Charles Aznavour: The Farewell Tour
Hummingbird Centre – Toronto
September 15, 2006
The show was FAB… The fact that an 82 year old guy sings live for two hours (with no intermission) and still shines like a star on the stage is impressive…
Here come some comments from some of my concert companions:
“Missed my dad!”
“Pretty darn amazing… thought of my 60’s era parents a lot – they should have been there instead of me… the guy behind me kept humming (or was it hissing?!) all the songs in French, like a dubbed voiceover for the English songs… sheesh.”
“Never did I imagine that I would go to a performance of a singer from my parents’ generation and enjoy it so thoroughly.”
S
She
May be the face I can’ t forget
A trace of pleasure or regret
May be my treasure or the price I have to pay
She may be the song that Solomon sings
May be the chill that autumn brings
My be a hundred tearful things
Within the measure of the day
She
May be the beauty or the beast
May be the famine or the feast
May turn each day into heaven or a hell
She may be the mirror of my dream
A smile reflected in a stream
She may not be what she may seem
Inside, a shell
She
Who always seems so happy to crow
Whose eyes can be so private and so proud
No one’ s allowed to see them when they cry
She may be the love that can and hope to last
May come to me from shadows of the past
That I remember till the day I die
She
May be the reason I survive
The why and where for I’ m alive
The one I’ ll care for through the rough and rainy years
Me I’ ll take her laughter and her tears
And make them all my souvenirs
For where she goes I got to be
The meaning of my life is
She, she, ….she
Let’s see…where to begin….it was fabulous, it was incredible…..aznavour is like that…he always was and always will be…..i sat in the first row and he sand right to me, the entire show….i have been a fan of his for 46 years, from the first time I heard the song Que Je Triste Venice playing in Le Drugstore, on the Champs Elyssee, I was hoked. I have seen him perform over 70 times in person over the past 40 years…and love him like he is a member of my immediate family.
Now for the bad part. He is getting old…so am I. I understand what happens when you get old….things change…it is ok for people who age to continue to do things that they like. But Aznavour is great and has a great reputation….I am thrilled and happy that I went to see him once more, but I am also slightly saddened by the fact that his prominent face has aged and changed, even though his eyes, his stare and his expressions remain and will probably do so forever….and his beautiful voice, even though still there, can no longer reach most of the high notes and the worst part of all is that in 90% of the songs that he sang, he can no longer keep tune to the music, in some cases, the entire song was sung off key. That is the shame part….there was a couple there who had brought their rather well educated, pre-teen daughter and were trying to explain to her how great he is….well, if I were 8 or 9 years old and seeing and listening to him for the first time under those conditions, I would have thought my parents were just plain crazy. It’s almost like hearing that some one very close to you was very ill, and you had a choice of going to see them one last time in absolutely horrible condition or living with remembering them the way they were, when they were in their normal condition. Well, enough said, I am very glad that I went because I doubt very much that he will be performing a full concert again, it has to be embarassing to him at this point as his voice is going….but then, he is still the great Charles Aznavour.
Signed, A totally dedicated and appreciative fan of 46 years…to whom Charles Aznavour has given many many years of beautiful music and given himself in many many concert appearances. Be healthy and well friend.
Two things, the lyrics to She, that’s my wife. What anonymous says is too sad to accept but why don’t these legends know when to stop? Sinatra was just as bad and embarassing in his final shows.
http://charlesazna.blogspot.com/