“Non, rien de rien… Non, je ne regrette rien.” This universally known tune, Edith Piaf’s cult song of the year 1960, resurfaced after being used in the movie Inception and in the movie La Môme where Marion Cotillard played the famous singer. Beyond the artist with international stature on stage and a powerful voice, contrasting with her small size, the lyrics are deeply moving. The positive psychology that was not yet born at that time can help us to ask questions that are still current.
The language is raw: “the past is paid, swept away, forgotten, I don’t care about the past”. There is a form of refusal to assume this past which, for the artist, was very tormented between a mishandled childhood and lovers who disappeared too early. But how far can we deny this past which, beyond its ups and downs, has shaped our personalities?
Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien: French lyrics and English translation
[Chorus]Non! Rien de rien…
No! Nothing at all…
Non! Je ne regrette rien…
No! I regret nothing…
Ni le bien qu’on m’a fait
Neither the good that was done to me
Ni le mal, tout ça m’est bien égal!
Nor the evil, I don’t care
Non! Rien de rien…
No! Nothing at all…
Non! Je ne regrette rien…
No! I regret nothing…
C’est payé, balayé, oublié
It’s paid, swept away, forgotten
Je me fous du passé!
I don’t care about the past!
Avec mes souvenirs
With my memories
J’ai allumé le feu
I lit the fire
Mes chagrins, mes plaisirs
My sorrows, my pleasures
Je n’ai plus besoin d’eux!
I don’t need them anymore!
Balayés les amours
Loves, swept away
Avec leurs trémolos
With their tremolos
Balayés pour toujours
Swept away forever
Je repars à zéro…
I am starting from scratch…
Non! Rien de rien…
No! Nothing at all…
Non! Je ne regrette rien…
No! I regret nothing…
Ni le bien qu’on m’a fait
Neither the good that was done to me
Ni le mal, tout ça m’est bien égal!
Nor the evil, I don’t care
Non! Rien de rien…
No! Nothing at all…
Non! Je ne regrette rien…
No! I regret nothing…
Car ma vie, car mes joies
For my life, for my joys
Aujourd’hui, ça commence avec toi!
Today, it starts with you!
Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien: Meaning and Story of the Song
Michel Vaucaire wrote the lyrics of this song by Edith Piaf in 1961. I will analyze this song as a poem of six stanzas.
First of all, “Non, je ne regrette rien” is a declaration of satisfaction. The title is a negation phrase, “No, I regret nothing,” and the tone is strong. This title proclaims to the audience that the narrator will begin a personal and passionate song. The pronoun, “I,” says that the she knows what she likes. She truly belongs to her life and the events of her life.
Throughout the song, the narrator shows that she is serious and passionate with the alliteration of the consonants “n” and “r”: “No, Neither, Nothing, Regrets”. These nasal consonants support the deep and serious tone of the song and help the singer (Edith Piaf) to communicate this message to the listener: she is satisfied with her decision that she will have no regrets.
The verb “to regret” is associated with the past, nostalgia and the action of thinking. We often regret something in the past because there is a consequence in the present or there will be one in the future. So the choice to have no regrets suggests that the narrator is either unafraid of consequences or in control of the consequences. Despite the reason, we will see a progression in this song.
Then, we see a stanza that is stronger than the first one and with more control. Next, the she shows us her battle against all her memories and leaves us with a question: Why does she burn good and bad memories? The final three stanzas give a poignant and specific answer that illustrates that she is in control. Because of this, she has a kind of liberation in her life now and in the future; she is in control of her memories.
It is obvious that she is not a victim of her memories; in fact, she is not very affected: “Neither the good that was done to me, nor the evil, I don’t care”. According to her, good and bad memories are equal because she controls them. The power of her control with her memories is higher in the second stanza.
The narrator continues with the same phrases of negation and exclamation, “No! Nothing, No! I regret nothing”. But she gives more conviction with repetitions of similar adjectives: “paid, swept away, forgotten”. They are similar because they show that she has already picked up her memories. There are no debts or falls or things that are unresolved.
In addition, she destroys her memories: “I lit the fire, my sorrows, my pleasures”. First, there is an image of “fire,” and she burns her memories. This image is very powerful because fire is the real destroyer.
It is interesting that it is not only a battle against her bad memories (sorrows), but also a battle against her good memories (pleasures). What kind of memory deserves fire and the destruction of all that is good and bad?
She has chosen not to reflect on the memories of lovers’ voices: “Loves, swept away, with their tremolos”. The voices of lovers are the kind of memories that deserve fire and the destruction of all that is good and bad. We know that her decision is absolute because she “starts from scratch”.
The fifth stanza is a repetition of the first. The final stanza has a flat rhyme and concludes with the idea that the narrator does not regret anything because she has burned her memories and she is satisfied with her lovers because she has gained control. She says “For my life, for my joys, today it starts with you!”. This sentence means that she is satisfied; she has conquered her memories of the lovers of the past and now she is the mistress.
There is a kind of liberation in her life because she is no longer a prisoner of her memories. In addition, she can really love her new lovers because she is not trapped by what happened in the past.
Below is a live version of the song:
What do you think of this song and its meaning? Let me know in the comments!
If you’re looking for other translations of Édith Piaf’s songs, check out the lyrics and translation of La Vie en Rose.
