Piaf-like: the performance of "Je ne regrette rien" in some nomadic versions by Brazilian singers

Abstract

Based on the Semiotics proposed by A. J. Greimas (1983), the present work seeks to analyse how the meaning of the song Je ne regrette rien (Charles Dumont / Michel Vocaire) – Édith Piaf’s last success – took place, as well as to understand the compatibility between text and melody proposed by Luiz Tatit (1996). Once the song was analysed and, taking Piaf's prosody, vocal persona and performance as a starting point, we intend to establish a comparative study between the singer's model and the nomadic versions brought by five Brazilian singers. Thus, using key concepts brought by Paul Zumthor, such as those of performance, nomadism, mouvance, fixation and memory (Zumthor, 1997), we seek to understand how this song continues to resonate in the memory of the Brazilian public, in different recordings, adaptations and developments in the country's soundscape (Schafer, 2001). Despite the silence in which the French song is found in Brazil and idiosyncrasies between both cultures, it is concluded that these versions have strongly contributed to the fixation of the memory of French musical culture in this country.