La vie en rose

Coffee Shops

La vie en rose by Lisa Ono

"This is such a magical song. It's just so romantic; it transports me. I love all the different renditions artists have done, but something about Ono's voice is so gorgeous and striking."

This song is amazing; "magical" is a good word for it.

And over the past seventy years since it was written by Édith Piaf (lyrics) and Louiguy & Marguerite Monnot (music) in 1945, it hasn't lost any of that magic at all. 

Back then, the song about seeing life through rose-tinted glasses appealed very much to everyone living in a post-war world. But even decades out from the second world war, people are still eager to lose themselves in love and song and to imagine that things are better. To imagine la vie en rose.

If I listen hard enough to this song, it's almost like my finals don't exist.

Since its release, La vie en rose has been covered hundreds of times. A whopping seven of these covers have made it onto the Billboard charts in the USA, all at #28 or higher (x).

Ono's cover isn't one that charted here, but it's exceedingly charming. Her voice sounds absolutely effortless over a piano accompaniment that's like moonlight on the water. It gives me the same feelings as another famous French piece, though the harmonic structure is a little simpler.

That feeling is hard to explain.

It's warm, mostly. And soft, soft, soft.

Yet, also...almost melancholy, though the lyrics are clearly positive. Maybe it's like being so happy that you're afraid to lose it. Or like your heart's so full it could burst. Or like you're watching a sunset and it's beautiful but so bright that it hurts your eyes.

But, uh, yeah, it's nice. Makes you wanna find someone and run away to Paris with them.

Overview:

Genre:
Traditional / Bossa Nova (?) / Jazz

Favorite Lyrics:
Je vois la vie en rose.

Verdict:
Romance in song form.
Also: It instills you with the most sophisticated form of laziness there is - when you're rich enough to go to restaurants that play La vie en rose, "laziness" actually just called "leisure." I'm not procrastinating as long as I'm listening to this song. I'm just, like, taking time to smell the roses.