La Vida Rosa

Not that I'm in the market or anything, but I'm just totally moved by the playlist (Morricone, Armstrong, and the like) that's currently playing in my PC that I ended up humming and even sort of singing out loud parts of the lyrics here at my cubicle. Good Lord, what will the suits here think of me, slacking off and having a bit of fun just coz it's the holiday season. Haha, right.

"Yep, I hear yah, boss. Sure, let's check out some CDs at Music One at Greenbelt. Just a sec, okay?"

When my own special day comes, I would like my guy to sing to me La Vie En Rose, the song immortalized by the iconic French songstress Edith Piaf. Of course, there's no other way to do it than in front of all our guests-to-be. He's gotta sing the whole thing in the original French, too. Never mind if he doesn't get the pronunciation right or whatever. I mean, we're not French anyway, no biggie. Haha.

Not up to the task? Fine. He can sing it in, what else--*drumroll*--Tausug. Yeah, baby! The good ole mother tongue. Really, I can't think of anything cooler. Of course, he can do the translation himself. I haven't found anything on the Internet, so that means he'd be the first ever to do something like that.

On second thought.. Hmmm... Now I'm totally going nuts with the French wedding song idea. I'm thinking maybe I should do it. It would be a total first. Sort of like that intellectual entrepeneurship thing that Tom Friedman goes on and on about. Not to mention, it would be something with which to validate my Tausug-ness for all the cyberworld to behold.

All righty then, I'm doing it. I'm writing it in stone as one of my plans for the new year. I can't wait to get started. So what if I'm total crap at my own people's language? I still have, what, a few years to practice and write the draft and do it well enough so my people won't hurl invectives at me from the sides of the aisle and disown me for ruining the language or the song. Piaf would flip and turn in her grave. Besides, mediocrity, if not the total annihilation of a cultural aesthetic, would be such an un-French thing to do. It totally gives me the heebie jeebies. But I'm psyched!

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LA VIE EN ROSE (French Lyrics)

Des yeux qui font baisser les miens,
Un rire qui se perd sur sa bouche—
Voilà le portrait sans retouche
De l’homme auquel j’appartiens.

Quand il me prend dans ses bras,
Il me parle tout bas,
Je vois la vie en rose.
Il me dit des mots d’amour,
Des mots de tous les jours,
Et ça me fait quelque chose.
Il est entré dans mon cœur,
Une part de bonheur
Dont je connais la cause.
C’est lui pour moi,
Moi pour lui dans la vie,
Il me l’a dit, l’a juré pour la vie.
Et dès que je l’aperçois,
Alors je sens en moi
Mon cœur qui bat.

Des nuits d’amour à plus finir,
Un grand bonheur qui prend sa place,
Les ennuis, les chagrins s’effacent,
Heureux, heureux à en mourir.

Quand il me prend dans ses bras,
Il me parle tout bas,
Je vois la vie en rose.
Il me dit des mots d’amour,
Des mots de tous les jours,
Et ça me fait quelque chose.
Il est entré dans mon cœur,
Une part de bonheur
Dont je connais la cause.
C’est lui pour moi,
Moi pour lui dans la vie,
Il me l’a dit, l’a juré pour la vie.
Et dès que je l’aperçois,
Alors je sens en moi
Mon cœur qui bat.


LA VIE EN ROSE (English Translation)

Eyes that gaze into mine,
A smile that is lost on his lips—
That is the unretouched portrait
Of the man to whom I belong.

When he takes me in his arms
And speaks softly to me,
I see life in rosy hues.
He tells me words of love,
Words of every day,
And in them I become something.
He has entered my heart,
A part of happiness
Whereof I understand the reason.
It’s he for me and I for him, throughout life,
He has told me, he has sworn to me, for life.
And from the things that I sense,
Now I can feel within me
My heart that beats.

In endless nights of love,
A great delight that comes about,
The pains and bothers are banished,
Happy, happy to die of love.

When he takes me in his arms
And speaks softly to me,
I see life in rosy hues.
He tells me words of love,
Words of every day,
And in them I become something.
He has entered my heart,
A part of happiness
Whereof I understand the reason.
It’s he for me and I for him, throughout life,
He has told me, he has sworn to me, for life.
And from the things that I sense,
Now I can feel within me
My heart that beats.

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English translation done by Thomas Keyes, a writer/author who has studied languages for years and traveled extensively on five continents. Obviously, the piece sounds a bit weird in certain parts, but the author has a caveat or short explanation for the the choice of words. I just can't find the link coz it was quite some time ago when I downloaded this. Anyway, for questions or concerns, the author can be reached at udikeyes@yahoo.com.


To listen to Piaf's original rendition of the song, copy-paste the following link onto your browser:

http://www.angelfire.com/ca5/magic1/Lavierose.wma

Here's my favorite take of the song, done by no less than the incomparable Louis Armstrong. I super, super love it. Hope you do, too. Enjoy!