Ne me quitte pas

"Another French blog entry? What happened to flying all over Asia???" you loyal readers might be wondering...

Well Bastille Day is quickly approaching, so what's wrong with a little homage to La France? And frankly, that Piaf film has really gotten me stirred up. What?!?! You don't own Jacques Brel Olympia 61??? Okay, stop whatever you're doing right now and buy it today, it is one of the greatest live albums ever recorded.

The song mentioned above, 'Ne me quitte pas' (translated as 'Don't Leave Me,' but doesn't it sound so much more... desparate in French??) is one of Jacques Brel's most famous. Brel wrote the lyrics, which are haunting but simple yet deeply romantic and quite sad:

Don't leave me
I offer you
Pearls of rain
Collected from lands
Where rain never falls...

Don't leave me
I will no longer cry
I will no longer talk
I will hide myself
To watch you dance and smile
And to hear you sing and laugh

Let me become the shadow of your hair
The shadow of your hand
The shadow of your dog

Don't leave me..

La Vie en Rose

Today I saw an amazing film, La Vie en Rose, the life story of the great French singer Edith Piaf. The lead actress Marion Cotillard gives an incredible performance.

Here's Piaf live in the late 1950s...

Edith Piaf - La Foule