"" (; French for "Hymn to Love") is a popular French song originally performed by

Édith Piaf Édith Piaf (, , ; born Édith Giovanna Gassion, ; December 19, 1915– October 10, 1963) was a French singer, lyricist and actress. Noted as France's national chanteuse, she was one of the country's most widely known international stars. Pia ...

Édith Piaf

The lyrics were written by Piaf and the music by

Marguerite Monnot Marguerite Monnot (28 May 1903 – 12 October 1961) was a French songwriter and composer best known for having written many of the songs performed by Édith Piaf ("Milord", " Hymne à l'amour") and for the music in the stage musical '' Irma La ...

. It was written to her lover and the love of her life, the French boxer,

Marcel Cerdan Marcellin "Marcel" Cerdan (; 22 July 1916 – 28 October 1949) was a French professional boxer and world middleweight champion who was considered by many boxing experts and fans to be France's greatest boxer, and beyond to be one of the best to ...

. On October 28, 1949, Cerdan was killed in the crash of

Air France Flight 009 Air France Flight 009 was a scheduled international flight that crashed into a mountain while attempting to land at Santa Maria Airport, Azores on a stopover during a scheduled international passenger flight from Paris-Orly Airport to New York ...

on his way from Paris to New York to come to see her. She recorded the song on May 2, 1950.

English versions

"" was translated into English by Piaf's protégé

Eddie Constantine Eddie Constantine (born Edward Israël Constantinowsky; October 29, 1917 – February 25, 1993) was an American singer, actor and entertainer who spent most of his career in France. He became well-known to film audiences for his portrayal of se ...

as "Hymn to Love", which was recorded by Piaf on her album ''La Vie En Rose / Édith Piaf Sings In English'' (1956). This version was featured on

Cyndi Lauper Cynthia Ann Stephanie Lauper Thornton (born June 22, 1953) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and activist. Her career has spanned over 40 years. Her album ''She's So Unusual'' (1983) was the first debut album by a female artist to achi ...

's 2003 album ''

At Last "At Last" is a song written by Mack Gordon and Harry Warren for the musical film '' Sun Valley Serenade'' (1941). Glenn Miller and his orchestra recorded the tune several times, with a 1942 version reaching number two on the US '' Billboard'' ...

''. It was also adapted into English as "If You Love Me (Really Love Me)" with lyrics by Geoffrey Parsons.

Kay Starr Katherine Laverne Starks (July 21, 1922 – November 3, 2016), known professionally as Kay Starr, was an American singer who enjoyed considerable success in the late 1940s and 1950s. She was of Iroquois and Irish heritage. Starr performed multip ...

brought fame to this version in 1954, with her version reaching No. 4 on ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

''s charts of Best Sellers in Stores and Most Played by Jockeys. Starr's version was ranked No. 20 on ''Billboard''s ranking of 1954's Most Popular Records According to Retail Sales and No. 20 on ''Billboard''s ranking of 1954's Most Popular Records According to Disk Jockey Plays.

Mary Hopkin Mary Hopkin (born 3 May 1950), credited on some recordings as Mary Visconti from her marriage to Tony Visconti, is a Welsh singer-songwriter best known for her 1968 UK number 1 single "Those Were the Days". She was one of the first artists ...

released a version of "If You Love Me (Really Love Me)" in 1976, which reached No. 32 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. In 1998,

Patti LaBelle Patricia Louise Holte (born May 24, 1944), known professionally as Patti LaBelle, is an American R&B singer, actress and businesswoman. LaBelle is referred to as the " Godmother of Soul". She began her career in the early 1960s as lead singe ...

included a live version of "If You Love Me (Really Love Me)" on her

Grammy The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...

-winning album ''

Live! One Night Only ''Live! One Night Only'' is a live album by Patti LaBelle, released in September 1998 through the record label MCA. The album earned LaBelle the Grammy Award for Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance. The album was recorded in New York at the H ...

''.

Japanese versions

"" was adapted into Japanese in 1951 as , by singer Fubuki Koshiji, featuring lyrics by Tokiko Iwatani. The song became one of her signature songs, amassing around 2,000,000 copies sold of various singles featuring this song. "Love Hymn" was covered by

Keiko Masuda (born on September 2, 1957, in Shizuoka, Shizuoka, Shizuoka, Japan) is a Japanese pop singer and actress. She is better known by her nickname Kei, and is one half of Pink Lady (duo), Pink Lady, the top idol group in Japan in the 1970s. In the ...

in her 2014 covers album . "" was covered by Japanese singer-songwriter

Hikaru Utada , who is also known by the mononym Utada, is a Japanese-American pop singer, songwriter and producer. By 2010, Utada had become one of the most influential, and best-selling, musical artists in Japan. Born in the United States to Japanese parent ...

in 2010, under the name . The title is unique to Utada's version, as most Japanese renditions have the same title as Fubuki Koshiji's 1951 cover, "Ai no Sanka". Utada's version reached No. 5 on ''

'' Adult Contemporary Airplay, No. 7 on ''Billboard''

Japan Hot 100 The ''Billboard Japan'' Hot 100 is a record chart in Japan for songs. It has been compiled by ''Billboard Japan'' and '' Hanshin Contents Link'' since February 2008. The chart is updated every Wednesday at Billboard-japan.com ( JST) and every Thur ...

, and No. 19 on

RIAJ The is an industry trade group composed of Japanese corporations involved in the music industry. It was founded in 1942 as the Japan Phonogram Record Cultural Association, and adopted its current name in 1969. The RIAJ's activities include p ...

Digital Track Chart Top 100. Singer-actress

Atsuko Maeda is a Japanese actress and singer. She is a former member of the idol girl group AKB48, and was one of the most prominent members in the group at the time, regarded as the group's "absolute ace", "immovable center", and the "Face of AKB." After ...

performed the Japanese version of the song in the 2019 film ''

To the Ends of the Earth ''To the Ends of the Earth'' is the title given to a trilogy of nautical, relational novels—''Rites of Passage'' (1980), ''Close Quarters'' (1987), and ''Fire Down Below'' (1989)—by British author William Golding. Set on a former British ...

''. The lyrics also give the film its title. The song was performed by Milet at the closing ceremony of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games on August 8, 2021.

In literature

The song is a central plot point to

Anne Wiazemsky Anne Wiazemsky (14 May 1947 – 5 October 2017) was a French actress and novelist. She made her cinema debut at the age of 18, playing Marie, the lead character in Robert Bresson's ''Au Hasard Balthazar'' (1966), and went on to appear in several ...

's 1996 autobiographical novel , which won the

Prix Maurice Genevoix The Prix Maurice Genevoix (''Le prix Maurice Genevoix'') is an annual French literary award made in honor of its namesake Maurice Genevoix (1890–1980). It is intended to recognize a French literary work which, by its topic or style, honors the m ...

that year.

References

External links

"Hymne à l'amour" (1950)
by Édith Piaf
French lyrics with English translation and video clip
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hymne A L'amour 1950 songs 1950 singles French songs Édith Piaf songs Songs with lyrics by Édith Piaf Songs with lyrics by Geoffrey Parsons (lyricist) Songs with music by Marguerite Monnot Pathé-Marconi singles