Christine and the Queens is the musical project of French singer-songwriter… Read Full Bio ↴Christine and the Queens is the musical project of French singer-songwriter born Héloïse Adélaïde Letissier, and subsequently known variously as Chris and Redcar. Letissier released his debut full-length album as Christine and the Queens, Chaleur humaine, in 2014. An English language version of the album, titled Christine and the Queens, was released in 2016. Sophomore album Chris was released in September 2018 to universal acclaim.

Letissier has used numerous personal and stage names, and remarked that he "just ha many names for all the layers". He began his career as Christine and the Queens. For his second studio album, he shortened it to Chris, which was accompanied by a shift to a persona described as "a woman playing with masculine tropes". In October 2021, he was using the name Rahim. This sparked a debate around cultural appropriation due to the name's Arabic origin. He eventually began using a succession of different names such as Sam le pompier (the French title of Fireman Sam) and a full stop before settling on Redcar, sometimes shortened as Red. In August 2022, he updated his pronouns to he/him across social media platforms. In 2023, with the release of fourth album Paranoïa, Angels, True Love, he seemed to have reverted to simply Chris. However, he still occasionally uses his birth name, about which he said: "Héloïse Letissier is my parents' provenance and I love my parents. I sometimes use Héloïse to reconnect me to my childhood, but my inner child name is Manamané."

Kiss My Crass
Christine and the Queens Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Oh Lord forgive me for I will sin
Oh Lord forgive me for I will sing
Oh Lord forgive me for I will stink
Cause I stopped fighting it, forever
I stopped fighting it, forever

I used to rub this ‘til I bleed
Cleaning up
Cleaned off
I used to rub this ‘til I bleed
But it was coming back again and then coming again, oh, ohoh
Coming back again and then coming again, oh, ohoh
Coming back again and then coming again, no, ohoh

Cause today
I wear it
Like diamonds
Cause today
I'm brave enough not to smell it

Oh Lord forgive me for I will sin
Oh Lord forgive me for I will sing
Oh Lord forgive me for I will stink
Cause It's a new day for all of us

For me and my blood and my teeth and my eyes and my ears and my shoulders and my sex and my feet and my knees and my arms and my hair and my lashes and my nose and my fingers and my nails and my tighs and my neck and my ass,
and my ass!

Kiss my crass, kiss my crass (Oh, oh)
Kiss my crass, kiss my crass (Oh, oh)
Kiss my crass, kiss my crass (Oh, oh)
Kiss my crass, kiss my crass (Oh, oh)
Kiss my crass, kiss my crass

Christine est sale
Kiss my crass, kiss my crass
Christine est sale
Kiss my crass, kiss my crass

Christine est sale
Kiss my crass, kiss my crass
Christine est sale
Kiss my crass, kiss my crass

Christine est sale
Kiss my crass, kiss my crass
Christine est sale
Kiss my crass, kiss my crass

Christine est sale
Kiss my crass, kiss my crass
Christine est sale
Kiss my crass, kiss my crass

Christine est sale
Kiss my crass, kiss my crass
Christine est sale
Kiss my crass, kiss my crass

Christine est sale
Kiss my crass, kiss my crass
Oh, oh, Christine est sale
Kiss my crass, kiss my crass

J'sens pas très bon, ouais,
mais j'suis belle.

J'sens pas très bon, ouais,
mais j'suis belle.

J'sens pas très bon, ouais,
mais j'suis belle.

J'sens pas très bon, ouais,
mais j'suis belle.

J'sens pas très bon, ouais,
mais j'suis belle.

J'sens pas très bon, ouais,
mais j'suis belle.

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of "Kiss My Crass" by Christine and The Queens express a strong message of self-acceptance and challenging societal norms around cleanliness and appearance. The singer acknowledges that they used to wash away their dirt with hot baths and black soap, but it would always come back. They then ask for forgiveness for indulging in behaviors that go against societal norms, such as singing, smelling, and being "sale" (dirty in French). However, the song's power comes from the chorus, where the singer declares that they are brave enough to wear their dirt like diamonds and be proud of their body, regardless of what others may think. The song ends with a repetition of the phrase "J'sens pas très bon, ouais, mais j'suis belle" ("I don't smell great, yeah, but I'm beautiful"), emphasizing the singer's confidence in themselves and their refusal to conform to society's standards.

Line by Line Meaning

I used to wash all of my dirt With hot baths And black soap I used to wash all of my dirt But it was coming back again and then coming again, oh, ohoh Coming back again and then coming again, oh, ohoh Coming back again and then coming again, no, ohoh.
I tried to rid myself of everything that made me 'dirty' through intense bathing rituals, but no matter how much I cleaned, it kept coming back.

Oh Lord forgive me for I will sin Oh Lord forgive me for I will sing Oh Lord forgive me for I will stink Cause I stopped fighting it, forever I stopped fighting it, forever
I am giving up the fight against the parts of myself that society deems unworthy of love or forgiveness.

I used to rub this ‘til I bleed Cleaning up Cleaned off I used to rub this ‘til I bleed But it was coming back again and then coming again, oh, ohoh Coming back again and then coming again, oh, ohoh Coming back again and then coming again, no, ohoh
I would obsessively scrub away anything that made me feel dirty or unclean, but it always found a way to come back.

Cause today I wear it Like diamonds Cause today I'm brave enough not to smell it
Today, I accept and embrace the parts of me that I used to try to cleanse away, and I wear them like precious jewels. I'm brave enough to own my imperfections and accept them as integral parts of myself.

For me and my blood and my teeth and my eyes and my ears and my shoulders and my sex and my feet and my knees and my arms and my hair and my lashes and my nose and my fingers and my nails and my tighs and my neck and my ass, and my ass!
Every part of me, even those that are typically considered taboo or shameful, deserves to be loved and accepted.

Kiss my crass, kiss my crass (Oh, oh) Kiss my crass, kiss my crass (Oh, oh) Kiss my crass, kiss my crass (Oh, oh) Kiss my crass, kiss my crass (Oh, oh) Kiss my crass, kiss my crass Christine est sale Kiss my crass, kiss my crass Christine est sale Kiss my crass, kiss my crass J'sens pas très bon, ouais, mais j'suis belle.
I refuse to be ashamed of who I am or how society perceives me. I am dirty and crass, but I am also beautiful and deserving of love and respect.

Contributed by Caleb G. Suggest a correction in the comments below.

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