He was born Lucien Ginzburg in Paris, France, the son of Jewish Russian parents who fled to France after the 1917 Bolshevik uprising. His childhood was profoundly affected by the occupation of France by Nazi Germany, during which he and his family, as Jews, were forced to wear the yellow star and eventually flee from Paris. He had a daughter, Charlotte Gainsbourg, with English singer and actress Jane Birkin; and a son, Lulu, with his last partner, Bambou (Caroline Von Paulus, who is related to Friedrich Paulus). Before he was 30 years old, Lucien Ginsburg was a disillusioned painter but earned his living as a piano player in bars. Daughter Charlotte would later become an actress and singer.
His early songs were influenced by Boris Vian and were largely in the vein of "old-fashioned" chanson. Very early, however, Gainsbourg began to move beyond this and experiment with a succession of different musical styles: jazz early on, English pop in the 60's, reggae in the 70's, even hip-hop in the 80's.
Success began to arrive when, in 1965, his song "Poupée de cire, poupée de son" was the Luxembourg entry in the Eurovision Song Contest. Performed by French teen singer France Gall, it won the grand prize. (The song was covered in English as "A Lonely Singing Doll" by British teen idol Twinkle.) He arranged other Gall songs and LPs that were characteristic of the late 1960s psychedelic styles, among them Gall's '1968' album. Another of Serge's songs "Boum Bada Boum" was entered in by Monaco in the 1967 contest, sung by Minouche Barelli; It came 5th.
In 1969, he released what would become his most famous song in the English-speaking world, "Je t'aime... moi non plus", which featured simulated sounds of female orgasm. The song appeared that year on an LP, "Jane Birkin/Serge Gainsbourg". Originally recorded with Brigitte Bardot, it was released with future girlfriend Birkin when Bardot backed out. While Gainsbourg declared it the "ultimate love song," it was considered too "hot"; the song was censored in various countries, and in France, even the toned-down version was suppressed. Even the Vatican made a public statement citing the song as offensive. Its notoriety led it to reaching no. 1 in the UK singles chart. A long-standing rumor maintains that Gainsbourg and Birkin were actually having sex during the recording session (asked about it in an interview, Gainsbourg answered that if this was true, the song would have lasted longer than 4 minutes).
The seventies
His most influential work came near the start of the seventies with Histoire de Melody Nelson, released in 1971. This concept album, produced and arranged by Jean-Claude Vannier, tells the story of a Lolita-esque affair, with Gainsbourg as the narrator and Jane Birkin as the eponymous English heroine. It features prominent string arrangements and even a massed choir at its tragic climax. At the time, sales were poor, but the album has proven influential with artists such as Air, David Holmes and Beck.
In 1975, he released the album Rock Around the Bunker, a rock album written entirely on the subject of the Nazis. Gainsbourg used black humour, as he and his family suffered during World War II. While a child in Paris, Gainsbourg himself had worn the Yellow badge as the mark of a Jew.
The next year saw the release of another major work, L'Homme à la Tête de Chou (Cabbage-Head Man), featuring the new character Marilou and sumptuous orchestral themes.
In Jamaica in 1978 he recorded "Aux Armes et cetera," a reggae version of the French national anthem "La Marseillaise", with Robbie Shakespeare, Sly Dunbar and Rita Marley. This song earned him death threats from right-wing veterans of the Algerian War of Independence who were opposed to certain lyrics. Shortly afterwards, Gainsbourg bought the original manuscript of La Marseillaise. He was able to reply to his critics that his version was, in fact, closer to the original as the manuscript clearly shows the words "Aux armes et cætera..." for the chorus.
The next year saw him in the new look of Gainsbarre, officially introduced in the song "Ecce Homo."
Final years
In the 1980's, approaching the end of his life, Gainsbourg became a regular figure on French TV. His appearances seemed devoted to his controversial sense of humour and provocation. He would frequently show up drunk and unshaven on stage. Perhaps his most famous incident came when, on Michel Drucker's live Saturday evening show with the American singer Whitney Houston, he exclaimed, "I want to fuck her."
During this period he released Love On The Beat and his last studio album, You're Under Arrest, (which saw him adapt his style to the hip-hop genre), as well as two live recordings. His third and last Eurovision Song Contest entry came in 1990 with the French entry "White and Black Blues", sung by Joëlle Ursull. It came second in a tie with Ireland. His songs became increasingly eccentric in this period, ranging from the anti-drug "Les Enfants de la Chance" to the duet with his daughter Charlotte called "Lemon Incest (Un zeste de citron)." The title of the latter demonstrates Gainsbourg's love of puns (another example is "Bowie, Beau oui comme Bowie").
Discography :
1958 : Du Chant À La Une !
1959 : Serge Gainsbourg N°2
1961 : L'étonnant Serge Gainsbourg
1962 : Serge Gainsbourg N° 4
1963 : Gainsbourg Confidentiel
1964 : Gainsbourg Percussions
1968 : Initials B.B.
1968 : Bonnie And Clyde ( with Brigitte Bardot )
1969 : Jane Birkin-Serge Gainsbourg
1971 : Histoire de Melody Nelson ( with Jane Birkin )
1973 : Vu de l'extérieur
1975 : Rock around the bunker
1976 : L'Homme à tête de chou
1979 : Aux armes et cætera
1981 : Mauvaises Nouvelles Des Étoiles
1984 : Love on the Beat
1987 : You're Under Arrest
Aéroplanes
Serge Gainsbourg Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
En repliant des dépliants d'agences de voyages
Genre Cook
Où l'on peut voir des pin-up
À gros seins new-look
Sur fond d'azur de Louisiane
Elle est marrante
C'est une fan du cap'tain Cook
Aussi sur Tarzan
Dont elle est folle comme Jane
Je la vois assez l'enlacer
Et lui de liane en liane
Pousser son cri en volapük
Du coté de Pamanbuk
Et moi Chita, le singe
Qui leur cavale au cul dans la savane
Pauvre idiote, tu rêves, tu planes
Me traite de fauché de plouc
De minable d'abominable bouc
Qu'importe injures un jour
Se dissiperont comme volute Gitane
The lyrics to the song Aéroplanes by Serge Gainsbourg are about a woman named Marilou who indulges in daydreaming about travel by folding travel brochures of the Cook agency; she enjoys looking at the pin-up girls with their new look and large breasts set against the backdrop of Louisiana's azure sky. Marilou is an interesting character who is always full of excitement and is a big fan of Captain Cook, even possessing a whole press book about him. She is also obsessed with Tarzan and is wild about Jane. The singer (Gainsbourg) imagines her hugging and holding onto Tarzan and making a flying cry in volapük on the side of Pamanbuk, while he is with Chita, the monkey, who runs after them in the savannah.
The song is a perfect example of poetic storytelling, which is a typical feature of Serge Gainsbourg's songwriting style. He describes the vivid image of Marilou and her wild fantasies, and the contrast between her dream world and his reality. He also emphasizes the transitory nature of life through the lyrics, saying that Marilou's dream and his own present reality, which she belittles with insults, will fade away one day, leaving only the smoke of the Gitane cigarette behind.
Line by Line Meaning
Marilou se fait des aéroplanes
Marilou is daydreaming and imagining herself on imaginary airplanes
En repliant des dépliants d'agences de voyages
She is folding pamphlets from travel agencies to create her imaginary airplanes
Genre Cook
The type of travel agency she is using is similar to Cook
Où l'on peut voir des pin-up
The travel agencies feature pin-up girls
À gros seins new-look
The pin-up girls have large, trendy breasts
Sur fond d'azur de Louisiane
The background of the travel pamphlets is blue, symbolic of a Louisiana sky
Elle est marrante
Marilou is amusing in her daydreaming
C'est une fan du cap'tain Cook
Marilou is a fan of the Captain Cook travel agency
Elle a sur lui tout un press-book
She has a complete collection of Captain Cook's brochures
Aussi sur Tarzan
She is also interested in Tarzan
Dont elle est folle comme Jane
She is crazy about Tarzan, like Jane
Je la vois assez l'enlacer
He can imagine Marilou hugging Tarzan
Et lui de liane en liane
Tarzan is swinging from one vine to the next while she hugs him
Pousser son cri en volapük
Tarzan lets out his infamous yell in a made-up language called Volapük
Du coté de Pamanbuk
This all takes place in a fictional location called Pamanbuk
Et moi Chita, le singe
The artist imagines himself as a monkey named Chita
Qui leur cavale au cul dans la savane
Chita chases after Tarzan and Marilou in the savannah
Pauvre idiote, tu rêves, tu planes
The singer insults Marilou, calling her a poor idiot who daydreams and imagines things
Me traite de fauché de plouc
Marilou insults the singer, calling him broke and uncivilized
De minable d'abominable bouc
She goes further, calling him pathetic and a disgusting goat
Qu'importe injures un jour
The artist tells Marilou that insults do not matter
Se dissiperont comme volute Gitane
The insults will disappear like the smoke of a Gitanes cigarette
Lyrics © MUSIC SALES CORPORATION, RESERVOIR MEDIA MANAGEMENT INC
Written by: Serge Gainsbourg
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Elian
on Ford Mustang
We're swapping spits / We're snorting lines [double entendre] (On s' fait des "lines")
In a Ford Mustang
And then, "Bang"
We're banging in [triple entendre]
To the plane trees / And then, "Bang," we're getting high ("embrasser les platanes = planer" [ French] (=to get high)
"Mus" to the left
"Tang" to the right
And to the left, to the right
A windshield wiper
A pack of Kool
A badge with the inscription
"Keep Cool"
A bar of
Chocolate
A Coca-Cola
We're swapping spits / We're snorting lines
In a Ford Mustang
And then, "Bang"
We're banging in
To the plane trees
"Mus" to the left
"Tang" to the right
And to the left, to the right
A bottle
Of make-up fluid
A flashgun
A Browning (automatic pistol)
A phonograph
A volume
Of Edgar A. Poe
And a plain brass ZIPPO
We're swapping spits / We're snorting lines
In a Ford Mustang
And then, "Bang"
We're banging in
To the plane trees
"Mus" to the left
"Tang" to the right
And to the left, to the right
An edition
Of Superman
A nut from
Paco
Rabanne
A pic of
Marilyn
A tube of aspirin
We're swapping spits / We're snorting lines
In a Ford Mustang
And then, "Bang"
We're banging in
To the plane trees
"Mus" to the left
"Tang" to the right
And to the left, to the right