1er October 2018, in the middle of election night in Quebec, I learned live that Charles Aznavour had just died at the venerable age of 94. I, who was glued in front of my television to watch the results of the current election, I closed it immediately and opened my computer to instead follow the news concerning the death of this great singer. My election night turned into a night “ aznavourdienne”, if I may allow myself this term. Then I listened to this giant’s songs over and over again.
This week marks the hundredth anniversary of his birth. Born in 1924, on May 22, in Paris, this son of immigrants never denied his Armenian origins throughout his life. He will even make it a point to remind us of this on many occasions.
The man was small in stature, but imposing on stage. His work includes more than 1000 songs. With nine decades behind him, he still gave shows all over the world. We can speak of a real phenomenon.
It is difficult to find today an artist of French song who has as many immortals in his repertoire as that of Aznavour. Great classics, including Yesterday again, I will warm you, Bohemian, Take me, No I did not forget anything, I already saw myself, Venice is so sad, You and me, You have to know, love is like a day, The mother, die from love, For me, wonderfuletc.
His songs, so varied and so moving, have accompanied us for so long on the airwaves of our lives. While reading the book Aznavour, the complete, I realized the full extent, the full extent of his talent as a lyricist. And I will say that, in my humble opinion, Aznavour had invented a new way of creating song lyrics. He in some ways revolutionized the profession of songwriter and breathed new life into French-speaking songs.
In 1998, the Time Magazine and the CNN channel had jointly elected Charles Aznavour “variety artist of the 20the century”, ahead of Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra. Nothing less. That says a lot about the global influence of the man and his songwriting work. It should be noted that he sang in several languages.
Charles Aznavour’s songs continue to resonate around the world and remind us of the immense talent of one of the greatest singer-songwriters of all time.