Que reste-t-il de nos amours ?

"Que reste-t-il de nos amours ?"
Single by Lucienne Boyer
B-side "Colombe"
Released 1942
Format 78 rpm
Recorded 1942
Genre Chanson
Length 3:17
Label Columbia Records
Writer(s) Charles Trenet
French publication's cover containing the musical score and lyrics edited in 1942.

"Que reste-t-il de nos amours ?" (French pronunciation: ​[kə ʁɛstə t‿il də noz‿amuʁ], What Remains of Our Love?) is a French popular song, with music by Léo Chauliac & Charles Trenet and lyrics by Charles Trenet.[1][2]

History

This song was first recorded by the French female singer Lucienne Boyer in 1942 (78 rpm, Columbia Records: BF 68). Second recorded by the French crooner Roland Gerbeau in February 1943 (78 rpm, Polydor Records: 524.830). Charles Trenet recorded his own version in July 1943 (78 rpm Columbia Records: DF 3116).

It was used extensively in the François Truffaut film Stolen Kisses (1968), its French title, Baisers volés, having been taken from the song's lyrics. The song was also used in the films "Iris" (2001), "Something's Gotta Give" (2003) and "Ces amours-là" (2010).

The song is best known to English-speaking audiences as "I Wish You Love", with new lyrics by American composer and lyricist, Albert Askew Beach (1924- 1997): introduced in 1957 by Keely Smith as the title cut of her solo debut album, I Wish You Love would become one of Smith's signature songs. Smith's debut album otherwise consisted of standards: she would recall: "[when] we sat down to select the songs [record producer] Voyle Gilmore...played a bunch of standards [then] said: 'I want to play you a really pretty French song...it won't mean nothing and you won't do it in the album but I just thought I'd play it for you' and he played 'I Wish You Love'. So, at the end of him playing all these songs...I said: 'Babe, I'll sing any 11 songs y'all want me to but I want to sing 'I Wish You Love'."[3]

It has since become a standard, with many other recordings. Gloria Lynne's 1963 recording for the Everest label reached #28 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1964, also top #10 on the Easy Listening chart (edited from the Hot 100), and #3 on Cashbox Magazine's R&B chart (Billboard did not publish standard R&B listings during 1964).

Other versions of the song were recorded by Dalida in 1972 and by Rony Verbiest in 2001. An Italian version entitled "Che cosa resta" was recorded by Franco Battiato in 1999.

Lyrics in French

Que reste-t-il de nos amours ?

Ce soir le vent qui frappe à ma porte
Me parle des amours mortes
Devant le feu qui s' éteint
Ce soir c'est une chanson d' automne
Dans la maison qui frissonne
Et je pense aux jours lointains

{Refrain:}
Que reste-t-il de nos amours
Que reste-t-il de ces beaux jours
Une photo, vieille photo
De ma jeunesse
Que reste-t-il des billets doux
Des mois d' avril, des rendez-vous
Un souvenir qui me poursuit
Sans cesse

Bonheur fané, cheveux au vent
Baisers volés, rêves mouvants
Que reste-t-il de tout cela
Dites-le-moi

Un petit village, un vieux clocher
Un paysage si bien caché
Et dans un nuage le cher visage
De mon passé

Les mots les mots tendres qu'on murmure
Les caresses les plus pures
Les serments au fond des bois
Les fleurs qu'on retrouve dans un livre
Dont le parfum vous enivre
Se sont envolés pourquoi?

{au Refrain}

English Translation

What Remains of Our Love?

Tonight the wind that knocks at my door
Speaks to me of past love affairs
Before the fire that wanes
Tonight it's a song of autumn
In the house that shivers
And I think of days long ago

{Refrain: }
What remains of our love?
What remains of these beautiful days?
A photo, an old photo
Of my youth
What remains of the love letters
Of months of April, of rendez-vous 
A memory that follows me
Incessantly
Faded happiness , wind in hair
Stolen kisses, moving dreams
What remains of all that?
Tell me that?

A village, an old hometown (<literally steeple)
A countryside so well hidden
And in a cloud the dear face
Of my past

The words the tender words that one murmurs
The caresses most pure
The vows deep in the woods
The flowers one finds again in a book
The perfume of which inebriates you
They flew away, why?

{Refrain}

I Wish You Love (American remake)[4]

I Wish You Love

I wish you bluebirds in the spring
To give your heart a song to sing
And then a kiss, but more than this
I wish you love
And in July a lemonade
To cool you in some leafy glade
I wish you health
But more than wealth
I wish you love
My breaking heart and I agree
That you and I could never be
So with my best
My very best
I set you free
I wish you shelter from the storm
A cozy fire to keep you warm
But most of all when snowflakes fall
I wish you love
But most of all when snowflakes fall
I wish you love
I wish you love
I wish you love, love, love, love, love
I wish you love

Notable Recordings

References

  1. ↑ https://mgonline.gema.de/werke/detail.do?title=QUE+RESTE-T-IL+DE+NOS+AMOURS&dbkey=1963480[]
  2. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on September 30, 2007. Retrieved January 22, 2007.
  3. ↑ "The Mr Lucky Interview: Crazy For Keely Smith". MrLucky.com. Retrieved October 19, 2013.
  4. ↑ "Rachael Yamagata - I Wish You Love Lyrics". Lyrics007.com. Retrieved 2014-04-10.
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