The Mots of Monsieur Gainsbourg
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Be prepared for quite a disappointment as you're about to be deceived into reading this post.
Deception and double-entendre are two of the many things which characterise Serge Gainsbourg's music. But between you and me, there won't be any guile as I'll do my best to show you the different guises of Dr Serge and Mr Gainsbourg.
To start with, Monsieur Gainsbourg is not Mr Gainsbourg. He was born Lucien Ginsburg. The change of his given name gives you an idea of his poetic license, as it were. The first of many. A true wordsmith, he doesn't hesitate to coin new words such as "l'anamour" for instance.
Monsieur Gainsbourg is also a master of all trades. Classically trained (his father taught him the piano), he was a painter, a writer, a poet, a film-maker and above all a philanderer. One of his quirks is to write songs for the women of the moment with whom he is dallying - as in this homage to Baudelaire and B.B.
He is also a musical con master. When you think he is a jazz artist (see his collaborative work with Elek Bacsik and Michel Gaudry entitled "Gainsbourg Confidentiel"), it turns out he is a crooner.
But then, he will tell you that he's more interested in African beats, Latin American rhythms and percussions etc...
For all his melodic slight of hand, one thing pervades his work: his childlike mischief. He likes to play tricks on the listener with double-entendre and surrealistic word plays.
As he grew older, the songs leer more toward sex (as a jocular topic) and overt provocation. - It took me years before I could understand why 69 was more erotic than any other year.
Then perhaps, he is a secretive symphonist. Here is an excerpt from "Histoire de Melody Nelson" hailed by the French critics as "the first true symphonic poem of the pop era."
After reading my words and listening to his music (maybe even watching his clip), surely you're now sorely disappointed as I didn't touch on any of his works for other people (such as Petula Clark "La Gadoue," Françoise Hardy "Comment te dire adieu," France Gall "Les Sucettes" and so and so forth). Not a single word on his collaboration with Sly and Robbie either. Nor have I mentioned his film scores or even the movies he directed.
Well tough merde as Gainsbarre (his "agent provocateur" code name) would say. Didn't I tell you about the very likely frustration from reading my jottings at the top of this screed? If only for the language barrier, it's almost impossible to talk about Monsieur Serge because only he could have invented the words to describe himself. [Edit] - For a translation of some of his songs, see this site -
(For a lot more of joyous information and tunes, you can also read this post by Carolyn and especially all the comments)
Deception and double-entendre are two of the many things which characterise Serge Gainsbourg's music. But between you and me, there won't be any guile as I'll do my best to show you the different guises of Dr Serge and Mr Gainsbourg.
To start with, Monsieur Gainsbourg is not Mr Gainsbourg. He was born Lucien Ginsburg. The change of his given name gives you an idea of his poetic license, as it were. The first of many. A true wordsmith, he doesn't hesitate to coin new words such as "l'anamour" for instance.
Monsieur Gainsbourg is also a master of all trades. Classically trained (his father taught him the piano), he was a painter, a writer, a poet, a film-maker and above all a philanderer. One of his quirks is to write songs for the women of the moment with whom he is dallying - as in this homage to Baudelaire and B.B.
He is also a musical con master. When you think he is a jazz artist (see his collaborative work with Elek Bacsik and Michel Gaudry entitled "Gainsbourg Confidentiel"), it turns out he is a crooner.
But then, he will tell you that he's more interested in African beats, Latin American rhythms and percussions etc...
For all his melodic slight of hand, one thing pervades his work: his childlike mischief. He likes to play tricks on the listener with double-entendre and surrealistic word plays.
As he grew older, the songs leer more toward sex (as a jocular topic) and overt provocation. - It took me years before I could understand why 69 was more erotic than any other year.
Then perhaps, he is a secretive symphonist. Here is an excerpt from "Histoire de Melody Nelson" hailed by the French critics as "the first true symphonic poem of the pop era."
After reading my words and listening to his music (maybe even watching his clip), surely you're now sorely disappointed as I didn't touch on any of his works for other people (such as Petula Clark "La Gadoue," Françoise Hardy "Comment te dire adieu," France Gall "Les Sucettes" and so and so forth). Not a single word on his collaboration with Sly and Robbie either. Nor have I mentioned his film scores or even the movies he directed.
Well tough merde as Gainsbarre (his "agent provocateur" code name) would say. Didn't I tell you about the very likely frustration from reading my jottings at the top of this screed? If only for the language barrier, it's almost impossible to talk about Monsieur Serge because only he could have invented the words to describe himself. [Edit] - For a translation of some of his songs, see this site -
(For a lot more of joyous information and tunes, you can also read this post by Carolyn and especially all the comments)
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