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
Suck Baby Suck
Serge Gainsbourg Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
With the CD of
Chuck Berry Chuck
Tu peux aussi me sucker
Sur le compact de
Lay Lady lay
Ou pour changer m'ensuquer
Avec Bill Haley
Suck baby suck
With the CD of
Chuck Berry Chuck
Suck baby suck
Sur le laser de
Chuck Berry Chuck
Veux-tu que je te passe une video look
J'ai tous les Avery Tex
En amerlock dans le texte
Ainsi que Donald Duck
Suck baby suck
With the CD of
Chuck Berry Chuck
Suck baby suck
Sur le laser de
Chuck Berry Chuck
Suck baby suck
With the CD of
Chuck Berry Chuck
Reste bien dans l'axe
Et s'il t'arrive un acc-
Ident Samanthax
Cà me rendra un peu plus hard rock
Baby suck baby suck
With the CD of
Chuck Berry Chuck
Suck me
Suck baby suck
Fais aussi bien que mes ex
Baby suck
And good luck
Tu aurais pu aussi me saquer
Sur le compact de
Lay Lady lay
Ou pour changer m'ensuquer
Avec Bill Haley
Allez
Suck baby suck
With the CD of Chuck
Berry Chuck
In Serge Gainsbourg's song "Suck Baby Suck," Gainsbourg is commanding his lover to perform oral sex on him, while he lists different musicians and CDs to set the mood. He beckons his lover with the phrase "Suck baby suck," and suggests they listen to Chuck Berry, Bill Haley, and Lay Lady Lay CDs while engaging in the act. He also boasts about his collection of "Avery Tex" videos, which are American Westerns directed by Tex Avery of Looney Tunes fame. Gainsbourg even alludes to a potential accident as he calls out "Samanthax," which could be interpreted as a reference to a sex toy.
Overall, the lyrics are overtly sexual and seek to objectify and control the female subject of the song. This depiction of women as sexual objects is common in much of Gainsbourg's work, and it has been criticized for perpetuating harmful gender stereotypes. However, some fans argue that Gainsbourg's lyrics are intentionally over-the-top and provocative, and that they should be read as a critique of gender relations in contemporary society.
Line by Line Meaning
Suck baby suck
Perform oral sex on me
With the CD of Chuck Berry Chuck
While listening to Chuck Berry's CD
Tu peux aussi me sucker
You can also suck me (in French)
Sur le compact de Lay Lady lay
Or, change it up and suck me while listening to 'Lay Lady Lay' on the CD
Ou pour changer m'ensuquer Avec Bill Haley Allez
Or maybe suck me with Bill Haley playing instead (in French)
Suck baby suck
Do it again
Sur le laser de Chuck Berry Chuck
Now, suck me while Chuck Berry is playing on the laser disc
Veux-tu que je te passe une video look J'ai tous les Avery Tex En amerlock dans le texte Ainsi que Donald Duck
Do you want me to put on a video? I have all the Avery Tex cartoons dubbed in American English, as well as Donald Duck ones (in French)
Reste bien dans l'axe Et s'il t'arrive un acc- Ident Samanthax Cà me rendra un peu plus hard rock
Stay focused, and if you happen to have an accident (while performing oral sex), it will make it more hardcore (in French)
Baby suck baby suck With the CD of Chuck Berry Chuck
Baby, do it some more while Chuck Berry's CD is playing
Suck me
Suck me now
Fais aussi bien que mes ex Baby suck And good luck
Do it as well as my previous partners did, and good luck (in French)
Tu aurais pu aussi me saquer Sur le compact de Lay Lady lay Ou pour changer m'ensuquer Avec Bill Haley Allez
You could have also masturbated me while listening to 'Lay Lady Lay' or Bill Haley's music (in French)
Suck baby suck With the CD of Chuck Berry Chuck
Do it again while Chuck Berry's CD is still playing
Contributed by Landon R. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
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