In 1969, Charles Aznavour worked with Herbert Kretzmer on the English version of Aznavour's song "Hier encore," featured elsewhere on this website. In 1974, they co-wrote the song "She" that Aznavour performed as a theme for a BBC series (“The Seven Faces of Woman”), describing the different facets that women display in various stages and roles of life. Kretzmer later became the lyricist for the English-language version of "Les Misérables."
Barclay Records released “She” in English on Aznavour’s Album “A Tapestry of Dreams” in June 1974, where it appeared with 9 other songs, many of which were collaborations with Kretzmer. It also appeared as a single that year. Later in 1974 (December), Barclay released a French version as “Tous les visages de l’amour” on Aznavour’s 25th studio album “Visages de l’amour” and as a single (B side “De t’avoir aimée”).
Under its English title “She,” the song reached the top spot on the UK Singles Chart and in Ireland. In France, it never broke the top 40. Technically, therefore, the French version "Tous les Visages..." was an adaptation of "She." It is unclear whether Aznavour wrote the French lyrics himself or collaborated with Kretzmer.
There are notable differences that can be viewed here in three versions as "She," "Tous les Visages," and "Translation" (of the French). Specifically, the English lyrics are written in the third person and they carry throughout an adoring but indirect description of “She’s” many faces and sometimes contradictory humors. The French lyrics are second person familiar (“toi/tu”) and directly address the other party although the context (“quelque soit ton âge et ton nom”) makes clear that the intended addressee is actually the impersonal category of women-in-general. The first two French verses resemble the English ones in describing women’s various attributes. The third verse of the French version, however, unexpectedly flips the focus to “Me” with an assertive description of “manliness” that nevertheless shifts abruptly in the fourth verse to supplication and pliability. The incongruity highlights differences between the sexes and implies ultimate female supremacy but leaves a confusing message.
In 1999, “She” returned for a second round in the UK when Elvis Costello sang it over opening credits and the final sequence of the British film “Notting Hill,” starring Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts. At that time, it enjoyed reflected brilliance from Julia's appearance as the female lead and reached #19 on British charts.
In 1969, Charles Aznavour worked with Herbert Kretzmer on the English version of Aznavour's song "Hier encore," featured elsewhere on this website. In 1974, they co-wrote the song "She" that Aznavour performed as a theme for a BBC series (“The Seven Faces of Woman”), describing the different facets that women display in various stages and roles of life. Kretzmer later became the lyricist for the English-language version of "Les Misérables."
Barclay Records released “She” in English on Aznavour’s Album “A Tapestry of Dreams” in June 1974, where it appeared with 9 other songs, many of which were collaborations with Kretzmer. It also appeared as a single that year. Later in 1974 (December), Barclay released a French version as “Tous les visages de l’amour” on Aznavour’s 25th studio album “Visages de l’amour” and as a single (B side “De t’avoir aimée”).
Under its English title “She,” the song reached the top spot on the UK Singles Chart and in Ireland. In France, it never broke the top 40. Technically, therefore, the French version "Tous les Visages..." was an adaptation of "She." It is unclear whether Aznavour wrote the French lyrics himself or collaborated with Kretzmer.
There are notable differences that can be viewed here in three versions as "She," "Tous les Visages," and "Translation" (of the French). Specifically, the English lyrics are written in the third person and they carry throughout an adoring but indirect description of “She’s” many faces and sometimes contradictory humors. The French lyrics are second person familiar (“toi/tu”) and directly address the other party although the context (“quelque soit ton âge et ton nom”) makes clear that the intended addressee is actually the impersonal category of women-in-general. The first two French verses resemble the English ones in describing women’s various attributes. The third verse of the French version, however, unexpectedly flips the focus to “Me” with an assertive description of “manliness” that nevertheless shifts abruptly in the fourth verse to supplication and pliability. The incongruity highlights differences between the sexes and implies ultimate female supremacy but leaves a confusing message.
In 1999, “She” returned for a second round in the UK when Elvis Costello sang it over opening credits and the final sequence of the British film “Notting Hill,” starring Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts. At that time, it enjoyed reflected brilliance from Julia's appearance as the female lead and reached #19 on British charts.
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Toi, parée de mille et un attraits Je ne sais jamais qui tu es Tu changes si souvent de visage et d’aspect Toi quel que soit ton âge et ton nom Tu es un ange ou le démon Quand pour moi tu prends tour à tour Tous les visages de l’amour Toi, si Dieu ne t’avait modelée Il m’aurait fallu te créer Pour donner à ma vie sa raison d’exister Toi qui est ma joie et mon tourment Tantôt femme et tantôt enfant Tu offres à mon cœur chaque jour Tous les visages de l’amour Moi, je suis le feu qui grandit ou qui meurt Je suis le vent qui rugit ou qui pleure Je suis la force ou la faiblesse Moi, je pourrais défier le ciel et l’enfer Je pourrais dompter la terre et la mer Et réinventer la jeunesse Toi, viens, fais de moi ce que tu veux Un homme heureux ou malheureux Un mot de toi je suis poussière ou je suis Dieu Toi, sois mon espoir, sois mon destin J’ai si peur de mes lendemains Montre à mon âme sans secours Tous les visages de l’amour Toi ! Tous les visages de l’amour. |
You, trimmed with a thousand and one charms, I never know who you are, You change so often your face and appearance You, whatever your age and name, You are an angel or a demon, When for me you show, one after another, All the faces of love. You, if God hadn't formed you, I would have had to create you To give my life its reason for being. You, who are my joy and my torment, Sometimes woman, sometimes child You offer my heart each day All of the faces of love. Me, I am the fire that grows or dies I am the wind that roars or cries I am either strength or weakness Me, I could defy heaven and hell I could tame both earth and sea And reinvent youth. You, come, make of me whatever you want A man happy or sad One word from you and I am either dust or God You, be my hope, be my destiny I am so afraid of my tomorrows Show my helpless soul All of the faces of love You! All the faces of love |
Since Aznavour sang both the French and English versions, it is worth including here his rendition of the English language song "She."
Verse 1
She may be the face I can’t forget
A trace of pleasure or regret
May be my treasure or the price I have to pay
She may be the song that summer sings
May be the chill that autumn brings
May be a hundred different things within the measure of a day
Verse 2
She may be the beauty or the beast
May be the famine or the feast
May turn each day into a heaven or hell
She may be the mirror of my dream
A smile reflected in a stream
She may not be what she may seem inside her shell
Verse 3
She who always seems so happy in a crowd
Whose eyes can be so private and so proud
No one’s allowed to see them when they cry
She may be the love that cannot hope to last
May come to me from shadows of the past
That I remember 'til the day I die
Verse 4
She may be the reason I survive
The why and wherefore I’m alive
The one I’ll care for through the rough and ready years
Me, I’ll take her laughter and her tears
And make them all my souvenirs
For where she goes, I’ve got to be
The meaning of my life is she
She, mm, she
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