Charlotte Lucy Gainsbourg (born 21 July 1971) is an Anglo-French actress an… Read Full Bio ↴Charlotte Lucy Gainsbourg (born 21 July 1971) is an Anglo-French actress and singer. After releasing an album with her father at the age of fifteen, more than twenty years passed before she released three albums as an adult (5:55, IRM and Stage Whisper) to commercial and critical success. Gainsbourg has also appeared in many films, including several directed by Lars von Trier, and has received both a César Award and the Cannes Film Festival Best Actress Award. She is the daughter of English actress Jane Birkin and French singer and songwriter Serge Gainsbourg.

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.

Set Yourself On Fire
Charlotte Gainsbourg Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Now come and stand
See the sights and warm your hands
And fan the flame inside of me

Been burning all my life
So come and set my house alight
Yeah, come and set my spirit free

Now all is ashes
This moribund parade of asses
So shake it one more time for me

So take these matches off of me
And set yourself on fire

Fire

Coffee at the floor
It seemed just like the day before
The waiter went and smiled at me

The couple at the bar
He burned his britches, she burned her bra
Now somebody has burned the car

Sulphur in the air
And cracks appearing everywhere
Don't try to stop it; don't you dare

Now see,
That everything must fall that we may live again

So take these matches off of me
And set yourself on fire

Fire
Fire
Fire

Now it's so clear to me
This bonfire of the vanities
So come on everybody, scream

A purifying flame
And you and I can take the blame
A spirit that cannot be tamed

Now see,
That everything must fall that we may live again

So take these matches off of me
And set yourself on fire

Fire
Fire
Fire
Fire
Fire

Fire
Fire

Overall Meaning

In Charlotte Gainsbourg's "Set Yourself on Fire," the lyrics are narrated by someone yearning for a spark, a sign of hope, to rejuvenate their life. The opening lyrics invite the listener to stand and feel the warmth, indicating a desire for connection and comfort. The refrain, "Now come and set my house alight/ Yeah, come and set my spirit free," alludes to the singer's willingness to surrender to something greater and more powerful.

The song is a commentary on the cyclic nature of life, where everything must fall in order to start again, and how fire is often the catalyst for new beginnings. The "moribund parade of asses" and "bonfire of the vanities" references suggest a negative quality to the current state of things, which is something the singer wants to transcend. This is also demonstrated in the line "A spirit that cannot be tamed," which creates an aura of untamed wildness, a desire for freedom and liberation, from the mundane and unfulfilling routine. Therefore, the call to "set yourself on fire" extends beyond the physical interpretation of self-immolation to encompass the idea of finding the passion within oneself to break away from the ordinary and embrace a new beginning, free from any fears or regrets.

Line by Line Meaning

Now come and stand
Join me and witness what I have to offer.

See the sights and warm your hands
Take in your surroundings and find comfort in what you see.

And fan the flame inside of me
Encourage and stoke the passion within me.

Been burning all my life
I've lived with intense passion for as long as I can remember.

So come and set my house alight
Help me reach the peak of my passion and ignite the spark within me.

Yeah, come and set my spirit free
Release me from any inhibitions and restrictions holding me back.

Now all is ashes
Everything has fallen apart and crumbled down.

This moribund parade of asses
A bleak and depressing display of humans.

So shake it one more time for me
However hopeless, keep going one more time for me.

So take these matches off of me
Take responsibility for your own passion and light the match yourself.

And set yourself on fire
Ignite your own passion and live fully.

Coffee at the floor
A simple and mundane moment.

It seemed just like the day before
Nothing new or exciting is happening.

The waiter went and smiled at me
A small, friendly gesture in an otherwise dull situation.

The couple at the bar
Other people nearby having their own experiences.

He burned his britches, she burned her bra
Others expressing their passion and breaking free from societal norms.

Now somebody has burned the car
Something disastrous has happened, either literally or metaphorically.

Sulphur in the air
The intensity of passion and destruction is present.

And cracks appearing everywhere
Signs of the chaos and destruction caused by passion becoming apparent.

Don't try to stop it; don't you dare
Don't try to hold back or suppress the passion within.

Now see,
Realize and understand.

That everything must fall that we may live again
We must let go of what's holding us back and causing destruction in order to live fully again.

So take these matches off of me
Take control of your own passion and light your own fire.

And set yourself on fire
Fully embrace and live out your passion.

Now it's so clear to me
I now understand the importance of embracing my passion and fully living.

This bonfire of the vanities
The intense passion and destruction that must happen in order to fully live.

So come on everybody, scream
Invite others to join in on the passion and fully live with you.

A purifying flame
The passion and destruction act as a way to cleanse and purify ourselves.

And you and I can take the blame
We must own our own passions and actions, whether good or bad.

A spirit that cannot be tamed
Our passion and spirit cannot and should not be controlled or suppressed.

Fire
The passionate and destructive force within ourselves that we must embrace and make our own.

Fire
The same passionate and destructive force within ourselves that we must also control and take responsibility for.

Fire
The power and intensity of our own passion and spirit.

Fire
The heat and intensity that comes with living fully and embracing our passion.

Fire
A call to fully embrace and live to the fullest.

Fire
The passion and destruction that must happen in order to fully live.

Fire
The same passion and destruction that we must take responsibility for and control on our own.

Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: JARVIS BRANSON COCKER, JEAN BENOIT DUNCKEL, NICOLAS JEAN MICHEL GODIN

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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Most interesting comment from YouTube:

Fernando Manurung

5y↑3

1 dari 4

2 dari 4

Now come and stand
See the sights and warm your hands
And fan the flame inside of me

Been burning all my life
So come and set my house alight
Yeah, come and set my spirit free

Now all is ashes
This moribund parade of asses
So shake it one more time for me

So take these matches off of me
And set yourself on fire

Fire

Coffee at the floor
It seemed just like the day before
The waiter went and smiled at me

The couple at the bar
He burned his britches, she burned her bra
Now somebody has burned the car

Sulfur in the air
And cracks appearing everywhere
Don't try to stop it; don't you dare

Now see,
That everything must fall that we may live again

So take these matches off of me
And set yourself on fire

Fire
Fire
Fire

Now it's so clear to me
This bonfire of the vanities
So come on everybody, scream

A purifying flame
And you and I can take the blame
A spirit that cannot be tamed

Now see,
That everything must fall that we may live again

So take these matches off of me
And set yourself on fire

All comments from YouTube:

Sergeminator

12y↑5

Amazing song by an amazing artist. Thank you so much for your music and your films Charlotte!

King ofHearts

12y

Fantastic! One of my favourite songs of the last 10 years! Great Charlotte! W Charlotte!

Laurence Ger

Revisitant toute la carrière musicale de Charlotte avec délectation et stupéfaction, la talentueuse devient rageuse en live.... Classy , almost aggressive although subdued, the mystery will remain...Love her forever our French artist