That's an extraordinary song. Here's the original version, sung by Edith Piaf.
(Here's a footnote: I was in Paris a few years ago, and went to Pere Lachaise Cemetery--to see Jim Morrison's grave. I happened on Edith Piaf's grave, and people are still leaving roses on her tomb. Piaf died in 1963. Now, that's nostalgia.)
I love Le Vie en Rose. Louis Armstrong does a great version of it, but nothing beats the Edith Piaf original.
For what it's worth I also went to Pere Lachaise Cemetery to see Jim Morrison's grave... but it was more than a
few years ago. As you know, it's huge and I was wandering around, trying to find it finally in exasperation, I mumbled have to myself and half out loud "oh come on, help me out, Jim!" Just then, just at the fringe of my hearing, so quiet that I couldn't be sure if I was actually hearing it or it was just in my head, I heard "Riders on the storm..." I followed it and lo and behold. It did lead me to Morrison's grave, which was a garishly painted bust and the surrounding monuments were covered in graffiti. People were seated all around the grave, there were French, Germans, Italians, who had all decided to visit at that moment, sitting there together, listening to music on a boombox. (I did say it was more than a few years ago.)
Now, back in high school my friends and I had decided sometime it would be cool to go to the Jim Morrison's grave and "have a drink with Jim". So, many years later, staying true to that goal I pulled out a bottle of warmish half bottle of scotch from my backpack. (The scotch being the first thing I saw as I was leaving the room.) Though it was morning, I made a cheers gesture to the grave and took a pull off the bottle. Then I poured a splash onto the grave. This was met by murmurs from the crowd that I interpreted as approval, though it could've been "well that was a waste of scotch" or alternatively "there's a lot left in that bottle and he looks like he's the type who will share."
The second thought was correct, and I offered it to the person next to me who took a small hit and passed the bottle to his left. Now, warm scotch at 10 AM is a lot, even for most Europeans. More than a few gagged a bit on it, which was entertaining. Until the bottle got to one of the Germans, who tipped his head back and did his best impression of a water cooler. (Even at that time I thought to myself "yeah that guy's got a serious drinking problem") the bottle got passed around, and people also began to pass around food or whatever else they had. We all hung out, listen to the music, saying very little. After a while, everybody headed off. It was a really nice moment in time. Thanks for reminding me of it.
So in memory of that moment, in time, I will post this: