Jane Birkin’s favourite Serge Gainsbourg song
There have been few romantic pairings as iconic as the one between singer and actor Jane Birkin and crooner Serge Gainsbourg. The pair were constantly photographed together, known for their stylish yet unconventional coupling – Birkin, the younger, fresh-faced, slightly awkward British girl and Gainsbourg, the wrinkled, chain-smoking Frenchman.
The pair first met when Birkin was around 20 years old, with Gainsbourg 18 years her senior. In her book Munkey Diaries, a collection of diary entries from her life, Birkin shared an extract from 1968 which revealed her early impressions of the French singer. “Such a lot has happened since I broke up with John [Barry]. I have just finished a film called Slogan in France. There is a man in it whom I love, and he is called Serge Gainsbourg. He is very strange looking, but I love him; he’s so different from all I know – and rather degenerate – but pure at the same time.”
Together, they recorded ‘Je T’Aime moi non plus’, arguably one of the most well-known French songs, including Birkin’s breathy moans, resulting in many radio bans worldwide. Birkin has since revealed that she only sang the song because she was in love with Gainsbourg and accepted the job out of insecurity and fear of losing him.
Another diary entry reveals how intense her feelings for Gainsbourg were: “I don’t think I could love anyone more now. He was just the last person I imagined it would work with at first glance, but now I can’t imagine anyone else. […] If I lost him, it would be more than anything I’ve lost before because I’ve never felt so complete. Such a real love, and I am so strong in myself.”
Gainsbourg and Birkin had one child together, Charlotte, who has since become a successful singer and actor. However, the couple split in 1980 due to Gainsbourg’s abusive and alcoholic tendencies, although they remained close until he died in 1991.
Birkin was a huge admirer of her ex-partner’s music, and in 2018, she selected some of her favourite songs of all time for Vogue, including a Gainsbourg track. She picked out ‘L’Homme à la tête de chou’, which is the title track of Gainsbourg’s 1976 concept album. Ever the creative, the French master often made music from an unconventional perspective, and the concept album was the perfect way for the singer to exercise his innovative approach to writing.
After finding particular acclaim with his 1971 concept record Histoire de Melody Nelson, Gainsbourg returned to the technique for L’Homme à la tête de chou, which tells the tale of a middle-aged man who falls for a younger shampoo girl. The album descends into chaos after the narrator kills his lover out of jealousy, resulting in the track ‘Lunatic Asylum’.
Listen to ‘L’Homme à la tête de chou’ below.
