One of the most revolutionary composers of his time was the son of Russian immigrants from Feodosia, the odious Lucien Ginzburg (April 2, 1928 – March 2, 1991), known to the whole world as Serge Gainsbourg. Serving listeners an eclectic cocktail of rarely combined styles: jazz, chanson, world-music, bossa nova, ye-ye pop, psychedelic rock, avant-garde, reggae (to name just a few) – he created the greatest melodies of the 20th century – both for himself and for other artists. He wrote music for Jane Birkin, Brigitte Bardot, Anna Karina, France Gall and many others, while cohabiting with some serge-made pop stars, and also composed many film soundtracks, such as Cannabis (1970), Je t’aime moi non plus (1976), even playing in some of them. them.
Constantly living on the edge, indulging his alcohol addiction, accompanied by outrageous public outrageous antics, at the same time, he maintained amazing efficiency, releasing his own or someone else’s album every year. Being obsessed with his creative impulses, he managed to love and be loved, sometimes playing the role of a bully, sexist and misogynistic, and eventually became an irreparable loss for French contemporary music, leaving only in his seventh decade. We present our TOP 20 most beloved and iconic tracks of the French chansonnier: songs that can be considered the best!
Listen online or download The Best Serge Gainsbourg Songs (mp3, 135 MB)
20. L’appareil à sous (1962)
The song about the Slot Machine is a simplified model of a woman created for sighing, smiling and causing pain to a man. However, the cheerful tune and string arrangement make it clear that the author is mocking rather than suffering. The song was covered by Bardo a year later.
19. L’Homme à Tete de Chou (1976)
After “Histoire de Melody Nelson”, the saga of the Cabbage-headed Man, which tells of lust, madness and murder, is Gainsbourg’s second album masterpiece. It’s much darker, weirder, and more eclectic, and its title track—Gainsbourg wheezes bitterly over an addictive, doomed, and obviously prog-rock riff—provides an insight into its dark charm. Alexander Gradsky produced similar conceptual rock operas with Buffoons, but they remained underground.
18. Aux Enfants de la Chance (1987)
A man who existed in a state of constant dispersion and an equally constant cloud of smoke of his beloved Gitanes, Serge Gainsbourg was not really in a position to lecture anyone about self-destructive habits. But let’s ignore the anti-drug message here and instead immerse ourselves in the sweet sadness of the melody of the Children of Luck, one of the best in his last years.
17. Couleur Café (1964)
Feeling trapped within French pop music, but not yet willing to follow the path of ye-ye, Gainsbourg released Percussions, featuring experimental sound, African and Cuban rhythms, and Miriam Makeba-inspired backing vocals, an album decades ahead of its time for a European artist. It is full of bright moments, among which is the airy and beautiful Coffee Color.
16. Requiem pour un Twister (1962)
Like many traditional French musicians, Gainsbourg was initially cautious about rock and roll: in the album Chez les Yé-Yé, clubs serve only as a place where you can pick up girls; in the touchingly creepy, jazz-inspired “Requiem for a Twister”, like the Jefferson Airplane White Rabbit that bit off its head. This dancer danced himself to death.
15. La décadance (1972)
Another erotic song where dancing is an obvious metaphor for sex: “Dance of Decadence/He put me to sleep/Our jaded bodies/And our lost souls.” Serge’s hoarse, sensual whisper is perfectly combined with Jane’s hoarse, thin voice, this couple, who looked like beauty and the beast, still attracts glances and arouses keen public interest. A song from the soundtrack to the movie “Sex Shop”.
14. La Chanson de Slogan (1969)
The theme from the movie Slogan, on the set of which Gainsbourg first met Jane Birkin, defined the style of their duet: dramatic orchestration, killer melody, funky swing, Birkin sings in a cracked, fragile voice of “chorus girls,” and Gainsbourg mumbles breathlessly, which sounds obscene, even if you can’t understand the words.
13. Comme un Boomerang (1974)
“Like a Boomerang” was rejected as France’s entry for the Eurovision Song Contest in 1975 — apparently too aggressive and sexy — and went unnoticed until it was recorded by Etienne Daho in 2001. Gainsbourg’s original song was finally released in 2011 and became a prime example of his excellent compositional form in the early 1970s: thoughtful, but blessed with an amazing cyclical melody.
12. Je T’aime … Moi Non Plus (1969)
Gainsbourg’s success in the UK happened only once with this bawdy song: but the majestic charm of his music contrasted with all these sighs and ambiguous lyrics, and the title was borrowed from Salvador Dali (“Picasso is a genius, and so am I! Picasso is a communist, but I’m not!”). The single made Gainsbourg famous for a short time, but alienated the English-speaking world from knowing the true richness of his work. The instrumental version was played in the 1976 film of the same name, directed by Serge himself, and it should be noted that it is even better than the boring original.
11. Baudelaire (1962)
Gainsbourg was never a straightforward chansonnier — on his early albums he mixed intelligent, sardonic chanson with jazz, which ranged in style from cool to bop. “Baudelaire” is a perfect example: a melancholic atmosphere, brass instruments against the languid Latin American rhythm of Bossa Nova, while the text is borrowed from the French poet’s “Dancing Snake”.
10. Cannabis (1970)
In the late 60s and early 70s, Gainsbourg created his best soundtracks, among them soundtracks for the films “Manon 70”, “Roads of Kathmandu”. Meanwhile, the title song from the thriller “Cannabis” — which also starred him and Birkin — is simply amazing: a rare excursion with amazing hard rock guitars, epic and elegiac.
9. L’Anamour (1969)
Je T’aime… became a hit, but on Serge Gainsbourg’s follow-up album/Jane Birkin had more successful songs, among them L’anamour (Dislike), her irresistible mood and blissful-sounding chorus completely contradict the lyrics of the song, which apparently reflects Gainsbourg’s concern about the possible failure of his developing relationship with Birkin.
8. Aux Armes Et Caetera (1979)
Of all Gainsbourg’s provocations, none has caused as much outrage as the reworking of the French national anthem into a reggae track. It didn’t matter how well it was done — it featured Sly & Robbie and Bob Marley’s backing vocals band I-Threes -it was followed by death threats, bomb warnings, newspapers demanding his citizenship be stripped, and concerts in front of an audience of militant paratroopers -the scandals were just to his advantage.A total of 1 million copies were sold. Great job.
7. Comic Strip (1968)
The Comic Book song, another Gainsbourg-Bardot collaboration from the album of the same name, became a classic, embodying Gainsbourg’s ability to show his love for everything American through a perverse French prism. FUCK! BANG! BANG! SLAP! WHAM! BANG! boom! BOOM! HURRY UP! Interjections make up a good half of the song’s text. The music reminds us that Serge started his career in a cabaret.
6. Charlotte For Ever (1986)
Charlotte Forever is both a film and the debut album of the same name by Serge’s daughter and the title song from it, which Serge was inspired to write by Aram Khachaturian’s “Andantino”. A synthesizer anthem of fatherly love, full of bitterness and doubt. Were the hints in the film about a father-daughter hazing relationship, was it subtle trolling or just a spit in the face of public taste? “probably both.” Whether he wanted it or not (and probably did), Charlotte followed in her father’s footsteps in her further creative unrestrained experiments.
5. Initials BB (1968)
Gainsbourg’s affair with Brigitte Bardot provoked an abundance of songs: “Bonnie and Clyde”, “Je T’aime”, etc… Even after it was over — and Gainsbourg was dissuaded from throwing himself into the Seine —the fantastic “Initials BB” appeared, a hymn to the object of desire, in which the lyrical hero is depicted moping in a pub, and the strings in the chorus evoke his crushed infatuation. A month before Bardot broke his heart, they decided to move in together. Gainsbourg said he would “build his love a palace out of the Arabian Nights.” He stopped at a house on Rue de Verneuil. As soon as the real estate agent saw Gainsbourg and Bardot enter together, he told other potential buyers that the house had been sold. But Bardot returned to her husband and never joined Gainsbourg in his domestic happiness. An inconsolable Gainsbourg conjured up Initials BB, which he described in a letter to her as “a nostalgic hymn that will forever glorify her image as an adored goddess.”
4. Je Suis Venu Te Dire que Je M’en Vais (1973)
One of the most heartbreaking love songs inspired by the touch of death. In 1973, Gainsbourg suffered his first heart attack and almost died. After spending a week in the hospital, he was inspired by the idea of what was going to happen: “I came to tell you that I’m leaving.” The lyrics of the song refer to Paul Verlaine’s poem “Autumn Song”, from which he quotes some lines, changing the order. Gainsbourg captured Jane’s tears on the recording to emphasize the dramatic effect.
3. La Javanaise (1963)
Ironically, the song is about a girl from O.Java, which is firmly rooted in French culture — originally a hit song for Juliette Greco, it was subsequently re—sung dozens of times – was recorded in England. But the heart was Parisian, the lyrics referred to both risky dancing and wordplay, and the soaring melody referred to the musical zenith of Gainsbourg’s chansonnier.
2. Ballade de Melody Nelson (1971)
After the death of the author, “The Story of Melody Nelson” was rightfully recognized as Gainsbourg’s masterpiece: the oral excerpts that make up the song were the subject of numerous searches for inspiration, but the magnificent little composition with its gentle acoustic guitar playing and cinematic strings, repeatedly interrupted by a bass guitar hook, is the main highlight of this rock opera.
1. Bonnie and Clyde (1968)
It’s interesting to compare “Bonnie and Clyde” with the British hit, also inspired by the 1967 Warren Beatty/Faye Dunaway screen duet. The ballad of Bonnie and Clyde by Georgie Fame is a simple stylization for that period, complemented by a traditional jazz banjo. Gainsbourg’s song is something else: a sultry atmosphere, Brazilian chic, sinister strings, a Bardo recitative voice and lyrics based on a poem by Bonnie Parker, which its author happily called “immoral”, plunging into the fatalism of the duo’s actions, portraying them as the frightened victims of “la société”. It’s a strange, intoxicating, inflammatory and incredible four minutes, the product of a completely unique musical imagination: 100% Gainsbourg at his peak.
