I Wish You Love (song)

"Que reste-t-il de nos amours ?" (Template:IPA-fr, What Remains of Our Love?) is a French popular song, with music by Léo Chauliac & Charles Trenet and lyrics by Charles Trenet [1][2].

The song was first recorded by Charles Trenet in 1942. It was used extensively in the François Truffaut film Stolen Kisses (1968), its French title, Baisers volés, having been taken from the song's lyrics. The song was also used in the films "Iris" (2001), "Something's Gotta Give" (2003) and "Ces amours-là" (2010).

The song is best known to English-speaking audiences as "I Wish You Love", with new lyrics by Albert A. Beach. It was first recorded by Keely Smith in 1957. It has since become a standard, with many other recordings. Gloria Lynne's 1964 recording for the Everest label reached #28 on the Billboard Hot 100, also top #10 on the Easy Listening chart (edited from the Hot 100), and #3 on Cashbox Magazine's R&B chart (Billboard did not publish standard R&B listings during 1964).

Other versions of the song were recorded by Dalida in 1972 and by Rony Verbiest in 2001. An Italian version entitled "Che cosa resta" was recorded by Franco Battiato in 1999.

Lyrics (in French)[3]

Que reste-t-il de nos amours ?

Ce soir le vent qui frappe à ma porte
Me parle des amours mortes
Devant le feu qui s' éteint
Ce soir c'est une chanson d' automne
Dans la maison qui frissonne
Et je pense aux jours lointains

{Refrain:}
Que reste-t-il de nos amours
Que reste-t-il de ces beaux jours
Une photo, vieille photo
De ma jeunesse
Que reste-t-il des billets doux
Des mois d' avril, des rendez-vous
Un souvenir qui me poursuit
Sans cesse

Bonheur fané, cheveux au vent
Baisers volés, rêves mouvants
Que reste-t-il de tout cela
Dites-le-moi

Un petit village, un vieux clocher
Un paysage si bien caché
Et dans un nuage le cher visage
De mon passé

Les mots les mots tendres qu'on murmure
Les caresses les plus pures
Les serments au fond des bois
Les fleurs qu'on retrouve dans un livre
Dont le parfum vous enivre
Se sont envolés pourquoi?

{au Refrain}

English Translation

What Remains of Our Love?

Tonight the wind that slaps at my door
Speaks to me of past love affairs
Before the fire that wanes
Tonight it's a song of autumn
In the house that shivers
And I think of days long ago

{Refrain: }
What remains of our love?
What remains of these beautiful days?
A photo, an old photo
Of my youth
What remains of the love letters
Of months in April, of rendez-vous 
A memory that follows me
Incessantly

Withered good times, wind in hair
Stolen kisses, moving dreams
What remains of all that?
Tell me

A village, an old hometown (<literally steeple)
A countryside so well hidden
And in a cloud the dear face
Of my past

The words the tender words that one murmurs
The caresses most pure
The vows deep in the woods
The flowers one finds again in a book
The perfume of which inebriates you
That disappeared why?

{Refrain}

I Wish You Love (English (American?) Remake)[4]

I Wish You Love

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 love
And in July a lemonade
To cool you in some leafy glade
I wish you health
But more than wealth
I wish you love
My breaking heart and I agree
That you and I could never be
So with my best
My very best
I set you free
I wish you shelter from the storm
A cozy fire to keep you warm
But most of all when snowflakes fall
I wish you love
But most of all when snowflakes fall
I wish you love
I wish you love
I wish you love, love, love, love, love
I wish you love

Notable Recordings

• Ronnie Aldrich
• The Artistics
• Chet Baker
• Long John Baldry
• Michael Ball
• Billy Hawks (New Genius of the Blues, 1967)
• Shirley Bassey (1968)
• Gianni Basso
• Vicki Benet
• Franco Battiato
• Bruno Bertone
• Ray Brown
• Ray Bryant
• Joyce Carr
• Johnny Case
• Jeanne Castle
• Ray Charles
• Rosemary Clooney
• Kathy Kirby
• Nat King Cole
• Harry Connick Jr.
• Chris Connor (1978)
• Russell Conway
• Sam Cooke (1963)
• Van Craven
• Bing Crosby
• Bette Davis
• Blossom Dearie
• Joey De Francesco
• Tony De Sare
• Marlene Dietrich
• Joe Diorio
• Bill Doggett
• Arielle Dombasle
• The Drifters
• Harry "Sweets" Edison
• Ella Fitzgerald
• The Five Jades
• Buddy Fo
• Sergio Franchi Live! At The Coconut Grove (1965)
• Vincent Franco
• Alison Fraser
• Laura Fygi
• Laufey
• Judy Garland
• João Gilberto
• Giant Sand (1995)
• Benny Goodman
• Eydie Gorme (1966)
• Robert Goulet
• Graciela
• Buddy Greco
• Benny Green
• Grant Green
• Niki Haris
• Bill Henderson
• Ian Hendrickson-Smith
• Ron Hevener
• Earl Hines
• Engelbert Humperdinck
• Victor Wood covered this song in the album Mr. Lonely.
• Willie Hutch (April 1976)
• Chrissie Hynde Soundtrack from the movie Eye of the Beholder, 1999
• Jermaine Jackson
• Joni James
• Jack Jones (1962)
• Jerry Lee Lewis(1982)
• Gloria Lynne (The biggest hit single, 1964)
• Friends of Dean Martinez (1995)
• Nancy Martinez (Downtown, 2004)
• Johnny Mathis (1967)
• Chris Montez (1966)
• Mark Murphy (in Song For The Geese, 1997)
• Lisa Ono™
• Esther Phillips (1965)
• Jonathan Richman
• Frank Sinatra with the Count Basie orchestra (on It Might As Well Be Swing, August 1964)
• The Skatalites
• Keely Smith (1957)
• Rod Stewart and Chris Botti (October 18, 2005)
• Barbra Streisand (1966)
• David T. Walker (1976)
• Andy Williams (1960)
• Nancy Wilson (October 1960)
• Rachael Yamagata
• Natalie Cole
• Patricia Kaas (on Piano Bar, 2002)
• Dean Martin (1962)
• La Rondalla de Saltillo
• Kristy White (on "Dancin' on the Wind)
• Diego Figueiredo & Cyrille Aimée (2009)
• Paloma Berganza

External links

• Song lyric