Black and White
Serge Gainsbourg & Brigitte Bardot Lyrics
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Qui buvait du lait
Ah! Se disait-elle
Si je le pouvais
Tremper ma figure
Dans mon bol de lait
Je serais plus blanche
Que tous les Anglais
Un Britannique
Devant son chocolat
Ah! Se disait-il
Et pourquoi ne pas
Tremper ma figure
Dans ce machin-là
Je serais plus noir
Qu'un Noir du Kenya
Une intellectuelle
Qui buvait du thé
Ah! Se disait-elle
Si je le pouvais
Tremper ma figure
Dans ma tasse de thé
Je serais plus jaune
Que les filles du Yang-Tsé
Un Américain
Qui buvait du sang
Ah! Se disait-il
Si j'avais le temps
De tremper ma figure
Dans mon bol de sang
Je serais plus rouge
Qu'un Mohican
The song "Black and White" by Serge Gainsbourg is a poignant reflection on the arbitrary nature of race and ethnic identity. The lyrics describe four individuals from different backgrounds who each imagine that by dipping their face into a liquids that represent their cultural identity, they could change their race. The first protagonist is a black woman who drinks milk and wishes to be white, while the second is a British man who consumes chocolate and imagines being blacker than a Kenyan. The third figure is an intellectual who drinks tea and wants to become more Asian, and the fourth is an American man who drinks blood and wishes to be more Native American.
The song is a commentary on the way that society creates and enforces racial categories that have no inherent biological or genetic basis. The notion that a person's skin color or ethnicity has any significance outside of the social and historical contexts in which they are created is a fallacy, and the song highlights this by showing the ridiculousness of the characters' desires to change their race in such an artificial way. Furthermore, the song suggests that these identities are not fixed, but are rather fluid and can be redefined or subverted, as the characters in the song imagine doing.
Overall, Gainsbourg's "Black and White" is a thought-provoking and challenging work that encourages listeners to question the assumptions and biases underlying their own perceptions of race and identity.
Line by Line Meaning
Une négresse
A black woman
Qui buvait du lait
Drinking milk
Ah! Se disait-elle
She said to herself
Si je le pouvais
If I could
Tremper ma figure
Dip my face
Dans mon bol de lait
In my bowl of milk
Je serais plus blanche
I would be whiter
Que tous les Anglais
Than all the English people
Un Britannique
A British man
Devant son chocolat
In front of his chocolate
Ah! Se disait-il
He said to himself
Et pourquoi ne pas
And why not
Tremper ma figure
Dip my face
Dans ce machin-là
In this thingy
Je serais plus noir
I would be blacker
Qu'un Noir du Kenya
Than a Kenyan black person
Une intellectuelle
An intellectual
Qui buvait du thé
Drinking tea
Ah! Se disait-elle
She said to herself
Si je le pouvais
If I could
Tremper ma figure
Dip my face
Dans ma tasse de thé
In my tea cup
Je serais plus jaune
I would be yellower
Que les filles du Yang-Tsé
Than the girls from the Yangtze
Un Américain
An American
Qui buvait du sang
Drinking blood
Ah! Se disait-il
He said to himself
Si j'avais le temps
If I had the time
De tremper ma figure
To dip my face
Dans mon bol de sang
In my bowl of blood
Je serais plus rouge
I would be redder
Qu'un Mohican
Than a Mohican
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, RESERVOIR MEDIA MANAGEMENT INC
Written by: Serge Gainsbourg
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
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