Charles Dumont, Composer, Has Died

[Luv2play]

You might ask who was Charles Dumont and why is he noteworthy. I didn’t know who he was either till I read his obituary this morning in the Globe&Mail newspaper.

He composed Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien for Edith Piaf. The song revived her flagging career three years before her death, even though she had rejected many of his songs previously. After he played the song for her in her apartment, where she was recovering from a car accident, she rudely asked if he had written the song. 
 

She then asked him to play it again 5 or 6 times. She exclaimed, “this is magnificent, it was made for her, and it would be her resurrection.” And it was. 
 

He was 95. 

[Luv2play]

As an addendum, if you are interested in hearing  another take on Piaf’s classic, Merielle Mathieu’s rendition is also great. 

[marylander1940]

 

[+ Charlie]

When I was young, Piaf's "Non, je ne regrette rien" was on every gay bar jukebox. and one heard it over and over during the evening..

[Luv2play]

7 hours ago, Charlie said:

When I was young, Piaf's "Non, je ne regrette rien" was on every gay bar jukebox. and one heard it over and over during the evening..

Yeah, I always thought of it as a sort of anthem for the gays. Even if you didn’t understand too much French. You understood the sentiment. 

[+ nycman]

Sad to hear of his passing. But there is never a wrong time for this song…..

 

[TMonti96]

These chansons are classics! But honestly, Edith Piaf songs are not for beginners, as they oftentimes cover 1.5 octaves.

Les Amants' lyrics are ambiguous, now that I think back about them. The lyrics say "when the lovers hear this song, they..." "they" "they", and when the song switches to verses, lyrics say "you" all the time. There is only one moment where he unmistakenly speaks to a woman ("ma belle"), but otherwise, the song could also very well be about 2 men or 2 women loving each other.

There are a few French classics like that. Charles Trenet made a few. 

[soloyo215]

22 hours ago, TMonti96 said:

These chansons are classics! But honestly, Edith Piaf songs are not for beginners, as they oftentimes cover 1.5 octaves.

Les Amants' lyrics are ambiguous, now that I think back about them. The lyrics say "when the lovers hear this song, they..." "they" "they", and when the song switches to verses, lyrics say "you" all the time. There is only one moment where he unmistakenly speaks to a woman ("ma belle"), but otherwise, the song could also very well be about 2 men or 2 women loving each other.

There are a few French classics like that. Charles Trenet made a few. 

Ambiguity in the lyrics was how we used to express our feelings publicly in the arts, just like Jean Claude Pascal's Nous les Amoureux, written by Maurice Vidalin.