edith_piaf raze abandoned by her father, she was raised by prostitutes. for four of the first seven years of her life, her eyes were wreathed with red and incapable of taking in any light. "i always thought my days spent in darkness gave me a very special sensitivity," she said. "much later, when i really wanted to hear, really see a song, i'd close my eyes. and when i wanted to bring it out of the very depths of myself, out of my guts, out of my belly, when the song had to come from far away, i'd close my eyes." love can make you blind. so too can the voice of someone who knew what it was to feel her way through the world without sight, and who felt a singer should remain recherché. "once the curtain comes down," she said, "the performer should fly away like a magician's dove." 230706 what's it to you? who go blather from