SCJoniGuy, AKA Bob Mulller, posed the question:
<<I was wondering if she was inspired by Edith Piaf in using the name
"Edith"...
And, in a message dated 3/18/01 10:51:47 PM, TanyerSCO ("tanya in nyc")
responded:
<<Edith Piaf! I didn't even think of that! >>
And now, me:
I had never thought of that either, Bob and Tanya, although I have often
wondered why Joni chose the name Edith in this song. Names go in and out of
fashion, and when Joni wrote this song, anyone named Edith would have more
likely been one of Myrtle's contemporaries than one of Joni's. And even
though Joni's Edith was a southern belle, and the song has a modern setting
("Disco dancers greet him") I think it just might be possible that she was
paying some sort of an homage to Piaf.
I know Edith Piaf had a tragic love life -- and who hasn't? -- but was she
ever involved with some kind of a kingpin? And, if I remember correctly, I
think she died because of some kind of substance abuse -- was it cocaine?
Could those "Impossibly gentle hands and blood-red fingernails" have belonged
to Edith Piaf? Any Piaf majors out there?
Have a nice week,
--Bob Murphy
