Serge Gainsbourg

Serge Gainsbourg was a French musician, pianist, writer, actor, and film director.

He experienced with many genre of music from the Chanson and jazz to pop music, electro and reggae. He was a controversial character, who wrote many erotic and polemical song and until his death was surrounded by a lot of controversy, but was also considered as a poet and a genius, the last of the tradition of Poètes Maudits (doomed poets) and adapted many famous poems in songs.

He had somewhat of a Broken Base. But since his death he is pretty much universally celebrated.

In 2010, a biopic was released : Gainsbourg, vie héroïque.

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Serge Gainsbourg and his work provide examples of:

• The Alcoholic: Gainsbarre.
• Becoming the Mask: With his alter-ego Gainsbarre.
• Chanson
• Cool Car: The Rolls-Royce silver ghost from Histoire de Melody Nelson. He himself later bought a Rolls-Royce Phamtom.
• A Date with Rosie Palms: "Variation sur Marilou"
• Dark and Troubled Past: His past as a Jew during the Nazi Occupation.
• Dramatic Irony: He liked to tell the story of how he fought to be the first in line to receive the yellow star, thinking it was a sheriff star.
• Dirty Old Man
• Everything Sounds Sexier in French
• Expy: Histoire de Melody Nelson is a Concept Album which is heavily based around Lolita.
• Getting Crap Past the Radar: He famously wrote a song for then 18-years-old France Gall called "Annie aime les sucettes" ("Annie likes lolipops") about fellatio. France Gall claimed she sung it completely innocently, without understanding the sexual meaning of the lyrics.
• Intercourse with You: "Je t'aime... moi non plus"
• Kavorka Man: Despite being notoriously ugly and an alcoholic, he had relationships with some of the most beautiful women of his time. He even wrote a song about this: "Des laids des laids".
• Outlaw Couple: "Bonnie and Clyde" (with Brigitte Bardot).
• Parental Incest: "Lemon Incest" makes ambiguous reference to this. Furthermore, the song is a duet with his real daughter, Charlotte, who was twelve years old at the time.
• Real Life Relative: Did duets with his daughter Charlotte and his wife, Jane Birkin. Also most of the women he wrote song for became his mistress. Notably, Brigitte Bardot.
• Saying Sound Effects Out Loud: In the song "Comic Strip" typical comic strip onomatopeia are imitated.
• Self-Deprecation
• Smoking Is Cool: It's hard to find a picture of him where he isn't smoking.
• You Make Me Sic: "En relisant ta lettre"