Non,Je Ne Regrette Rien!

When I was four my parents brought back an antique XIX century grammophon from one of their frequent Parisian get-aways. Although by that stage we already had LP vynil players and tape recorders (brings to mind this post about "Feeling older than we should"),this stylish looking old music box,was real box of delights. Maybe because the only discs we had for it were either classical or 30's French music, every time the grammophon was playing our living room would be transformed into an aristocratic Tzarist-era style ball room where imaginary cortesans and gentlemen of noble origins would dance elegantly at the sound of steady walzers and intellectual Bohemian artists converse intensely sitting in the sun on a cold afternoon outside a cafe in Montmatre like as if they had just stepped out of a Van Gogh or a poster by Tolouse Lautrec. My imagination has always been allowed to run wild! It is around about that time that I was first introduced to the magnific Madame Piaf, a real icon in French music. We all have heard chansons as "La vie en Rose" and "Je Ne Regrette Rien" - well, she is the rapturing voice behind them! I often think of my life as a movie in progress with flashbacks, crucial points, soundtrack and all. And, at moments like this especially, there are songs and sounds which accompany me through resounding in my head. "Je Ne Regrette Rien" is one of those at the moment. When your dreams are shattered, it is inevitable to feel feelings of dispair and resentment whereby one regrets past actions, emotions and situations. However, I am there with Edith Piaf: "The good and the bad I shall not regret; I will put the pieces together and start again!" Here is a rare performance of Piaf singing this song (courtesy of YouTube) and at the bottom are the lyrics and its litteral translation. Enjoy.

Non! Rien de rien ...
Nothing, nothing at all

Non ! Je ne regrette rien
Nothing, I do not regret anything

Ni le bien qu'on m'a fait
Not the good you have done to me

Ni le mal tout ça m'est bien égal !
Nor all the bad that is also good!

Non ! Rien de rien ...Non ! Je ne regrette rien...
C'est payé, balayé, oublié
It is paid for, swept off, forgotten about

Je me fous du passé!
I have been through

Avec mes souvenirs
With my souvenirs

J'ai allumé le feu
I have lit a fire

Mes chagrins, mes plaisirs
My sorrows, my pleasures

Je n'ai plus besoin d'eux!
I don't need them anymore!

Balayés les amours
Vanished the love

Et tous leurs tremolos
And I shake all the time

Balayés pour toujours
Sweep off every day

Je repars à zéro ...
I am start again from square one…

Non ! Rien de rien ...Non ! Je ne regrette nen ...

Ni le bien, qu'on m'a faitNi le mal, tout ça m'est bien égal !Non ! Rien de rien ...Non ! Je ne regrette rien ...Car ma vie, car mes joies
For it my path, for it my joys

Aujourd'hui, ça commence avec toi !
Today I start with you!