Moi Non Plus: Serge Gainsbourg

Paz Monge

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“If I had to choose between a woman and a final cigarette, I would choose the cigarette. You can throw it away easier!‰Û

If there was someone that could say that phrase with class, meanwhile holding a cigarette and laughing about how true it is, it would only be Serge Gainsbourg. Moi Non Plus is a column dedicated to French music, its culture and the amount of cigarettes one can smoke while listening to Historie of Melody Nelson in its entirety.

Named after one of Serge‰’s greatest songs “Je T‰’aime‰Û_Moi Non Plus‰” (I love you‰Û_me neither), this column will revise several French musicians who have left a valuable and relevant mark upon music and those who are still composing and making music as well.

This week, the “membre honoraire‰” of the column will be the founder and pure motivator of it, Serge Gainsbourg. I rediscovered French music, love and my attraction to deep, sexy French voices through Serge. A few years ago, my dear friend Jesse invited me to have tea at his place, and during our rendez-vous, he suggested Serge‰’s music, and how much I would like it. Minutes later, I found myself completely enchanted by Melody Nelson and Gainsbourg‰’s mysterious aura.

Before this, I vaguely knew of him through his passionate love affair with Jane Birkin (fashion icon). However, rediscovering him over his music opened a whole other dimension into his work as a filmmaker, musician and French men.

Born in Paris into a Russian Jewish family, Gainsbourg was part of a highly creative family, who had to flee Russia after the Bolshevik Revolution. Living with a pianist father was his first and official introduction into the musical world. After WWII, he started his career as a “bar musician‰Û, composing songs deeply inspired by chanson. He still started to experiment with Avant-garde musical styles for his time, like jazz, rock and pop.

It is almost impossible to pick Gainsbourg‰’s best album, as every single one of them has a different element to it. Nevertheless, a constant variable behind them is the sexual component he adds to his songs. Starting from his unique concept album Historie of Melody Nelson, in which he narrates a Lolita-inspired story through all the seven songs. Gainsbourg talks about a forbidden and rare love between him and a teenage girl, Melody Nelson. The album fluctuates in sounds and harmonies, leading the listener through this tale of seduction and lust.

A less sexual, but still sexy and erotic album is No.4. As every other French musician, there is a moment in their careers where they discover the beauty of Bossa Nova and the sexiness behind it. No.4 embodies this experimentation with Brazilian music, adding a feisty tropical taste into his repertoire. Songs like “Les cigarillos‰Û, “Ce grand mechant vous‰” and “La Javanaise‰” could not show a more tropic and sultry Serge.

However, Gainsbourg was known for recording and making music with many of his love affairs. Brigitte Bardot was one of his most famous love affairs, leading them to produce several of the songs in Comic Strip, like “Bonnie and Clyde‰” and “Initials B.B‰” (after the initials of Brigitte). A few years later he released “Je T‰’aime‰Û_Moi Non Plus‰” with his favorite lover, Jane Birkin. This album is the personification of what love really is through the ears of a musician. You can really tell how in love he was with her just by listening to the album. He even sampled Birkin having an orgasm and included it in his hit single “Je T‰’aime‰Û_ Moi Non Plus‰Û. French men do know how to do it better.

13 years after his sudden death, Serge Gainsbourg is still an icon and hero for the music community in general. Not only has he inspired many French and non-French artists to produce music, but he revealed and challenged this sex stigma people had over music and the art in general. If you can‰’t really find an excuse to drink a cafÌ© au lait and smoke a cigarette, any Serge Gainsbourg song will serve as a perfect scapegoat.