She participated in various musical shows and recorded many popular songs in the 1960s and 1970s, mostly in collaboration with Serge Gainsbourg, Bob Zagury and Sacha Distel, including "Harley Davidson", "Je Me Donne A Qui Me Plait", "Bubble gum", "Contact", "Je Reviendrais Toujours Vers Toi", "L'Appareil A Sous", "La Madrague", "On Demenage", "Sidonie", "Tu Veux, Ou Tu Veux Pas?", "Le Soleil De Ma Vie" (the cover of Stevie Wonder's "You Are the Sunshine of My Life") and notorious "Je t'aime… moi non plus".
In 1952, she appeared on screen for the first time in Le Trou Normand. That same year, at age 18, she married director Roger Vadim, with whom she had been romantically involved for several years.
Although the European film industry was then in the ascendant, her personal rise was remarkable: she has been one of the few European actresses to receive mass media attention in the United States. She and Marilyn Monroe were the icons of female sexuality in the 1950s and 1960s and whenever she made public appearances in the United States the media hordes covered her every move.
Her films of the early and mid 1950s were lightweight romantic dramas, some of them historical, in which she was cast as ingénue or siren, often with an element of undress. She played bit parts in three English-language films, the British comedy Doctor at Sea (1955), Helen of Troy (1954), in which she was understudy for the title-role but only appears as Helen's handmaid, and Act of Love (1954) with Kirk Douglas. Her French-language films were dubbed for international release. "She is every man's idea of the girl he'd like to meet in Paris" said the film-critic Ivon Addams in 1955.
Vadim was not content with this light fare. The New Wave of French and Italian art directors and their stars were riding high internationally and he felt Bardot was being undersold. Looking for something more like an art-film to push her as a serious actress, he showcased her in And God Created Woman (1956) with Jean-Louis Trintignant.
The film, about an amoral teenager in a respectable small-town setting, was a big international success. She may have had an affair with her co-star Trintignant, but this was more likely a pre-release publicity gimmick. The film is often wrongly described as her first film (it was her seventeenth) and to have launched her overnight, but it did help move her towards the cinematic mainstream.
It also ruled out a transition to Hollywood, where she was thought too risqué to handle. The Doris Day era was in still in full swing and even Jane Russell in The French Line (1953) had been thought to be going too far by showing her midriff. Erotica like Bardot's Cette sacrée gamine (That Crazy Kid, 1955) was considered fine at the box-office as long as it was clearly labelled "European". Bardot's limited English and strong accent, while beguiling to the ears of men, did not suit rapid-fire Hollywood scripts. In any event, staying in Europe benefited her image when the 1960s began to swing and Hollywood slipped into the background for a while, and Bardot was voted honorary sex-goddess of the decade.
Divorced from Vadim in 1957, she married actor Jacques Charrier (1959-62), by whom in 1960 she had her only child, Nicolas-Jacques Charrier from whom she is estranged. She once referred to her only child as "a tumour". The marriage was preyed on by the paparazzi and there were clashes over the direction of Bardot's career. Her films became more substantial, but this brought a heavy pressure of dual celebrity as she sought critical acclaim while remaining to most of the world a glamour model.
Vie privée (1960), directed by Louis Malle has more than an element of autobiography in it. The scene in which, returning to her flat, Bardot's character is harangued in the lift by a middle-aged cleaning-lady calling her a tramp and a tart was based on an actual incident, and is a resonant image of celebrity in the mid-20th century.
Soon after, Bardot withdrew to the seclusion of Southern France and is now known to have attempted suicide, but as the sexual revolution of the early 1960s gathered momentum her lifestyle began to seem more like the norm and the pressure lifted. Through the sixties, she was happy to appear in glossy star-vehicles like Viva Maria (1969), to dabble in pop music and to play the role of glamour model and icon. In 1965 she appeared as herself in the Hollywood production Dear Brigitte starring Jimmy Stewart.
Her other husbands were German millionaire playboy Gunter Sachs (1966-69), and French right-wing politician, Bernard d'Ormale (1992-present). She has also had reputed relationships with many men including singers Serge Gainsbourg and Sacha Distel. In the late 1950s, she shared an exchange she considered “croiser de deux sillages” with writer John Gilmore, then an actor in France for a New Wave film to have starred Jean Seberg. Gilmore told Paris Match, “I felt a beautiful warmth with Bardot but found it difficult to discuss things to any depth whatsoever”.
She is recognised for popularising bikini swimwear in early films such as Manina (Woman without a Veil, 1952) and in her appearances at Cannes and in many photo shoots. She even sported an early version of the monokini from time to time. Though this was not considered extraordinary in France, it was considered nearly scandalous in the US. The fashions of the 1960s looked effortlessly right and spontaneous on her and she joined Marilyn Monroe and Jackie Kennedy, in becoming a subject for Andy Warhol paintings.
In 1970, the sculptor Alain Gourdon used Bardot as the model for a bust of Marianne, the French national emblem.
Mentions of Bardot in music
The first song to reference Brigitte Bardot was "Gimme' that Wine" by vocalese group Lambert, Hendricks and Ross on the Columbia label in 1960.
Indie singer Jordan Galland also has a song called "Brigitte Bardot". In 1966, Harry Belafonte recorded "Zombie Jamboree" which has an entire verse dedicated to Brigitte Bargot.
Bardot has also been referenced in many other songs, including "I Shall Be Free" (Bob Dylan), "We Didn't Start the Fire" (Billy Joel), "Message of Love" (The Pretenders), "I Think I'm Going To Kill Myself" (Elton John), "Warlocks" (Red Hot Chili Peppers), "You Went The Wrong Way, Old King Louie" (Allan Sherman), "You're My Favourite Star" (The Bellamy Brothers), "It's Not Enough" (The Who), "Contempt" (Silkworm), "Big Wedge" (Fish),"Brigitte Bardot" (Tom Zé), "Alegria, Alegria" (Caetano Veloso), "Loaded" (ZZ Top), "Brigitte Bardot" (Creature), "Bardot" (Marden Hill), "Shir Nevu'i Cosmi Aliz" (Yoni Rechter & Eli Mohar), "Smiles Like Richard Nixon" (The Bad Examples), "Bijou" (Stew), "Stratford-On-Guy" (Liz Phair), and "Brigitte Bardot T.N.T." (Pizzicato Five).
Un Jour Comme Un Autre
Brigitte Bardot Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
et pourtant tu t'en vas,
tu t'en vas vers une autre
sans me dire un seul mot
et je ne comprends pas, comprends pas
C'est un jour comme un autre
mais nous sommes déjà
de nous deux, il ne reste que moi
mais pourquoi ? mais pourquoi ?
Toi tu étais pour moi
tout ce que j'espérais,
toi tu étais ma vie et même un peu plus
tu étais l'amour
C'est un jour comme un autre
et pourtant tu t'en vas,
tu t'en vas vers une autre
sans me dire un seul mot
et je ne comprends pas, comprends pas
C'est un jour comme un autre
mais moi j'ai mal de toi
moi qui riais des autres,
aujourd'hui, c'est vous deux qui devez
rire de moi, rire de moi
Toi tu prends à jamais
tout ce que j'espérais
toi tu me prends la vie
et même un peu plus
tu me prends l'amour !
C'est un jour comme un autre
et pourtant tu t'en vas {x3}
The song "Un jour comme un autre" by Brigitte Bardot is a heart-wrenching ballad about a lover leaving without a single word of explanation. The singer in the song is confused and hurt as they try to come to terms with the sudden departure of their loved one. The first verse sets the scene as the singer repeated "It's a day like any other," even though everything has changed for them. Their lover is leaving them for someone else, and they cannot understand why they weren't even given a reason.
The chorus repeats the phrase "It's a day like any other" before moving into the second verse where the singer laments about how much they depended on their lover for everything. They were their whole world, and now that they're gone, the singer is left with nothing but the pain of their absence. They question why this has happened to them and why they must suffer as a result.
In the third verse, the singer acknowledges that they are now alone but compares their situation to how they once laughed at others going through the same thing. They are now the ones who are the butt of the joke, and it hurts them deeply. The song ends with the singer acknowledging that their love has taken everything from them, including their life and their emotions.
Overall, "Un jour comme un autre" is a powerful and emotional song that beautifully captures the pain of a sudden breakup. The lyrics are poignant and moving, and Brigitte Bardot's ballads only add to the song's heart-wrenching appeal.
Line by Line Meaning
C'est un jour comme un autre
Today seems like any other day
et pourtant tu t'en vas,
Yet you are leaving, walking away,
tu t'en vas vers une autre
Going towards someone else, leaving me behind,
sans me dire un seul mot
Not even a word to explain your departure
et je ne comprends pas, comprends pas
And I can't understand, can't comprehend
mais nous sommes déjà
But we are already
éloignés l'un de l'autre
Separated from each other,
de nous deux, il ne reste que moi
Of the two of us, only I remain
mais pourquoi ? mais pourquoi ?
But why? But why?
Toi tu étais pour moi
You were everything to me,
tout ce que j'espérais,
All my hopes and dreams,
toi tu étais ma vie et même un peu plus
You were my life, and even more than that
tu étais l'amour
You were my love
mais moi j'ai mal de toi
But I hurt because of you
moi qui riais des autres,
Me, who laughed at others,
aujourd'hui, c'est vous deux qui devez
Today, it is the two of you who must
rire de moi, rire de moi
Laugh at me, make fun of me
Toi tu prends à jamais
You take forever
tout ce que j'espérais
Everything I hoped for
toi tu me prends la vie
You take my life away
et même un peu plus
And even more than that,
tu me prends l'amour !
You take my love away!
et pourtant tu t'en vas
And yet, you leave,
et pourtant tu t'en vas
And yet, you leave,
et pourtant tu t'en vas
And yet, you leave
Contributed by Ella F. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Степан Кожин
Toujours formidable! Merci 🙏
Mariella Gionca
...bellissimo brano...
lopez robert
BARDOT fut le talent à l'état pur chanteuse,danseuse, commédienne exeptionnelle et terriblement belle .
Manoel Thomaz Carneiro
Adoro...Eterna BB
Jacques Ouzi
J'aimerai savoir : A qui cette chanson est-elle dédiée ? De qui Brigitte parle-t'elle ? J'imagine qu'elle parle un peu de l'amour en général mais là clairement c'est ciblé sur son vécu... cette histoire m'intrigue beaucoup, je veux bien qu'on m'éclaire la lanterne sur le sujet.
William Morrigan
Yo quisiera saber que dice, no hablo francés 😔
Inaki Chourraut
Básicamente que la deja por otra un día como cualquier otro, sola, sin amor y sin saber por qué…
Léonce Morin
❤❤❤
Michael Soden
Beautiful, thanks Memoria Oculta :)
Michèle D
Quintessence de la féminité....