Hymne à l'amour

"Hymne à l'amour"
Cover of a 1956 vinyl single featuring Hymne à l'amour as the B-side
Single by Édith Piaf
Released	1950
Format	Record
Genre	Chanson
Length	3:27
Label	Les Industries Musicales Et Electriques Pathé Marconi
Writer(s)	Édith Piaf (Original lyrics) Geoffrey Parsons (English lyrics) Marguerite Monnot (music)
Music sample Édith Piaf – "Hymne à l'amour" Édith Piaf, 1950 (20 seconds)

"Hymne à l'amour" (French pronunciation: ​[imn a lamuʁ]; French for "Hymn to Love") is a popular French song originally performed by Édith Piaf.

The lyrics were written by Piaf and the music by Marguerite Monnot. Piaf first sang this song at the Cabaret Versailles in New York City on September 14, 1949. It was written to her lover and the love of her life, the French boxer, Marcel Cerdan. On October 28, 1949, Cerdan was killed in a plane crash on his way from Paris to New York to come to see her. She recorded the song on May 2, 1950.

"Hymne à l'amour" was adapted into Japanese in 1951 as "Ai no Sanka" (愛の讃歌^?, "Love Hymn"), by singer Fubuki Koshiji (), featuring lyrics by Tokiko Iwatani (). The song became one of her signature songs, amassing around 2,000,000 copies sold of various singles featuring this song.

"Hymne à l'amour" was translated into English by Piaf's protégé Eddie Constantine as "Hymn to Love", which was recorded by Piaf on her album La Vie En Rose / Édith Piaf Sings In English (1956). This version was featured on Cyndi Lauper's 2003 album At Last. It was also adapted into English as "If You Love Me (Really Love Me)" with lyrics by Geoffrey Parsons, first recorded in this form in 1952 by Vera Lynn. Piaf then sang this version in Carnegie Hall at both of her performances in 1956 and 1957. Subsequent covers by Kay Starr in 1954, Shirley Bassey in 1959 and Brenda Lee in 1961 brought fame to this version. Raquel Bitton features "Hymn to Love" in her tribute to Piaf 2000.