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
Boomerang
Serge Gainsbourg Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Agiter mon cœur blessé
L'amour comme un boomerang
Me revient des jours passés
A pleurer les larmes dingues
D'un corps que je t'avais donné
J'ai sur le bout de la langue
Tordu comme un boomerang
Mon esprit l'a rejeté
De ma mémoire, car la bringue
Et ton amour m'ont épuisé
Je sens des boums et des bangs
Agiter mon cœur blessé
L'amour comme un boomerang
Me revient des jours passés
A s'aimer comme des dingues
Comme deux fous à lier.
Sache que ce cœur exsangue
Pourrait un jour s'arrêter
Si, comme un boomerang
Tu ne reviens pas me chercher
Peu à peu je me déglingue
Victime de ta cruauté
Je sens des boums et des bang
Agiter mon cœur blessé
L'amour comme un boomerang
Me revient des jours passés
A t'aimer comme une dingue
Prête pour toi à me damner
Toi qui fait partie du gang
De mes séducteurs passés
Prends garde à ce boomerang
Il pourrait te faire payer
Toutes ces tortures de cinglés
Que tu m'as fait endurer.
Je sens des boums et des bangs
Agiter mon cœur blessé
L'amour comme un boomerang
Me revient des jours passés
C'est une histoire de dingue
Une histoire bête à pleurer
Ma raison vacille et tangue
Elle est prête à chavirer
Sous les coups de boomerangs
De flash-back enchaînés
Et si un jour je me flingue
C'est à toi que je le devrais
In "Comme Un Boomerang", Serge Gainsbourg sings about the pain and confusion of a past love that still haunts him. The lyrics use the imagery of a boomerang to symbolize the cyclical nature of his emotions, which keep coming back to him with increasing strength. He feels physical sensations like "boums et des bangs" (booms and bangs) that shake his wounded heart. He remembers the passionate moments they shared, "à s'aimer comme des dingues" (loving each other like crazy), but also the tears and suffering caused by the relationship. He tries to forget the person's name that is "tordu comme un boomerang" (twisted like a boomerang) in his mind, and warns his former lover that if they don't come back, his heart may stop beating. The song is a poignant reflection on the power of love to both heal and hurt, and the sense of loss that lingers long after a relationship ends.
Line by Line Meaning
Je sens des boums et des bangs
I feel the beating and banging, causing my wounded heart to ache
Agiter mon cœur blessé
It is stirring up my already injured heart
L'amour comme un boomerang
Love comes back to me like a boomerang
Me revient des jours passés
It reminds me of the past days
A pleurer les larmes dingues
I cried crazy tears
D'un corps que je t'avais donné
For the body that I had given to you
J'ai sur le bout de la langue
I have on the tip of my tongue
Ton prénom presque effacé
Your name almost erased
Tordu comme un boomerang
Twisted like a boomerang
Mon esprit l'a rejeté
My mind rejected it
De ma mémoire, car la bringue
From my memory, for the party
Et ton amour m'ont épuisé
And your love exhausted me
A s'aimer comme des dingues
Loving each other like crazy
Comme deux fous à lier.
Like two madmen tied together.
Sache que ce cœur exsangue
Know that this bloodless heart
Pourrait un jour s'arrêter
Could one day stop
Si, comme un boomerang
If, like a boomerang
Tu ne reviens pas me chercher
You don't come back to fetch me
Peu à peu je me déglingue
Little by little I come apart
Victime de ta cruauté
A victim to your cruelty
A t'aimer comme une dingue
Loving you like a crazy person
Prête pour toi à me damner
Ready to damn myself for you
Toi qui fait partie du gang
You who are part of the gang
De mes séducteurs passés
Of my past seducers
Prends garde à ce boomerang
Beware of this boomerang
Il pourrait te faire payer
It could make you pay
Toutes ces tortures de cinglés
All the tortures of crazy people like me
Que tu m'as fait endurer.
That you made me endure.
C'est une histoire de dingue
It's a crazy story
Une histoire bête à pleurer
A stupid story that makes me cry
Ma raison vacille et tangue
My reason wavers and stumbles
Elle est prête à chavirer
It's ready to capsize
Sous les coups de boomerangs
Under the blows of boomerangs
De flash-back enchaînés
Of chained flashbacks
Et si un jour je me flingue
And if one day I shoot myself
C'est à toi que je le devrais
It's because of you that I'd do it.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner Chappell Music, 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