Serge Gainsbourg (April 2, 1928 – March 2, 1991) was a French poet-songwrit… Read Full Bio ↴Serge Gainsbourg (April 2, 1928 – March 2, 1991) was a French poet-songwriter, singer, actor, novelist, painter and director. Gainsbourg's varied style and individuality made him difficult to categorize. Although famous in France for many years, he did not achieve his first No. 1 album until 1979, when he released Aux Armes et caetera more than twenty years after his music career had begun. But since the 1980s, his legacy has been firmly established.

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

Hier Ou Demain
Serge Gainsbourg Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Écoute mon coeur qui bat
Il ne bat pas pour toi,
Mais pour un autre que toi
Que je ne connais pas

Hier ou demain,
Je t'aurais dit oui
Hier ou demain,

Mais pas aujourd'hui

Oui, j'aurais pu être à toi,
Mais tu n'étais pas là
J'étais libre comme toi,
Mais ne le savais pas

Hier ou demain,
Je t'aurais dit oui
Hier ou demain,
Mais pas aujourd'hui

Hier est si loin déjà
Et je ne t'aimais pas
Et dès demain si tu penses à moi
Je ne serai plus là

Hier ou demain,
Je t'aurais dit oui
Hier ou demain,
Mais pas aujourd'hui

Hier ou demain,
Mais pas aujourd'hui

Overall Meaning

In Serge Gainsbourg's song "Hier Ou Demain," the lyrics tell a story of missed opportunities and what-could-have-beens. The opening lines of the song set the tone: "Listen to my beating heart/It does not beat for you/But for another than you/That I do not know." The singer is lamenting that he has fallen for someone else, someone who is not the person he is speaking to in the song. He goes on to say that he may have said yes to this person in the past or will say yes to them in the future, but he cannot say yes to them now, "Yesterday or tomorrow, I would have said yes/But not today."

The lyrics continue to explore the themes of timing and missed opportunities. The singer says that he could have been with the person he is singing to, but she was not there when he was free. He was unaware of his freedom at the time and didn't take advantage of the opportunity. The chorus repeats the sentiment that he could have said yes to her yesterday or tomorrow, but not today. The song ends with a sense of finality: yesterday is so far away already, and he didn't love her then, and tomorrow, if she thinks of him, he will not be there.

Overall, the lyrics to "Hier Ou Demain" are poignant and melancholic. The singer is looking back at lost chances and contemplating the possibilities of the future. The song captures the feeling of nostalgia and regret that comes with missed opportunities.

Line by Line Meaning

Écoute mon coeur qui bat
Listen to my beating heart

Il ne bat pas pour toi,
It doesn't beat for you,

Mais pour un autre que toi
But for someone else

Que je ne connais pas
Whom I don't know

Hier ou demain,
Yesterday or tomorrow,

Je t'aurais dit oui
I would have said yes to you

Mais pas aujourd'hui
But not today

Oui, j'aurais pu être à toi,
Yes, I could have been yours,

Mais tu n'étais pas là
But you were not there

J'étais libre comme toi,
I was free like you,

Mais ne le savais pas
But didn't know it