French Chanson: La Vie en Rose - Marianne Michel, 1946 video free download

Marianne Michel, accomp. d’Orch. dir. Jean Faustin – La Vie en Rose (Louiguy – Édith Piaf), Odeon 1946 (France)

NOTE: There’s a saying: Success has many fathers, failure is an orphan. Such is the story about how was created and made famous La Vie en Rose - one of the most beautiful French songs ever written and a symbol of Paris, which may be placed on the same level as the Eiffel Tower.

It all starts in 1945 at the terrace of a café in Champs Elysées, when Édith Piaf joined Marianne Michel, a good friend of hers and also a singer, who however, had reasons to complain about being not even in a bit so successful as Édith (who already, was worlwide famous). Marianne didn’t come alone but with her handsome boyfriend, who at once caught the eye of her famous colleague. Glancing at him, Piaf scribbled on the napkin a little poem: "When he takes me in his arms / he whispers to me / I see things pink." Marianne, reading this, smiled and replaced " things "with" life ". That’s how was born the most famous line “La Vie en Rose”…Some time later, when the music was written to the lyrics by their friend, a Spanish pianist Louiguy, Édith Piaf decided, the song was too monotonous and sad for her dramatic repertoire, and merely Marianne Michel kept singing it in the night clubs and even in a music hall. However, when the song became well-known in Paris, Piaf suddenly remembered about her contribution to its creation and decided to reclaim it by saving it, on October 9, 1946.

Ever since, "La Vie En Rose" became one of the most famous French songs and was covered since by dozens of artists around the world, both in French and in other languages. There exist today more than 1,950 versions, including those by Louis Armstrong, Dalida, Donna Summer. One of the most popular versions is that of Grace Jones, released in 1977. Most recently, in June 2015 the American pop-megastar Lady Gaga performed it in a concert with Tony Bennett at the Hollywood Bowl, starting the number in French (or, to be precious, in FRANGLISH) and finishing in English.

In Poland, one of the best versions was recorded in 1950s by Wiera Gran: a fabulous pre-war vedette of Warsaw’s night bars – with a Polish title “Gdy w ramiona bierzesz mnie” (When You Take Me In Your Arms).