Gainsbourg made her motion picture debut playing Catherine Deneuve's daughter in the film Paroles et musique (1984). In 1986, Gainsbourg won a César Award for "Most Promising Actress" for L'effrontée, and, in 2000, she won "Best Supporting Actress" for the film La Bûche.
Gainsbourg made her musical debut with her father on the song "Lemon Incest" in 1984. Two years later, she released her debut album Charlotte for Ever, which was produced by her father.
In 2007, Gainsbourg appeared alongside Gael Garcia Bernal in Michel Gondry's La Science des rêves and as Claire in the Todd Haynes directed Bob Dylan biopic I'm Not There, also contributing a cover of the Dylan song "Just Like A Woman" to the film's soundtrack.
In 2006, Gainsbourg released her second album 5:55 to critical acclaim and commercial success, reaching the top spot on the French charts and achieving platinum status in the country. In the UK, the album was moderately successful, reaching #78 (The single The Songs That We Sing only made #129).
Gainsbourg has recently released her third studio album, IRM, which was produced by Beck. One of the influential factors in the album's creative process was her time spent filming Antichrist.
The Songs That We Sing
Charlotte Gainsbourg Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Reminded me of you
Before you got afraid
I wish that you could've stayed that way
I saw a little girl
I stopped and smiled at her
She screamed and ran away
It happens to me more and more these days
And these songs that you sing
Do they mean anything
To the people you're singing them to
People like you
I saw a photograph
A woman in a bath
Of hundred dollar bills
If the cold doesn't kill her, money will
I read a magazine
That said by seventeen
Your life was at an end
I'm dead and I'm perfectly content
And these songs that I sing
Do they mean anything
To the people I am singing them to
People like you
And these songs that we sing
Do they mean anything
To the people we 're singing them to
Tonight they do
Tonight they do
Tonight they do
Charlotte Gainsbourg's The Songs That We Sing is a hauntingly beautiful song about the fleeting nature of life and the inevitability of change. The opening lines "I saw somebody who / Reminded me of you / Before you got afraid / I wish that you could've stayed that way" are a poignant reminder of how people change over time and how we sometimes long for the simplicity and purity of our past selves. The singer sees someone who reminds her of a person from her past, but the person she once knew is gone, replaced by someone who is now "afraid." It's a theme that is echoed throughout the song, as the singer encounters various people and situations that highlight the transient nature of life.
The second stanza "I saw a little girl / I stopped and smiled at her / She screamed and ran away / It happens to me more and more these days" is an example of how we can lose our innocence and sense of wonder as we grow older. The singer tries to connect with a little girl, but the girl is scared and runs away, perhaps reflecting the singer's own feeling of being disconnected from the world around her. The chorus "And these songs that you sing / Do they mean anything / To the people you're singing them to / People like you" speaks to the idea of communication and the difficulty of truly connecting with others. The singer wonders if the songs she sings are reaching the people she's trying to reach, or if they're just falling on deaf ears.
The third stanza "I saw a photograph / A woman in a bath / Of hundred dollar bills / If the cold doesn't kill her, money will" is a commentary on the emptiness of material wealth. The woman in the photograph is surrounded by money, but she's also exposed and vulnerable, her nakedness suggesting that material wealth can't shield her from the realities of life. The final stanza "I read a magazine / That said by seventeen / Your life was at an end / I'm dead and I'm perfectly content" is a reflection on mortality and the idea that life is short. The magazine suggests that at the age of seventeen, our lives are over, but the singer realizes that she's content with where she is, regardless of how much time she has left.
Line by Line Meaning
I saw somebody who
I saw someone who
Reminded me of you
Looked like you
Before you got afraid
Before you became afraid
I wish that you could've stayed that way
Wish you had stayed the same
I saw a little girl
Saw a young girl
I stopped and smiled at her
Stopped and smiled in greeting
She screamed and ran away
She became scared and fled
It happens to me more and more these days
It occurs to me increasingly often
And these songs that you sing
The songs you sing
Do they mean anything
Do they have significance
To the people you're singing them to
To those who listen to them
People like you
People similar to you
I saw a photograph
Observed a picture
A woman in a bath
A woman in a bathtub
Of hundred dollar bills
Surrounded by $100 bills
If the cold doesn't kill her, money will
Money will kill her if the cold does not
I read a magazine
Read a magazine article
That said by seventeen
Which stated that by 17 years old
Your life was at an end
Your life was over
I'm dead and I'm perfectly content
I believe that death is satisfactory
And these songs that you sing
The songs you sing
Do they mean anything
Do they have significance
To the people you're singing them to
To those who listen to them
People like you
People similar to you
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Jarvis Cocker, Jean-Benoit Dunckel, Neil Hannon, Nicolas Godin
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind