"" (); 'Hymn to Love') is a 1949 French song with lyrics by ÃÂdith Piaf and music by Marguerite Monnot. Piaf first performed the song that year and recorded it in 1950 for Columbia Records.
Piaf performed the song in the 1951 French musical comedy film Paris chante toujours (Paris Still Sings).
"" has been performed by many others, and has been featured in two Olympic Games ceremonies: at the 2020 Summer Olympics closing ceremony in Tokyo in 2021, sung by Milet; and at the 2024 Summer Olympics opening ceremony in Paris in 2024, sung by Celine Dion.
The lyrics by Piaf, set to music by Marguerite Monnot, are dedicated to Piaf's lover, French boxer Marcel Cerdan. On 28 October 1949, Cerdan was killed when Air France Flight 009 crashed on its way from Paris to New York, where Cerdan was to visit Piaf. Piaf recorded the song on 2 May 1950. It appears on her albums Edith Piaf (1953), Le Tour de Chant d'ÃÂdith Piaf a l'Olympia - No. 2 (1956), and Le Tour de Chant d'ÃÂdith Piaf a l'Olympia - No. 3 (1958).
The lyrics of "" were translated into English by Piaf's protégé Eddie Constantine as "Hymn to Love", which Piaf recorded on her album La Vie En Rose / ÃÂdith Piaf Sings In English (1956). This version was also featured on Cyndi Lauper's 2003 album At Last.
The lyrics were also translated into English as "If You Love Me (Really Love Me)" by Geoffrey Parsons. Kay Starr popularized this version in 1954, reaching No. 4 on Billboards charts of Best Sellers in Stores and Most Played by Jockeys. Starr's version ranked No. 20 on Billboards 1954's Most Popular Records According to Retail Sales, and No. 20 on Billboards 1954's Most Popular Records According to Disk Jockey Plays.
Donna Loren released a version of "If You Love Me (Really Love Me)" in 1963. Mary Hopkin released a version of "If You Love Me (Really Love Me)" in 1976, which reached No. 32 on the UK singles chart.
Canadian Celine Dion sang "Hymne àl'amour" in French from the first floor of the Eiffel Tower on 26 July 2024 at the culmination of the opening ceremony of the Summer Olympics in Paris. It was her first public performance since 2020 and the first since her 2022 diagnosis of stiff-person syndrome. Dion's version was released as a single on 10 October 2024, the 61st anniversary of Piaf's death. The song topped the chart in Quebec and reached number four on the Canadian Digital Song Sales chart. In France, "Hymne àl'amour" peaked at number 65. "Hymne àl'amour" was nominated for Song of the Year at the Félix Awards in 2025.
Credits adapted from Tidal.
Thye lyrics of "" were translated into Japanese in 1951 as by Tokiko Iwatani. Fubuki Koshiji recorded the song, selling about two million singles. "Love Hymn" was covered by Keiko Masuda in her 2014 album .
"" was covered by Japanese-American singer-songwriter Hikaru Utada in 2010, under the unique title . (Other Japanese renditions bear the title "Ai no Sanka".) Utada's version reached No. 5 on Billboard Adult Contemporary Airplay, No. 7 on Billboard Japan Hot 100, and No. 19 on RIAJ Digital Track Chart Top 100.
Singer-actress Atsuko Maeda performed the Japanese version of the song in the 2019 film To the Ends of the Earth. The lyrics also give the film its title. The song was performed by Milet at the closing ceremony of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games on 8 August 2021.
The song is a central plot point to Anne Wiazemsky's 1996 autobiographical novel ', which won the Prix Maurice Genevoix that year.