It’s a song that resembles us. Charles Aznavour and the impossible VF of “She”

Having become an Anglo-Saxon standard since he recorded it for a British television series, this song has never had success in a French version. An exception in Aznavour’s work.

In partnership with the exhibition It’s a song that resembles us – Worldwide hits of French-language popular music At the Cité internationale de la langue française in Villers-Cotterêts, these chronicles look in detail at each of the stories presented there.

At the end of his life, Charles Aznavour did not have many regrets. But, for about forty years, something bothered him. It was not really a failure, but rather a curious success, She.

You will tell me that it is a world standard of song and you may wonder why Charles Aznavour is doing this cover of an Anglo-Saxon song.

Obviously, you know that he recorded a lot in English and when we, French speakers, hear him sing in the language of Shakespeare, we immediately find in our memory the original version in the language of Molière. An example: Yesterday againa 1964 song recorded in English in 1974, on the album Tapestry of Dreamsalbum on which we find She.

By the way, the English lyrics of these two songs have the same lyricist, Herbert Kretzmer. But She has a little peculiarity: the song exists first in English. And the lyrics were written before Charles Aznavour composed the music. It is the theme song of a British television soap opera, Seven Faces of Woman – seven faces of women – seven faces because there are seven one-hour episodes, each showing a woman of a different age and social background.

The series is not a masterpiece but the 45 rpm of the credits ranks number 1 in sales in Great Britain for four weeks – better than Gainsbourg with I love you, me neither.

In this episode of It’s a song that resembles usyou hear excerpts from:

Charles Aznavour, She, 1974

Charles Aznavour, Yesterday When I Was Young, 1974

Charles Aznavour, Yes, 2008

Charles Aznavour, Yes, 1974

Charles Aznavour, Lei, 1975

Charles Aznavour, All the faces of love, 1974

Gheorghe Zamfir, She, 1978

Vegas (Dave Stewart and Terry Hall), She, 1992

Elvis Costello, She, 1999

Charles Aznavour and Thomas Dutronc, She, 2011

You can also extend this column with the book It’s a song that resembles us published by Heritage Publishing.

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