Besides the highly successful "Poupée de Cire, Poupée de Son", she also notably sung "Les Sucettes" and "Baby Pop". In France, she was perhaps more known for the chanson songs she sang in the late-70s through the mid-80s, many of them written by her husband, Michel Berger, who died in 1992. In 1987, she had some additional international success with her Ella Fitzgerald tribute "Ella, elle l'a". She still recorded music into the new millennium.
France Gall died on 7 january 2018 at age 70 in a hospital in Paris.
Frankenstein
France Gall Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Fallait un cerveau aussi grand qu'Einstein
Pour en greffer un autre à Frankenstein
Faire de plusieurs cadavres en un instant, un mort-vivant.
Rassembler, coudre ensemble les morceaux
Le nez, les yeux, les lèvres et la peau
Fallait un cerveau aussi grand qu'Einstein
Pour en greffer un autre à Frankenstein
Faire de plusieurs cadavres en un instant, un mort-vivant.
Mais il fallait aussi un assistant qui ayant brisé le cœur par accident
Lui substitua celui d'un assassin, un assassin.
Fallait un cerveau aussi grand qu'Einstein
Pour en greffer un autre à Frankenstein
Faire de plusieurs cadavres en un instant, un mort-vivant.
Après quelques décharges électriques
Il se mit à rouler des mécaniques.
Puis renversant becs Bunsen et cornues, il disparut
(Solo)
Fallait un cerveau aussi grand qu'Einstein
Pour en greffer un autre à Frankenstein
Faire de plusieurs cadavres en un instant, un mort-vivant.
"Je serais avec toi le jour de tes noces"
Avait promis au docteur le colosse
Et lorsque la fiancée arriva, il l'étrangla.
The lyrics to France Gall's song Frankenstein, written by Serge Gainsbourg, describe the process of creating the famous literary monster. Gainsbourg compares the intellectual capacity needed to create this creature to that of Albert Einstein, implying that only someone with a mind as brilliant as Einstein's could have achieved such a feat. The lyrics describe how multiple cadavers were used to create a single reanimated corpse, with the nose, eyes, lips, and skin being sewn together and the nerve connections fixed to the neck with nuts. The creation of this "dead man walking" required not only surgical skill but also an assistant who, having accidentally broken the heart intended for the creature, replaced it with that of a killer. The creature then receives a few electric shocks, after which it starts to boast and, in a fit of anger, trashes the laboratory and disappears.
At its core, this song is a commentary on the limits of scientific progress and the dangers of playing God. The creation of the Frankenstein monster required scientific knowledge and technique beyond what was then possible, and the result was a creature that could never truly belong in the world of the living. Moreover, the moral failures of the doctor and his assistant led to even more disastrous consequences, as the monster not only wreaks havoc in the laboratory but also goes on to commit murder. The song points out that there are some things that should not be tampered with, and it warns of the consequences that await those who disregard that caution.
Line by Line Meaning
Fallait un cerveau aussi grand qu'Einstein
It required a brain as vast as Einstein's
Pour en greffer un autre à Frankenstein
To graft another one onto Frankenstein
Faire de plusieurs cadavres en un instant, un mort-vivant.
To make a walking dead from several bodies in a moment.
Rassembler, coudre ensemble les morceaux
To gather and sew the pieces together
Le nez, les yeux, les lèvres et la peau
The nose, the eyes, the lips, and the skin
Les connexions nerveuses fixées au cou par des écrous.
The nerves connections fixed to the neck by nuts.
Mais il fallait aussi un assistant qui ayant brisé le cœur par accident
But it also required an assistant who, having accidentally shattered his heart
Lui substitua celui d'un assassin, un assassin.
Replaced it with that of a murderer, a murderer.
Après quelques décharges électriques
After a few electrical shocks
Il se mit à rouler des mécaniques.
He started to strut around like a machine.
Puis renversant becs Bunsen et cornues, il disparut
Then, overturning Bunsen burners and flasks, he disappeared.
Je serais avec toi le jour de tes noces
I will be with you on your wedding day.
Avait promis au docteur le colosse
The giant had promised the doctor this.
Et lorsque la fiancée arriva, il l'étrangla.
And when the bride arrived, he strangled her.
Contributed by Juliana W. Suggest a correction in the comments below.