Que Reste-t-il de nos Amours (5:10)

(I Wish You Love)

Today here are two versions for your listening pleasure (audio only on youtube):

“Que Reste-t-il de nos Amours” is a beautiful song by French singer/songwriter Charles Trenet and first recorded in 1943. You may recognize it from the English language version recorded in 1957 – “I Wish You Love” – made famous by Frank Sinatra and many others.

This song not only gives me a chance to brush up on my French but is a great example of how lyrics in different languages can completely transform the meaning and character of a song. “I Wish You Love” is fairly lighthearted with Tin Pan Alley rhymes (see below), but the original French lyrics reveal a much more wistful, nostalgic and sentimental tone.

If you are still with me after listening to my singing translation of the original French, compare the feeling of the song with the English ‘I Wish You Love’ lyrics by Albert Beach:

I wish you bluebirds in the spring
To give your heart a song to sing
And then a kiss, but more than this
I wish you loveAnd in July, a lemonade
To cool you in some leafy glade
I wish you health and more than wealth
I wish you loveMy breaking heart and I agree
That you and I could never be
So, with my best, my very best
I set you freeI wish you shelter from the storm
A cozy fire to keep you warm
But most of all, when snowflakes fall
I wish you love

Interesting, isn’t it? Which do you prefer?

Enjoy,

Dr. Weiss

Dedicated to my French patients