[Monday Notes No. 182] La Foule is one of the best known songs by French singer Edith Piaf. The song sounds typically French, but in fact its origin is in South America, in a Peruvian waltz. Here, then, is the story of La Foule and some notes on the song.
The original song is entitled Que nadie sepa mi sufrir and was composed in 1927 by Argentinian musician Angel Cabral. The song has a popular connotation, in the tradition of the Peruvian waltz. This style mixes the waltz of European origin with more typically Latin American rhythmic elements.
Edith Piaf travelled to Argentina in the early 1950s, heard the song and decided to render it in French. The lyrics were completely rewritten by Michel Rivgauche, and the song was published in 1957 under the title La Foule and with enormous success.
The music of South America combines elements of European origin, Spanish and Portuguese above all, and indigenous or Afro-American elements. In particular, La Foule and its inspirational song Que nadie sepa mi sufrir have a strongly rhythmic melody, with a very particular characteristic: polyrhythm. Let us look at the score of La Foule, this is the verse of the song.
This 3/4 time can easily be interpreted as a 6/8. Rereading the piece in the new time signature, the melody is even more regular. Here is the verse of La Foule transcribed in 6/8 time.
Unlike the waltz which is a ternary time, the time of 6/8 is a binary time. The subject may seem complicated to those who have not studied music, but an example may help: this is an Italian tarantella I analysed in another article, entitled ‘O ciucciariello’.
Listening to this tarantella by Roberto Murolo, you should hear that the rhythm is binary, you count one-two, whereas La Foule is a waltz and you count one-two-three.
However, in South American music, 3/4 and 6/8 time often co-exist, creating a polyrhythmic effect. Binary and ternary time blur, overlap. I also addressed this topic in another article, dedicated to Merceditas by Gato Barbieri, not surprisingly an Argentinian musician.
La Foule, which is derived from a Peruvian waltz, also has this ambiguity and a melody that seems to be conceived in 6/8 time, although the song is in 3/4. Even in the song’s refrain, one can see how the two time signatures overlap perfectly. Here first is the refrain of La Foule, written in 3/4 time.
This is the same passage, but written in 6/8 time. The notes are arranged perfectly in two groups of three notes each.
Now some notes on the lyrics of the song. The original Spanish text of Que nadie sepa mi sufrir is about a forsaken lover, and is not particularly interesting or original. The new text written for La Foule is much better.
The protagonist of the song describes a city in celebration, with crowds dancing. Drawn in despite her will, the woman finds herself embraced by a man, with whom she dances and with whom she immediately falls in love. But in the delirium of the dance, the man she had been given is snatched away from her, and lost forever.
Michel Rivgauche’s text is therefore dreamlike, surreal and dramatic at the same time. The waltz rhythm perfectly embodies the unbridled dance of the crowd, who are unconscious of the love they first created, and then destroyed.
The central theme of La Foule is therefore destiny, which brings people together, unites them or separates them, at its will. The same destiny that made Edith Piaf listen to an old Peruvian waltz, a song that she was able to reinterpret and render eternal.
Until next Monday!