Hymne à l'amour

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"Hymne à l'amour"
Cover of a 1956 vinyl single featuring Hymne à l'amour as the B-side
Single by Édith Piaf
Released 1950
Format Record
Genre Chanson
Length 3:27
Label Les Industries Musicales Et Electriques Pathé Marconi
Writer(s) Édith Piaf (lyrics)
Marguerite Monnot (music)
Music sample
Édith Piaf – "Hymne à l'amour"
Édith Piaf, 1950 (20 seconds)

"Hymne à l'amour" (French pronunciation: ​[imn a lamuʁ]; French for "Hymn to Love") is a popular French song originally performed by Édith Piaf.

Édith Piaf

The lyrics were written by Piaf and the music by Marguerite Monnot. She first sang this song at the Cabaret Versailles in New York on September 14, 1949.[citation needed] It was written to her lover and the love of her life, the French boxer, Marcel Cerdan.[1] On October 28, 1949 Cerdan was killed in a plane crash on his way from Paris to New York to come see her. She recorded the song on 2 May 1950.[1]

Fubuki Koshiji's version

"Hymne à l'amour" was adapted into Japanese in 1951 as "Ai no Sanka" (愛の讃歌?, "Love Hymn"), by singer Fubuki Koshiji (越路吹雪), featuring lyrics by Tokiko Iwatani (岩谷時子). The song became one of her signature songs, amassing around 2,000,000 copies sold of various singles featuring this song.[2]

English versions

"Hymne à l'amour" was translated into English by Piaf's protégé Eddie Constantine as "Hymn to Love", which was recorded by Piaf on her album La Vie En Rose / Édith Piaf Sings In English (1956).[3] This version was featured on Cyndi Lauper's 2003 album At Last.[4] It was also adapted into English as "If You Love Me (Really Love Me)" with lyrics by Geoffrey Parsons, first recorded in this form in 1952 by Vera Lynn.[citation needed] Piaf then sang this version in Carnegie Hall at both of her performances in 1956 and 1957. Subsequent covers by Kay Starr in 1954, Shirley Bassey in 1959 and Brenda Lee in 1961 brought fame to this version. Raquel Bitton features Hymn to love in her tribute to Piaf 2000.

In novel and film

The song is a central plot point to Anne Wiazemsky's 1996 autobiographical novel Hymnes à l'amour,[5] which won the Prix Maurice Genevoix that year.[6] The book further inspired the 2003 Jean-Paul Civeyrac film All the Fine Promises.[citation needed]

Hikaru Utada version

"Hymne à l'amour" was covered by Japanese singer-songwriter Hikaru Utada in 2010, under the name "Hymne à l'amour (Ai no Anthem)" (Hymne à l'amour ～愛のアンセム～ Imu a Ramūru (Ai no Ansemu)?, "Hymn to Love (Anthem of Love)").[7] The title is unique to Utada's version, as most Japanese renditions have the same title as Fubuki Koshiji's 1951 cover, "Ai no Sanka" (愛の讃歌?, "Love Hymn").[2]

Chart rankings

Charts (2010) Peak
position
Billboard Adult Contemporary Airplay[8] 5
Billboard Japan Hot 100[9] 7
RIAJ Digital Track Chart Top 100[10] 19

Release history

Region Date Format
Japan September 28, 2010 (2010-09-28)[7] Ringtone (French section)
October 9, 2010 (2010-10-09)[7] Digital download, ringtone (Japanese sections)
United States October 27, 2010 (2010-10-27)[11] Digital download

Other versions

French language

English language

English language versions are usually titled after the rendering by lyricist Geoffrey Parsons: "If You Love Me (Really Love Me)", introduced in 1952 by Vera Lynn. Kay Starr took "If You Love Me..." to #4 US in 1954 while the song reached the UK charts via recordings by Shirley Bassey (#28/ 1959) and – as "If You Love Me (I Won't Care)" – Mary Hopkin (#32/ 1976).

The song has also been recorded in English by:

Japanese language

Japanese language covers frequently are titled after the 1950s Tokiko Iwatani/Fubuki Koshiji version, "Ai no Sanka" (愛の讃歌?, "Love Hymn").

Other recorded versions

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Édith Piaf – La Vie En Rose / Édith Piaf Sings In English, Discogs
  4. ↑ Eddie Constantine, Discogs
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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