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
Dispatch Box
Serge Gainsbourg Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
J'me tire à Delta Ville
Avec mon
Dispatch box
J'ouvre l'attaché-case
Et j'oublierai tes treize
Ans dans mon
Je prends mon baise-en-ville
Notre amour ne fut-il
Qu'une tringle futile
Dans le Bronx y a des box-
Ons de rêve j'y trouverai un peu d'ox-
Ygène
Je prends mon baise-en-ville
Je t'ai loupée poupée mais quoi qu'il
En soit j'entrouvre l'attaché-case
Je n'ai que l'avant-goût d'la glaise
Je prends mon baise-en-ville
Tout ça tourne au vinyle
Hélas tes nibars mon hot-dog
Et tes dragues et tes drogues
Ça suffit
Je prends mon baise-en-ville
J'y mets Chessman Karyll
Car il a sa place j'ouvre l'attaché-case
Moi des baises j'en ai Treize
A la douze
Je ferme mon baise-en-ville
Cà t'fait chier tu t'épiles
Les poils pubiques
Ras l'cul de toi
Cinq ans d'légion étrange
Serait-ce pire que toi
L'étrangère
The lyrics of Serge Gainsbourg's "Dispatch Box" tell the story of a man who is leaving his lover behind to go to "Delta Ville" with his "baise-en-ville" (which is slang for a suit you wear out on the town) and "Dispatch Box" (which means attaché case). He is leaving their love behind and hoping to find something better in Delta Ville, where he believes he will find some "oxygène" (oxygen) to breathe. He reminisces about their past love, which he dismisses as just a fling in the Bronx, and implies that he has had many other sexual encounters, represented by the number "Treize" (thirteen) written on the side of his attaché case.
Throughout the song, Gainsbourg uses wordplay and innuendos to suggest that the attaché case is not just filled with documents and chess pieces (represented by the name Chessman Karyll in the last verse), but also with his sexual conquests. The lyrics imply that he is ready to leave his lover behind and move on to new experiences, leaving her to deal with her own problems such as shaving her pubic hair and being stuck in a foreign land.
Overall, "Dispatch Box" is a satirical commentary on the fickleness of love and the selfishness of desire, with the attaché case symbolizing the singer's personal baggage and the insatiable thirst for new experiences that prevents him from committing to a single partner.
Line by Line Meaning
Je prends mon baise-en-ville
I'm taking my fancy suit to go somewhere without you
J'me tire à Delta Ville
I'm going to Delta City
Avec mon Dispatch box
With my briefcase
J'ouvre l'attaché-case
I'm opening my briefcase
Et j'oublierai tes treize Ans dans mon Dispatch box
I'll forget about the time spent with you and move on with my life
Notre amour ne fut-il Qu'une tringle futile
Was our love just a meaningless fling?
Dans le Bronx y a des box-Ons de rêve j'y trouverai un peu d'ox-Ygène
In the Bronx, there are dream factories where I can find some inspiration
Je t'ai loupée poupée mais quoi qu'il En soit j'entrouvre l'attaché-case
I missed you, but it doesn't matter. I'm opening my briefcase anyway
Je n'ai que l'avant-goût d'la glaise
I only have a taste of despair
Tout ça tourne au vinyle
Everything is like a broken record
Hélas tes nibars mon hot-dog Et tes dragues et tes drogues Ça suffit
Unfortunately, your breasts, flirtations, and drugs are not enough
J'y mets Chessman Karyll Car il a sa place j'ouvre l'attaché-case
I'm putting Chessman Karyll inside because he deserves it, and I'm opening my briefcase
Moi des baises j'en ai Treize A la douze
I've had thirteen romantic flings, and the latest one was the last
Je ferme mon baise-en-ville Cà t'fait chier tu t'épiles Les poils pubiques
I'm closing my fancy suit, which bothers you, and you're removing your pubic hair
Ras l'cul de toi Cinq ans d'légion étrange Serait-ce pire que toi L'étrangère
I'm tired of you. Five years in the foreign legion might be better than being with you, foreigner
Contributed by Julia S. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Christine Martini
J'adore 🥰 bravo Serge tu nous manque😥
frabrun3
Ce titre est absolument fantastique, piqûre de rappel tous les soirs indispensable.
Marie De Luz
Attention Serge étant provocateur dans l âme. Mais dans les actes C était autre chose.
val val
serge grandiose il nous manques terriblement
jean04100
j'adore, j'avais acheté à l'époque la k7, un des mes titres préférés
yahoo 98
La même cassette je l.ai acheté l été 90 et j écoutais sa en boucle dans les couloirs du lycée Jacques amyot d Auxerre en Bourgogne dans l yonne avec mon.walkman et à la maison.avec ma chaîne hifi et j écoutais aussi cette chanson.avec le juke box dans la bat l escargot à Auxerre
Olivier Marechal
Que de souvenirs...Lulu,tu nous manques tellement 😢😢😢
Jean Philippe p
Master of talk-over !! Sound Master !! just genius
lorenzoty
Serge , un génie de l instrumentation , @ jamais
christophe
Une immense pensée en ce jour 'gloomy sundy' de 91 ..merci serge