My lord
Milord is the title of a famous chanson by Édith Piaf , composed in 1958.
History of origin
After a stage accident in Stockholm on May 28, 1958, the French chanson singer Édith Piaf felt well enough to go on tour in July 1958. While visiting a restaurant in Cannes , she gave her new friend Georges Moustaki some ideas that he should use to write songs. One of them contained a love affair on a dark Sunday in London. Moustaki then noted the word "Milord" ("my lord") on a paper napkin. From this initial idea, he wrote the whole piece through, with the British milord, who comes from the upper class, being abandoned by his wife and comforted by a harbor maid. She tells him not to cry anymore (“ne pleurez pas, my lord”), but only feels like a shadow on the street (“ombre de la rue”). Then Moustaki asked Piaf's friend and main composer Marguerite Monnot for a suitable melody. Moustaki later explained that the melody contrasts with its major and minor passages, alternating waltz, foxtrot and charleston rhythms. The change between sung and instrumental passages, especially at the dramatic climax, where an ornate clinking piano picks up the melody, accounts for a large part of the touching effect. On October 28, 1958, Piaf presented a one-minute sample of the new song Milord with Marguerite Monnot at the piano, recorded in Piaf's apartment at 67 Boulevard Lannes in the 16th arrondissement of Paris.
After two traffic accidents with Moustaki as a driver, she was only able to fly to the USA on January 6, 1959 with a delay. Here she suffered a gastric perforation and was diagnosed with liver cancer. She was only able to leave the hospital in April 1959 after two blood transfusions and felt healthy enough to be able to finance her hospital bills by performing in Washington.
Publication and Success
Milord was not forgotten about this. The track was recorded on May 9, 1959 at Capitol Recording Studios in New York (151 W 46th Street) with the Robert Chauvigny Orchestra. On May 31, 1959, she appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show, on June 20, 1959 she returned to France. When she sang her new song later in 1959 at a benefit gala in Monte Carlo in front of prominent guests ( Gary Cooper , Elizabeth Taylor or Aristotle Onassis ), the audience response was great. The single Milord / Je sais comment (EMI Columbia 1245) was released in November 1959, the British author Bunny Lewis wrote an English text on it in October 1960. For lyricist Moustaki, the song meant the international breakthrough. In Germany, the original recording came with the Piaf on December 11, 1959 (EMI Columbia C 21 346) and sold 200,000 copies straight away.
Cover versions
The Piaf version was one of a total of four versions in the German charts, namely Piaf (June 1960, rank 1 from July 2, 1960 for 3 weeks), Dalida (June 1960; rank 2), Dutch Swing College Band (August 1960; Rank 29) and Corry Brokken (September 1960; Rank 12). Milord developed into one of the best-selling singles of 1960 in Germany if you add up all versions. He reached rank 10 in the Bravo annual charts in 1960. The German text came from Ernst Bader . Dalida received a gold record in Germany for her version of Milord . Corry Brokken also sang a Dutch version that earned her a gold record . Milva (Italian) and Lale Andersen (German) each released additional cover versions in September 1960 .
It was not until March 1961 that the title made it into the US pop charts, where it could only penetrate to number 88 and was a flop . In Great Britain it came after a re-entry into the charts up to position 24. Milord was the first song sung entirely in a foreign language in the charts there .
Mireille Mathieu sang Die Welt ist schön, Milord (LP world successes from Paris ; 1985). The red horse is based on the melody of Milord , intoned by Markus Becker and the Mallorca Cowboys (August 2007). The red horse is one of the best-selling hits of the new millennium. There are at least 50 cover versions in total, recorded in at least 6 languages.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Carolyn Burke, No Regrets: The Life of Edith Piaf , 2012, p. 185.
- ↑ Carolyn Burke, No Regrets: The Life of Edith Piaf , 2012, p. 189.
- ↑ Der Musikmarkt, 30 Years of Singles Hit Parade , 1989, p. 10.
- ↑ Steve Cannon / Hugh Dauncey, Popular Music in France From Chanson to Techno , 2003, p. 205.