Je t'aime ... moi non plus
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Je t'aime… moi non plus is a duet by Serge Gainsbourg from 1967, recorded with Brigitte Bardot (1967) and with Jane Birkin (1969).
title
The suggestion for the title (German: I love you… neither do I) was a famous saying by the artist Salvador Dalí : “ Picasso is a communist, and neither do I”.
Brigitte Bardot and Serge Gainsbourg
The song was composed on the night of May 26th to 27th, 1967. Gainsbourg - who was considered a womanizer in the 1960s - wrote it as a duet for his past love Brigitte Bardot . Although she had been married to Gunther Sachs since July 1966 , she went into the studio with Gainsbourg at the end of October 1967 and recorded the song with him. It was due to appear on December 5, 1967. A few days before this date, however, out of consideration for her husband's feelings, she asked him in a handwritten note to keep the song under lock and key. Gainsbourg caused the record company to destroy the 40,000 singles that had already been pressed at his own expense. It wasn't until 1986 that Bardot released it for publication.
Jane Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg
The second attempt followed in 1969 with Gainsbourg's then partner and later wife Jane Birkin . In the song, Birkin breathes a tender "Je t'aime" (I love you) to a catchy, gentle Hammond organ melody, which increases over the course of the song to a moan of pleasure with a high breathing rate. The text is just as blunt and provocative. Gainsbourg sings “Comme la vague irrésolue je vais, je vais et je viens entre tes reins” (“Like the aimless wave I walk, I walk and come between your loins”) with gentle urge and Birkin repeats it again in a higher, more excited manner Voice; towards the end she sings: «Maintenant, viens! " ("Come on now!")
The song was initially part of the LP Jane Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg recorded in London , was released as a single from this LP and released on June 27, 1969. A tangible scandal immediately arose because conservative circles already saw the acoustic information too erotic and should therefore be prevented from spreading further. On the one hand, it fit right into the time of free love, soft porn and educational films such as Housewives Report and was immediately accepted by the open-minded young generation. On the other hand, the song was boycotted by radio stations in many countries - which only increased its popularity - and so much fought by conservative institutions that the protest of the Vatican even led to the brief arrest of the person in charge of the record company. The responsible sales manager of the Italian record company was even excommunicated . This resistance seemed to boost sales: in France alone, the title was sold 750,000 times, in Great Britain 250,000 copies were sold, and over two million worldwide. The song became a million seller and a cult song .
In Great Britain, the song was not only boycotted by the BBC , the originally licensed record company Fontana shied away from the risk and stopped delivery despite having just achieved rank 2 in September 1969. The label Major Minor took over the license for the title, a week later the major was -Minor record at number 3, and the remainder of the Fontana singles still reached number 16. It was the only time in British chart history that the same recording of a song was placed twice. Je t'aime even reached number 1 in the UK. The song also topped the charts in Switzerland and Austria , and reached number 3 in Germany.
Cover versions
However, the numerous instrumental recordings that exist of this title prove that the melody has hit qualities. In September 1969, the version of the group Sounds Nice with the title Love at first sight reached the British Top 20, not least because it was used in some radio charts as a placeholder for the banned original. But there were also the most varied of sung cover versions of the title, sometimes close to the original, sometimes as fun versions like Judge Dread in reggae style with banal chatter or Wolfgang Gruner and Edeltraut Elsner as an old couple ( Die 10.001. Nacht , 1970). And the list of performers extends from the 1970s to the present day: Genesis P-Orridge , Paul Mauriat , André Bourvil , the Einstürzende Neubauten , Jason Kouchak , Hot Butter , Donna Summer , Saint Tropez, Heiner Lauterbach & Sabine von Maydell , Lisha, Malcolm McLaren who have favourited Pet Shop Boys , Brian Molko with Asia Argento , Nick Cave with Anita Lane, Mick Harvey with Anita Lane, Core22 , Sven Väth featuring Miss Kittin , Pas De Deux featuring Windsor Robinson , die Böhsen Onkelz , Cat Power with Karen Elson, Dzihan & Kamien , Big Bud and Züri West with Jaël .
An instrumental version of Je t'aime was also the theme song for the erotic TV show Wa (h) re Liebe with Lilo Wanders .
Furthermore
For the duo Jane Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg, the song was the only international success, although the following Décadanse is well known, but remained meaningless in the charts. Gainsbourg had other international successes as a writer for other French artists. He wrote hits like Comment te dire adieu for Françoise Hardy and the Eurovision Grand Prix winner Poupée de cire, poupée de son (1965) for France Gall .
Jane Birkin continued to work primarily as an actress, e.g. B. 1976 in the film named after the song Je t'aime , which also came from Gainsbourg.
Web links
- Je t'aime ... moi non plus . songlexikon.de; accessed October 16, 2013
Individual evidence
- ↑ Chart sources: DE AT CH UK US
- ↑ Reto Wehrli: Demonized Heavy Metal. Scandals and Censorship in Modern Music History . 2nd Edition. Telos, Münster 2005, ISBN 3-933060-15-X , p. 553 .
- ↑ Reto Wehrli: Demonized Heavy Metal. Scandals and Censorship in Modern Music History . 2nd Edition. Telos, Münster 2005, ISBN 3-933060-15-X , p. 552 f .
- ^ Music's Laureate of the Outrageous . In: New York Times , January 29, 2003
- ^ Joseph Murrells: Million Selling Records . 1985, p. 277
- ↑ James Masterton: Chart Commentary. March 26, 2007 at