They began performing in the early 1980's in alternative spaces such as the Pali-Kao, a squatted factory building in Belleville, Paris. Their first hit single was Marcia Baila off the Rita Mitsouko album, a song about the Argentinian choreographer and dancer Marcia Moretto who had died of cancer in 1981 and with whom they had performed on several occasions. This album was creative and eccentric (produced by Conny Plank, sound engineer and producer of Neu! and Kraftwerk) combining elements of punk, rock, cold electro pop and jazz, and coupled with their colorful, wild, over-the-top image caught the interest of some important anglophone listeners.
American record producer and musician Tony Visconti produced the following two albums, The No Comprendo and Marc et Robert, while polishing and perfecting their sound. The American band Sparks collaborated with them on the latter record and Russell Mael sings lead vocals with Ringer on three tracks, Singing in the Shower, Live in Las Vegas and Hip Kit. These two albums feature both French and English lyrics. The most successful singles were C'est comme ça and Andy.
Jean-Baptiste Mondino directed most of their music videos in the 1980's and Jean-Luc Godard filmed a short documentary Soigne ta droite about the group during the recording of The No Comprendo in 1986.
On Wednesday November 28th 2007, Fred Chichin died from cancer while the band had just cancelled their previous concert dates in Paris. He was only diagnosed with the disease two months before.
Mais c'est la mort qui t'a assassinée, Marcia
C'est la mort qui t'a consumée, Marcia
C"est le cancer que tu as pris sous ton bras
Maintenant, tu es en cendres, cendres
La mort, c'est comme une chose impossible
Et même à toi, qui est la vie même, Marcia
Et même à toi qui est forte comme une fusée
C'est la mort qui t'a emmenée
My Love Is Bad
Les Rita Mitsouko Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
A la base
Elle ne parlait qu'anglais
Quelques phrases...
Au début, l'approcher,
C'était naze
Mais je ne perdais
Pas une occase.
Elle s'était engagée
Militaire
Il y a bien des années
A la guerre
De ce passé épais
Sanguinaire
Elle gardait un air
Fier
D'acier et de fer
She's not an easy lover
Her love is bad
Elle disait :
-Nobody drives my way
Cause I'm sad,
I would bore you all day.
-No! We'll get mad
We'll get the blues all day!
Is that sad?!
-I'm not an easy lover
My love is bad
She's not an easy lover
Her love is bad
J'ai voulu m'entêter
Qu'elle se donne
Se caractère corsé
A cet homme
Ca lui faisait de l'effet
Oh, qu'elle soit bonne
Bad, bad et bonne
Bonne
Bad
Bad et bonne
Cause I'm not
An easy lover
My love is bad
In the song My Love Is Bad by Les Rita Mitsouko, the singer talks about his past experience with a woman who initially only spoke a few phrases in English. At first, it was challenging to approach her or to have any connection with her. However, the singer did not give up and used any opportunity to be around her. He later discovered that she was a former soldier who had participated in the war, and despite her past, she maintained a proud and strong demeanor that shone through. Throughout the song, the woman warns the singer that she is not an easy lover, and her love is bad.
The story the song is telling raises the question of how difficult it can be to get close to someone who has experienced trauma or has a painful past. The woman in the song is a survivor, but the singer finds her challenging to handle. The song's repeated chorus, "She's not an easy lover, her love is bad," creates a sense of tension, emphasizing how difficult it is to deal with someone's emotional baggage.
Line by Line Meaning
Quand je l'ai rencontrée
When I met her
A la base
Initially
Elle ne parlait qu'anglais
She only spoke English
Quelques phrases...
Only a few phrases...
Au début, l'approcher,
Approaching her at the beginning,
C'était naze
Was tough
Mais je ne perdais
But I never lost
Pas une occase.
Not a single chance.
Elle s'était engagée
She had committed
Militaire
To the military
Il y a bien des années
Many years ago
A la guerre
To war
De ce passé épais
From her thick past
Sanguinaire
Bloody
Elle gardait un air
She kept a demeanor
Fier
Proud
D'acier et de fer
Of steel and iron
She's not an easy lover
She is a difficult lover
Her love is bad
Her love is unpleasant
Elle disait :
She said:
-Nobody drives my way
-Nobody controls me
Cause I'm sad,
Because I am unhappy,
I would bore you all day.
I would make you bored all day.
-No! We'll get mad
-No! We'll get angry
We'll get the blues all day!
We'll be sad all day!
Is that sad?!
Isn't that sad?
-I'm not an easy lover
-I am not an easy lover
My love is bad
My love is unpleasant
She's not an easy lover
She is a difficult lover
Her love is bad
Her love is unpleasant
J'ai voulu m'entêter
I wanted to persist
Qu'elle se donne
For her to give herself
Se caractère corsé
Her strong personality
A cet homme
To me
Ca lui faisait de l'effet
It had an effect on her
Oh, qu'elle soit bonne
Oh, how she would be good
Bad, bad et bonne
Unpleasant, unpleasant, and good
Bonne
Good
Bad
Unpleasant
Bad et bonne
Unpleasant and good
Cause I'm not
Because I am not
An easy lover
An easy lover
My love is bad
My love is unpleasant
Contributed by Claire A. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
L'arobase Jojo
Super chanson !!
Melody Fox
What a cool duet! Iggy Pop chanting in French at random and Catherine Ringer, vice versa...French and English...Just love it! and the tune so...SO...AWESOME! 😎😎
LPeaceM💙☮🎵
John Taylor
duet with Iggy Pop