoy this performance from Fourth Coast Ensemble's March 3, 2020 Between the Lines concert, featuring my own rendition of this iconic song with pianist Kuang-Hao Huang.

Author

Bridget Skaggs is the founding mezzo-soprano and Executive Director of Fourth Coast Ensemble.  She studied opera at Oklahoma City University's Wanda L. Bass School of Music, and moved to Chicago in 2012 to pursue a dual career in singing and yoga.  Bridget's passion for art song grows from her lifelong love of words, communication, and the human voice.