Serge Gainsbourg - Histoire de Melody Nelson

Serge Gainsbourg's Histoire de Melody Nelson drips sex. Listening to Gainbourg's breathy French over the opening track "Melody" fills your head with little else but twisted bodies, mixing sweat and nothings whispered into your lover's ear. Reading a translation of the lyrics does little to dispell the images of sex. For those of us who don't understand French, Histoire de Melody Nelson starts with the narrator accidentally hitting a 15-year old British girl named Melody Nelson with his 26-horsepower 1910 Rolls Royce Silver Ghost, and the all-too brief love affair they share, before she boards a plane for home and disappears forever, possibly lost in the South Pacific.The subject matter aside, this album pops on so many levels. Histoire... was intended to be the soundtrack to a short film, finely bridging the gap between the two mediums. Within this context, the album paints a backdrop of a dark, sensual romance, of two lovers fated by the stars to be separated. In just under 28 minutes, Gainsbourg accomplishes what takes most artists (musical or otherwise) double or triple to time to do. The opener, "Melody", frames up the tone and feel of the album, with a string arrangement driving right along with a tight bass and drum line, and a guitar that is so funky that it freestyles the entire 7 minutes and 32 seconds. From the chanson-like "Valse de Melody", to jam session-feel of "En Melody", to the reprise closer "Cargo Culte", Histoire de Melody Nelson slips along so smoothly and easily it seems almost dream-like. Just 3-5 seconds into "Ah! Melody" or "Ballade de Melody Nelson", and you can see where Air found the inspiration for their sound. Since its release in 1971, Histoire... has inspired such major names as Air, Portishead, Beck, Jarvis Cocker.It is my guess that Gainsbourg, known to be a flamboyantly controversial firgure, was intending this album to be taken a little less seriously than history had taken it, but regardless of the intent behind it, Histoire de Melody Nelson is the kind of concept album that most dream of making, and fail miserably or drive themselves crazy making. And all the time, Serge Gainbourg keeps his cool, cocky, sexy tone, making it almost seem too easy. Whether you have a lover whose ear you can nibble on, or you are a lonely soul hoping for that chance encounter, or even if you are just wanted to fill up your cool reservoirs, Histoire de Melody Nelson offers forth ideas for you to work with.Let's just hope that you know better than to follow this story to the letter.