Celine Dion and “Hymne à l’amour”: the tragic story behind the famous song

A story of “ eternity “. The song The Hymn to Love by Édith Piaf tells of a passionate love, that of the world star and the boxer Marcel Cerdan. On July 26, Céline Dion performed it from the first floor of the Eiffel Tower, in the moving final scene of the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games.

This version, which marks the first performance by the Canadian singer since she announced that she had stiff person syndrome, is released on listening platforms this Thursday, October 10.

The star had published a short extract of his performance on social networks a few hours earlier with the only message “10.10.24”, triggering a torrent of speculation on social networks. The date is symbolic: this Thursday marks the 61st anniversary of the death of Edith Piaf, who died in 1963 at the age of 47.

Yet, The Hymn to Love was almost never sung by Édith Piaf. Originally, it was a song commissioned from La Môme by Yvette Giraud. A tragic plane crash will decide otherwise.

The shadow of Marcel Cerdan

In 1946, Édith Piaf set out to conquer America. The street child, who became a French icon, performed in the United States with Les Compagnons de la chanson, directed by Jean-Louis Jobert. In 1947, a meeting transformed his life: that of Marcel Cerdan.

Born in Algeria in 1916, the French boxer is the other star of the moment. If love at first sight is not immediate, their story is no less passionate. But in Casablanca in Morocco, a wife, Marinette Lopez, and three children are waiting for the man who becomes middleweight world champion in 1948.

Pursued by the press, Édith Piaf and Marcel Cerdan therefore did not formalize their relationship, evoking a “friendship”. At the beginning of 1949, they acquired a private mansion in Boulogne-Billancourt, in which the singer wrote the commission for Yvette Giraud. Édith Piaf returns to New York, where she sings just to “prowl” the song The Hymn to Love.

“God brings together those who love each other”

« Take the plane, the boat is too long! “. In the United States, the kid is pining for his boxers. On October 29, 1949, Marcel Cerdan boarded the Constellation at Orly to join her. The plane has to make a stopover in the Azores: it will never land there. The accident caused the death of eleven crew members and thirty-seven passengers.

The Hymn to Love turns into a funeral oration. The next day on stage, Édith Piaf announced, devastated: “ Ladies and gentlemen, this evening I am singing for Marcel Cerdan. » The words resonate as premonitory: “ If one day, life tears you away from me/If you die, may you be far from me/I don’t care if you love me/Because I would die too (…)/ God brings together those who love each other “. The singer then took refuge in morphine and alcohol.

With the agreement of Yvette Giraud, Édith Piaf keeps The Hymn to Love in his repertoire. She recorded it on May 2, 1950 with Robert Chauvigny’s orchestra. After the disappearance of La Môme in 1963, the sponsor finally included the song in its register.

A female tandem and numerous covers

The Hymn to Love is also the story of another duo, that of the singer and Marguerite Monnot, French pianist and composer at the origin of the legendary string instrument notes of the title. The two women have collaborated since 1936, on titles like my lord, La vie en rose or even Lovers for a day. In total, the pianist will sign 36 songs for La Môme, including The Hymn to Love remains one of the greatest popular successes. To write the music, she would have been largely inspired by Song Spring Night de Robert Schumann.

Translated into eleven languages, five covers in English – one of which by Phil Collins – and no less than thirteen in Japanese… Edith Piaf’s song is going around the world. However, it is not constructed in a classic way, alternating verses and choruses. It is composed of four verses, without chorus, with a “bridge” (a break in the musical rhythm, editor’s note).

In 2015, Céline Dion performed it for the first time during the American Music Awards ceremony, in tribute to the victims of the Paris attacks of November 13 of the same year.

Film appearances

Since 1952, The Hymn to Love took his first steps in the cinema. In Paris still sings by Pierre Montazel, Édith Piaf performs it on the square in front of Notre-Dame de Paris. In the middle of the mist, she moves alone, surrounded by ghostly figures of couples. She is finally joined by a dark-haired man, whose back silhouette recalls… Marcel Cerdan.