What Can I Do? (Edith Piaf song)

Mais qu'est-ce que j'ai ? is a French popular song composed in 1947 by Henri Betti with the lyrics by Édith Piaf. The English lyrics were written in 1949 by Harold Rome.^[1]

Story

Henri Betti composed the music of Mais qu'est-ce que j'ai ? with the lyrics by Édith Piaf who had written them for Yves Montand. When Henri Betti offered the song to Yves Montand, he also proposed C'est si bon he had composed with the lyrics by André Hornez the same time as Mais qu'est-ce que j'ai ?.

On October 9, 1947, Yves Montand sings the song at the Théâtre de l'Étoile and he records the song in studio October 30, 1947 with Jean Marion and his Orchestra. In 1958, he sang the song with Bob Castella and his Orchestra.

In 1949, Harold Rome wrote the English lyrics and the title song became What Can I Do ?. The English version was performed by Édith Piaf in a recital given at the Versailles in New York in October 1949. There was no studio recording of the English version.

In 1952, Nila Cara recorded the female version of the song in Chile for the album Les Chanteuses de la Place Pigalle in which Suzy Delair also recorded songs.

In 1953, the melody of the song is played by a Barrel organ in the movie Soyez les bienvenus in which the melodies of Maître Pierre, Rien dans les mains, rien dans les poches and C'est si bon are also played. These four songs were composed by Henri Betti and sung by Yves Montand.

In 1965, Raymond Berthiaume recorded the song with Roger Gravel and his Orchestra for the album L'inoubliable. In 1958, he recorded C'est si bon with his instrumental group Les 3 Bars for the album Rêver.

On June 9, 1985, Nelly Gustin sang the song with Robert Quibel and his Orchestra at the TV show Thé Dansant where the songs Maître Pierre and Rien dans les mains, rien dans les poches are also sung.

In 1993, Stéphane Chomont sang the song with Jean Sala and his Orchestra at the TV show La Chance aux chansons hosted by Pascal Sevran.

In 2013, Clark Baxtresser recorded the song playing the Wurlitzer electric piano.

In 2015, Lambert Wilson recorded the song with the musical arrangements by Bruno Fontaine for the album Wilson chante Montand.

References