La Vie En Rose
With one of the bloodiest wars in human history as the backdrop, Édith Piaf penned one of the most romantic love songs of all time in 1945.
“La Vie En Rose” is a world-famous ode to two enamored lovers and a song that has been covered by some of the world’s most famous artists like Louis Armstrong, Grace Jones, and most recently Michael Bublé and Lady Gaga. This song touches me because Édith was a woman whose life was littered with various personal tragedies. You’d think most of her music would be downtrodden but somehow she was able to find some light within her to write this beautiful melody.
In English, the song title translates to “life in rosy hues”, and it is a song we should all reflect on this holiday season. It’s a song that invokes romantic feelings of lovers in a warm embrace. Which might seem rather mushy for some, but to my surprise this song has been really meaningful to me this year.
Actually the last two years have been rather difficult for me.
I lost friends I loved, I lost confidence in myself, and I lost hope in our nation. This mounting sense of loss led to some painful yet beautiful moments of self reflection. Some of that pain had derived from much needed personal maturation around my romantic pursuits. Some of that pain had derived from a phase in my career where it felt like I had jumped from the frying pan into the fire. And some of that pain derived from the anxiety of dealing with the onslaught of political drama coming out of the White House.
The other night, I was driving to Brooklyn on the FDR Drive when I got caught in some dead stop traffic. I felt like I was in LA. As I am sitting in the car looking at the Brooklyn Bridge over on the horizon, “La Vie En Rose” began to play on my stereo. This time, Louis Armstrong was singing the song, and the moment I heard his voice, I began to reflect on the words Edith originally sang 73 years ago. I suddenly felt tears well up in my eyes.
“Hold me close…”
As I sang along I was overcome by this overwhelming sense that everything was going to be okay. Despite my fears, anxieties, and concerns the Universe was holding me close. Somehow things would work out in my favor. Maybe it was the soft strokes of the piano keys or the ringing clarity of Satchmo’s trumpet, but I knew in that moment that things were going to turn around.
“...And though I close my eyes I see la vie en rose…”
When I was younger and less jaded, I would close my eyes and see boundless possibilities — life ahead could only have been in rosy hues. Even as war raged on in my own personal life, I could still see happy hues. But as I became more conscious of the world around me, those hues began to darken. And sometimes when I close my eyes I don't see la vie en rose anymore, I see a much darker place. But while I was in the car with my eyes closed, I found relief — if only for a moment.
“...When you press me to your heart and in a world apart…”
Some of us because of whatever circumstances may be weighing us down, may not be able to see life in a rosy hue anymore. To those dear friends, I’d encourage you to find someone you love, someone who loves you or even a lovely song and hide in their warm embrace. If you can’t find love then give love. And if you can’t find love or give love then message me! After all, love is one of the most powerful forces on the planet in binding us together.
We find ourselves at a precarious moment in the history of our species. When you remove your rosy spectacles, you may see that between our continued destruction of the planet and the manner in which our world leaders continue to lead through violence that we face a palpable existential crisis at every turn.
However, as I turn up the volume on this beautiful song, I am able to better understand President Obama’s recent comments in South Africa:
“And now an entire generation has grown up in a world that by most measures has gotten steadily freer and healthier and wealthier and less violent and more tolerant during the course of their lifetimes.”
To be clear, I’m not suggesting that we deny what is happening before our eyes. Not at all. However we should consider how our constant attention to the media cycle could be impacting us. I know it’s caused me to think rather irrationally at times and has ushered me into a feeling of hopelessness. But I know I feel more hopeful when I turn my gaze to identify things I’m truly grateful for.
“...Give your heart and soul to me and life will always be la vie en rose.”
This Holiday season — as madness continues to swirl around us — I pray that you too see what Edith, Louis, Obama, and I have embraced in loving life at such a time as this. Let’s turn up the volume and celebrate la vie en rose.