I’ve always loved the feel of the French language in my mouth. It’s sweet, smooth, round, rolling. It’s like melted chocolate, with maybe a few crunchy highlights in it: rice krispies, nuts, dried fruits. In high school I studied French for a few years. Unfortunately, in the U.S., the opportunities to speak French are few and far between. It’s almost impossible to keep any vocabulary or sense of flow in speech. Many years ago, I learned a few songs in French, but then I forgot abut singing them. I’m not sure why “La Vie En Rose” came back to me, but I’ve fallen in love with it again. The tune and words together are so lush, so sentimental, so romantic. It’s a “head over heels” unapologetic dive into a torrent of adoration. “When he takes me in his arms and speaks to me so softly, I see life as the color of a rose,” Edith Piaf crooned many years ago. But it sounds so much better in French!
La Vie En Rose
Susan Rose: Singing Grandma 