The duo Jane Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg is best known for the internationa… Read Full Bio ↴The duo Jane Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg is best known for the international smash "Je t'aime... moi non plus" from 1969. This erotic song was the first foreign language record to hit #1in the UK.
The song was banned by broadcasters in Spain, Sweden, Brazil as well as Britain and was condemned across the world as immoral, not least by the Vatican. It was so saucy that original co-vocalist Brigitte Bardot refused to approve its release. Scandalous singer Serge Gainsbourg soon found a 'willing partner' in British Jane Birkin.

Orang Outan
Jane Birkin & Serge Gainsbourg Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

J′aime ma poupée orang-outang
Orang-outang, ourang-outang
Je l'adore, jamais je ne dors sans
Orang-outang, Orang-outang
Il fait les yeux blancs
Il n′a plus de dents
Mais depuis longtemps
J'aime ce gros dégoûtant

Je connais pourtant des garçons charmants
Qui m'aiment vraiment
Et qui roulent en Ford Mustang
Mais moi j′aime mon Orang-outang
Orang-outang, Orang-outang
Il fait les yeux blancs
Il n′a plus de dents

Mais depuis longtemps
J'aime ce gros dégoûtant

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Jane Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg's song Orang Outan depict a disturbing tale of a woman’s love for her toy orangutan. The song starts with Jane Birkin declaring her love for the orangutan, saying that she adores it and can never sleep without it. The orangutan doll has white eyes and has lost its teeth, yet she still loves it. She contrasts the orangutan with men that she knows, who love her and drive Ford Mustangs, but she chooses the orangutan over them.

The song reflects the idea of human beings projecting their desires, emotional needs, and attraction onto non-human objects. The orangutan in the song represents an object of fetish, a symbolic desire of the singer that she can't express about humans. It also hints at the idea of being in a relationship with an anthropomorphic character, a theme that is prevalent in Japanese anime and manga.

Line by Line Meaning

J′aime ma poupée orang-outang
I love my orangutan doll

Orang-outang, ourang-outang
Orangutan, ourang-outang

Je l'adore, jamais je ne dors sans
I adore it, I never sleep without it

Orang-outang, Orang-outang
Orangutan, orangutan

Il fait les yeux blancs
It has white eyes

Il n′a plus de dents
It no longer has teeth

Mais depuis longtemps
But for a long time

J'aime ce gros dégoûtant
I love this big disgusting thing

Je connais pourtant des garçons charmants
However, I know charming boys

Qui m'aiment vraiment
Who really love me

Et qui roulent en Ford Mustang
And who drive a Ford Mustang