MTF
[PuristS]
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Before PIAGET: How "La Vie en Rose" came into my life
As Piaget Rose Day approaches on 13 June with the promised concert by Melody Gardot in Paris and other secret events throughout the world, I should ask:
Who is Melody Gardot?
Why does she always wear sunglasses even at night?
Is it an affectation of show business? I was SO wrong.........
My memories of the song 'La Vie en Rose' stem (sic) from 1979 at university. I met this girl (let's call her Rose) at the start of term and before anyone thinks mistakenly, she was a friend. We were not lovers and were not even in the same faculty. All we shared was the same Student Residence and insomnia. Rose was the first girl that I had real conversations with, and without ulterior motive. She was my first adult female friend.
She played the cello and had a portable record-player (it was THAT long ago that vinyl records existed). In those days, I thought mechanical timekeeping was extinct. I was so wrong...again.....
Rose introduced me to classical cello music and Édith Piaf, though not in that order. That old record player would grind out "Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien" and "La Vie en Rose" in the wee hours of the night and we would talk about everything and nothing at all. Rose gave me advice about girls and plotted my next great strategies on how to capture the heart of girls-in-my-class.
We ate chocolate-covered oatmeal digestive biscuits (its a British university student thing) and drank strong English tea at 3 am. on most nights. Her neighbours thought it a wee bit weird that I would still be in her room after midnight but we were not "an item".
She took me to a local concert by the British cellist: Julian Lloyd-Webber (the slightly prettier brother of Lord Andrew Lloyd-Webber of 'Jesus Christ Superstar', 'Evita', 'Cats' and 'The Phantom of the Opera' fame, whom everyone knows). I was amazed that music could be coaxed out of such a lumbering instrument. What did I know? I'd never been to a concert before.
My greatest regret and happiness was when she found a boyfriend in our 2nd year of university. Those late night chats and biscuits had to stop. It was too difficult to explain our relationship to the boyfriend so I drifted away and found my solace in beer.
I never bought a record, nor cassette tape nor CD of the song 'La Vie en Rose' but every time I hear it, I can't help but be transported back to the innocent times and memories of 1979.
Life is remembered in rose-tints..........
Piaget Rose
The Piaget press release states that the rose is an emblem for Piaget. Reigning supreme in its collections, it has many stories to tell; stories of love and passion.
"'La Vie en Rose' represents a lot of things for me, but mostly it represents my feelings towards my guitar. What it has brought into my life and how things have changed. 'La Vie en Rose' is like food for my musical garden. For me, 'La Vie en Rose' like music, has allowed me to reinvent myself, and even to change into somebody else completely. Waking up in the morning knowing you can't move or speak, as was the case after my accident, can be difficult and painful. But your imagination feeds on everything that will happen in the future. We all need a new lease on life from time to time!" -- Melody Gardot.
Melody Gardot is a Grammy-nominated American singer, writer and musician although she considers herself a "citizen of the world". Gardot’s presence both lyrically and musically lend themselves to someone far beyond her years, yet she had her first introduction to the world of music only a short while ago when she earned some spare cash by playing in piano bars. She was just 16 then and only 28 years old now.
“Music wasn’t something I thought I’d wind up doing,” she admits. “I played on Fridays and Saturdays, for four hours a night. I wasn’t your typical player though because I only played music that I liked. A mix of things old and new, I played everything from the Mamas & The Papas to Duke Ellington to Radiohead.”
It was only after an automobile accident while riding her bicycle home that the path Gardot has set out on began to change. Struck suddenly by a vehicle, she suffered multiple pelvic fractures, spinal, nerve and head injuries. Several of the effects have left their marks in various ways such as requiring Gardot to carry a cane and sport shaded glasses to combat residual photosensitivity.
Since Gardot had dabbled in music the past, her doctor suggested she try music therapy as a means for recovery. Specifically, he believed it would help her with her cognitive problems as music has been known to help repair neuropathways in the brain after severe trauma. However, her doctor can’t have imagined the far-reaching consequences. While still unable to walk, Melody began writing and recording songs on a portable multi-track recorder at her bedside.
“I started recording the songs as a way to remember what I’d done; I had really bad short-term memory problems,” she explains. “At the end of the day I couldn’t remember the beginning”.
These songs she wrote during her recuperation were released as a six-song EP called 'Some Lessons: The Bedroom Sessions'. After hearing it, one critic commented that it was “a trick of alchemy that awful pain and uncertainty can give rise to such bold and striking music.”
This message has been edited by AnthonyTsai on 2013-05-28 07:08:22
This message has been edited by MTF on 2013-05-28 07:18:49
Before PIAGET: How "La Vie en Rose" came into my life
Thanks for the history MTF