Édith Piaf quotes

I can think of no better point at which to begin my memoirs than the day when Destiny took hold of me and set me on the pathway to fame.

In those days I used to sing in the streets, accompanied by a friend who, with outstretched hands, would solicit the passers-by. I was pale and unkempt. I had no stockings and my coat was out at the elbows and hung down to my ankles.

‘You are truly a little sparrow of Paris. That's what you should be called, Sparrow; but unfortunately La Môme Moineau is already being used so we must think of something else. The slangword for sparrow is piaf. Why shouldn't you be La Môme Piaf?’ He considered this for a few seconds more. ‘Right! That's settled.’ I was baptized for life.

I never practice in front of a mirror. Many singers, including Maurice Chevalier, who specialize in songs of a lighter, more humorous nature, find the mirror method of great assistance, for they must calculate with great precision the impact of each gesture. For them, mime is a part of the presentation and should be planned rather than improvised. This, however, does not apply to the songs I sing. My movements must be genuine … sincere or they are valueless.

If, while I am singing, I become conscious of my actions, or feel that my gestures are deliberate, I know that I am losing that essential spontaneity and that the time has come to put that particular song aside for a while.

I never learnt music; but I adore it! I would have travelled thousands of miles to hear the great Ginette Neveu who died so tragically in the very same air-disaster that killed my very dear Marcel Cerdan.