Time Machine – 1950s – Edith Piaf – Non, Je ne regrette rien – MP3
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Artist/Band
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Song/Piece
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From Album
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Engage!
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Edith Piaf |
Non, Je ne regrette rien |
De l’Accordeoniste a Milord |
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I am enchanted that you have Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien on a web site. I love Piaf. I have several original albums of hers from when she was still alive. My mother is 1/2 French and she used to enjoy singing along, as she did not get to speak French very often any more.
Did you know that the French Foreign Legion, after the rebellion in Algeria, adopted this song as their theme song?
A fellow Piaf fan.
The whole story is similar to this. The French occupied Algeria, and because the Foreign Legion was the sort of military oganization that you don’t really want lying around bored and with nothing to do on your own soil, the Foreign Legion was sent to Algeria, fought there, died there, gave their life’s blood there, then suddenly, in 1961 the French decided to pull out, sort of abandoning the Foreign Legion, an airborne regiment (1 REP) of which “mutinied” and got involved in a plot to overthrow Charles DeGaulle. The plot was discovered and the regiment disbanded in disgrace. As they marched off to their punishment, they sang Piaf’s “Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien”. They were eventually taken back into the French fold but Edith Piaf sang many songs about the Legion and was sort of a mascot of theirs. Afterwards, even the tho’ they reconciled with the Government, they maintainted that they were not sorry about the revolt and adopted Piaf’s song about regretting nothing.
The classic first appearance of this song as you no doubt know was on the news reel footage of the Premier Regiment Etrangere Parachutiste being transferred from their barracks in Algiers for transport to France around 1964. It was frequently sung in the main square of Frejus in Provence whilst the Premier REP awaited disbandment at the camp at Tour de Mare just outside Frejus.