If You Like Edith Piaf...

Apparently it's bad form for a writer to tell you how they write. But due to my complete lack of pride and/or shame, I'm going to tell you anyway. I began writing a Top 10 list of artists you might like if you like Edith Piaf sometime last Thursday. I finally finished it this morning. Generally, I'm a fairly quick writer. Not this time. Why did it take me so long? Well, it wasn't because it was hard to write - I love love love vintage French music. It took me so long because I kept getting totally distracted - whether it was by watching old clips of Mistinguett owning the stage on YouTube, listening to Lucienne Boyer sing "Parlez-moi d'Amour" over (and over, and over), getting totally bogged down in the amazing life story of Josephine Baker, and, of course, singing Edith Piaf songs at the top of my lungs in the shower. All of this was, of course, interspersed with me clapping my hands like a little kid and saying "Ahhhhhh - I wish I lived in Paris in the '30s!" It took awhile.

At any rate, the one thing that struck me as amazing was that most of these women led lives that would make Amy Winehouse and Lindsay Lohan look like overachieving Girl Scouts. Murder, drugs and scandalous affairs are just the tip of the iceberg. But the music... oh, la musique! I could ramble on for days about how much I love it, but instead, I think you should just have a listen - it speaks for itself.