Mary Hopkin - Those Were The Days - 1968

36,885,342 views May 16, 2013

Once upon a time there was a tavern Where we used to raise a glass or two Remember how we laughed away the hours And dreamed of all the great things we would do Those were the days my friend We thought they'd never end We'd sing and dance forever and a day We'd live the life we choose We'd fight and never lose For we were young and sure to have our way. La la la la... Then the busy years went rushing by us We lost our starry notions on the way If by chance I'd see you in the tavern We'd smile at one another and we'd say Those were the days my friend We thought they'd never end We'd sing and dance forever and a day We'd live the life we choose We'd fight and never lose Those were the days, oh yes those were the days La la la la... Just tonight I stood before the tavern Nothing seemed the way it used to be In the glass I saw a strange reflection Was that lonely woman really me Those were the days my friend We thought they'd never end We'd sing and dance forever and a day We'd live the life we choose We'd fight and never lose Those were the days, oh yes those were the days La la la la... Through the door there came familiar laughter I saw your face and heard you call my name Oh my friend we're older but no wiser For in our hearts the dreams are still the same Those were the days my friend We thought they'd never end We'd sing and dance forever and a day We'd live the life we choose We'd fight and never lose Those were the days, oh yes those were the days La la la la...

After Beatles, AI to bring Edith Piaf voice back to life for biopic

BY AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

Nov 15, 2023 08:39 AM

  

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AT A GLANCE

• "Edith" is "in the final phase of development", sources close to Warner Music France said, but no release date has been scheduled.

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Edith Piaf (AFP) 

PARIS (AFP) - A new biopic on the life of Edith Piaf will use artificial intelligence to allow the French star to narrate her own story, Warner Music and her estate said on Tuesday.

"Edith" is "in the final phase of development", sources close to Warner Music France said, but no release date has been scheduled.

The unveiling of the "innovative and revolutionary technological project using AI to re-create her voice and image", the statement said, comes 60 years after Piaf's death.

It also follows the success of the Beatles' latest release "Now And Then" which, with a little help from AI, last week soared to the band's first UK number one single in 54 years 

Artificial intelligence helped isolate the late John Lennon's vocals from a tape he recorded in 1978, two years before he was murdered.

The two surviving Beatles, Paul McCartney, aged 81, and Ringo Starr, 83, finished "Now And Then" last year, including the late George Harrison's guitar parts recorded in 1995.

For the singer of French classics "La vie en Rose" and "Non, je ne regrette rien", AI will be fed hundreds of voice and image clips, some more than 80 years old, to re-create her unique style and "further enhance the authenticity and emotional impact of her story".

Original recordings will be used for her greatest hits, Warner said.

The 90-minute film will move between Paris and New York from 1920 to 1960 and be narrated by the singer's voice, including hitherto unknown "aspects of her life". 

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