The very first song that I will introduce in this brand new blog is one of the most popular French songs abroad, and the most acclaimed according to Acclaimedmusic.net (#287 in the 3000 most acclaimed songs ever).
It was a huge success in a lot of different countries, especially in Britain, and even more so than in France.
In the beautiful French movie from 2010 "Gainsbourg, Vie héroïque" (see picture below), there is this beautiful scene in which Gainsbourg, who is in bed with Bardot, gets up from the bed and goes to the piano to play a new song he has just written for her. And it is "Je t'aime".
This scene was related by BB herself in her memoirs. And it is true that the song was written for her. Maybe that's why Gainsbourg wrote "Je t'aime, moi non plus" which means "I love you, me neither", because he knew that BB, who was married, would eventually leave him one day or another.
Bardot recorded the song but finally refused to publish it, by fear of scandal.
So Gainsbourg gave it to Birkin, his next and true love that he met in 1968. Birkin tells that when she played the record to her mother, she didn't understand the lyrics and said it was a very beautiful tune !!
Because of its sexual content ( "I go and I come/in between your loins, and Birkin's groans)the song was forbidden in Italy, and in France it couldn't be played on the radio before 11 PM... but became a hige hit everywhere. Scandal is good for money.
Birkin once told that one day she took a cab in London and the driver recognized her and said (with a Cockney accent) "Hey, you're bloody Je t'aime ! I had five bloody children on that bloody song !"
Here's a link (in French) to the complete story of the song.
In English : a good Wikipedia article.
The lyrics (French)
Je t'aime, je t'aime
oh, oui je t'aime!
moi non plus
oh, mon amour...
comme la vague irr�solu
je vais, je vais et je viens
entre tes reins
je vais et je viens
entre tes reins
et je me retiens
je t'aime, je t'aime
oh, oui je t'aime!
moi non plus
oh mon amour...
tu es la vague, moi l'�le nue
tu va, tu va et tu viens
entre mes reins
tu vas et tu viens
entre mes reins
et je te rejoins
je t'aime, je t'aime
oh, oui je t'aime!
moi non plus
oh, mon amour...
comme la vague irrésolu
je vais, je vais et je viens
entre tes reins
je vais et je viens
entre tes reins
et je me retiens
tu va, tu va et tu viens
entre mes reins
tu vas et tu viens
entre mes reins
et je te rejoins
je t'aime, je t'aime
oh, oui je t'aime!
moi non plus
oh mon amour...
l'amour physique est sans issue
je vais, je vais et je viens
entre tes reins
je vais et je viens
et je me retiens
Non! Maintenant viens!
And an English version by Nick Cave:
I love you, I love you, Oh yes I love you
Nor do I
Oh my love
Like the wave, irresolute
I go, I go and I come, Inside you my love
I go and I come, Inside you my love
And then I hold on
I love you, I love you, Oh Yes I love you
Nor do I
You are the wave, And I the naked island
You go, you go and you come, inside me me love
you go and you come inside me my love
and then we are one
I love you, I love you, Oh yes I love you
Nor do I
Oh my love
Like the wave, irresolute
I go, i go and I come, Inside you my love
I go and I come, Inside you my love
And then I hold on
I love, I love you my love, Inside me my love
I love you my love, Deep inside me my love
And then we are one
I love you, I love you, Oh yes I love
Nor do I
Oh my love
Physical love is a dead end
I go, I go and I come, Inside you my love
I go and I come
And I hold on
No. Now...come
Note : the word "je viens", like in English "come" has a double meaning...
PS : an interesting quote from Serge : "I love women as an object, the beautiful women, the mannequins, the models. This is the inner painter in me. I never tell them I love them. Je t'aime... moi non plus (I love you... me neither) expresses erotism overcoming sentimentalism. So many songs about romantic and sentimental love, encounters, discoveries, jealousy, illusions, desillusions, betrayals, remorses, hatred, etc... Then why not devote a song to a sort of love much more current these days: physical love? "Je t'aime" isn't an obscene song, it's very reasonable to me, and fills this gap. Its explanation is that girls say "I love you" during sex, and the man with their ridiculous virility doesn't believe them. They think the girls only say it as a result of enjoyment, of pleasure. I guess I believe the girls, or maybe that's a result of my fear. But that's also an aesthetic step, a search of absoluteness"
