My Favourite Foreign-Language Track: Edith Piaf – Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien

Originally published on www.sosogay.co.uk

It’s not often that a foreign-language song becomes big in any music market other than in the one it was originally released. Occasionally we get song’s such as PSY’s ‘Gangnam Style’ or ‘Joe Le Taxi’ by Vanessa Paradis that manage to break into other markets and become commercially successful worldwide. Though these seem to come by once every so many years, one foreign-language song that became known worldwide and has also stood the test of time since its release over 50 years ago, is ‘Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien.’

The troubled yet endearing French singer Edith Piaf, whose other famous songs include the widely covered ‘La Vie en Rose’, sang the song. Piaf herself has received a little bit of a career revival over the last decade with the release of the film La Vie en Rose, a biopic about her life that won lead star Marion Cotillard the Academy Award for Best Actress.

However, despite the success of the film it’s the song that has become widely used in recent years. Many may be familiar with the song as it was the final one used in the film. Alternatively, you may have heard it on the advert for Specsavers, which was a strange choice to say the least. Some may also remember the cover of the English language version by Janey Cutler on Britain’s Got Talent.

The English language version translates to ‘No Regrets’ and has been covered by stars such as Shirley Bassey and Elaine Page, who also played Piaf in the stage show based on her life. But where as the English language version is good, it just doesn’t compare to the original by Piaf.

The song talks about having no regrets, and this being sung by a singer who struggled with morphine and alcohol addiction, endured several near-fatal car crashes, entered rehab multiple times to no avail and was seemingly unlucky in love most of her life, you can feel the passion and conviction in her voice as she sings, apparently about her own life, all the time letting the audience know they shouldn’t regret a single thing.

In a way, due to her fame and struggles, Edith Piaf is almost the French version of Judy Garland and this song is her version of ‘Over the Rainbow.’

Despite the translated versions being sung by great singers, which also means I can understand them better, when it comes to passion and conviction in a song it doesn’t matter whether you can understand the lyrics or not, you can hear it in the vocal performance and that is definitely true of ‘Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien’, which is why it is my favourite foreign language song.