Poupée de cire, poupée de son

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Poupée de cire, poupée de son is the title of one of Serge Gainsbourg composed and texted song that - presented by the French France Gall - for Luxembourg the Euro Vision Song Contest 1965 won. In German-speaking countries, a version was known under the title That was a beautiful party . The translation into German is "wax doll, bran doll".

History of origin

Serge Gainsbourg (1981)

France Gall released their first record in September 1963. Ne sois pas si bête (“Don't be so stupid”) sold more than 200,000 copies. Laisse tomber les filles (“Forget the girls”), published in April 1964, was already written by Serge Gainsbourg. This was known for his puns , ambiguities and the tendency to frivolous. He also wrote the ambiguous Les sucettes ("Lollipop"; March 1966) for her. When it was explained to her that "sucette" is a synonym for fellatio , the song had long been a hit. Most of the French hadn't understood the second, filthy level of the song either. Eighteen-year-old France Gall recorded the chanson as another harmlessly naive song of her young career, without being aware of the possible ambiguity. That Anis in France especially in Pastis is contained, a whitish liquid, and that the child's Annie her candy calculated with pennies paid, the phonetically very close to the word penis are, most listeners, however, fell into that yet more conservative time, only to when Gainsbourg brought out his own version and made an audible swallowing sound at the point with his throat.

Publication and Success

France Gall - Poupée de cire, poupée de son

RTL Radio approached Gainsbourg and commissioned him to compose the contribution for Luxembourg for the Eurovision Song Contest in Naples in 1965 . Gainsbourg wrote the song at the instigation of Gilbert and Maritie Carpentier . France Gall was again chosen by Gainsbourg to present his composition. He presented her with a selection of ten songs, from which she decided on her favorite song Poupée de cire, poupée de son . It was Gainsbourg's third composition for Gall. At the competition on March 20, 1965 in Naples, which was followed by an estimated 150 million television viewers, the juries of the participating radio stations were impressed by her youthful charm and chose Gainsbourg's song as the winner, although her performance seemed anything but voiceless. With Poupée de cire, poupée de son , no ballad won the competition for the first time , and there were signs that the song contest would open up to contemporary pop music . Gall won with 32 points ahead of the Briton Kathy Kirby ( I Belong ; 26 points).

The single Poupée de cire, poupée de son / Le cœur qui jazze with the Alain Goraguer orchestra was released in France in March 1965 and already reached first place on the hit parade on March 20, 1965 , which it - with interruptions - for a total of 4 Weeks. It also became a number one hit in Norway . In May 1965 it reached second place in Germany. The day after the victory, the fast- paced Yéyé number sold 14,000 copies in France, for a total of 500,000 within one year. It was recorded in 6 foreign languages. Gall also recorded various foreign language versions of the piece of music , including in German ( That was a beautiful party ), Italian ( Io sì, tu no ) and Japanese (夢 み る シ ャ ン ソ ン 人形; Yume miru shanson ningyō ).

text

It is disputed whether the text contains connotations in the form of ambiguities. The winning song could appear as a lively French pop contribution at first hearing, but there is a subtext marked by manipulation and self-doubt . According to French sources, the chanson is the subject of many interpretations; the winning song is peppered with ambiguities and puns. In contrast to Minouche Barelli (1967), France Gall was not aware of these metaphorical ambiguities and for this very reason sang the title with the naive charisma that Gainsbourg had hoped for the presentation. Her youthful innocence belied the subtext of the lyrics. To this day, opinions about the lyrics vary widely.

In any case, Gainsbourg brings several word meanings to the synthesis. The text by Poupée de cire, poupée de son first mentions the wax doll (“poupée de cire”) and the straw doll (“poupée de son”). Doll heads from the 18th century were still made of wax, the bodies were made of fabric filled with bran or sawdust . However, “Son” also means “sound” or “tone”. Gainsbourg at least left the ambiguity in the word “son” to the listener for their own interpretation. However, wax - and with it the wax doll - melts in the heat. The word heat also appears in the further course of the song.

A closer examination reveals astute texts. The key to understanding the undertones is the expression “la chaleur des garçons” (“the heat of the boys”) used in the lyrics, a relatively clear description of male sexual desire. The heat of the boys, which the wax doll fears, who would like to be like the rag doll, means here to be like those girls who have already had sexual experiences. But she doesn't know anything about boys (chanter ainsi l'amour sans raison / sans rien connaître des garçons) .

It is also noteworthy that "Poupée de cire, poupée de son" did not receive any points from the only two purely French-speaking juries from Monaco and France, in which the undertones of the text were certainly recognized and understood more easily. It is undisputed that "Poupée de cire, poupée de son" is one of the most famous Eurovision winners. Later in her career, France Gall decidedly refused to sing or even talk about the "stupid song" again. She was one of the few Eurovision winners who did not take part in the great Eurovision anniversary gala in Mysen , Norway in August 1981 .

Cover versions

The song has been covered many times , for example by the British Twinkle ( Lonely Singing Doll ), in Swedish by Gitte Hænning ( Det kan väl inte jag rå för ) and by Karina in Spanish ( Muñeca de cera ) and Portuguese ( Boneca de cera, boneca de som ). More recently, the song has been performed by the Swiss band Die Aeronauten (1998), the German punk band WIZO ( 1995 ), the Swiss singer Cornelia Grolimund ( Das Puppenhaus , 1995), the American retro combo Les Sans Culottes , the German band Die Tornados ( That was a nice party ), the German entertainer Götz Alsmann ( That was a nice party ), the Berlin low-fi punk band Stereo Total ( Je suis une poupée ) and the Swiss rockabilly formation Hillbilly Moon Explosion . In 2006, another cover version appeared on the album Chaos Total by the German formation Welle: Erdball .

In addition, the Swedish metal band Therion covered the song on their album Les Fleurs du Mal , which was released in 2012. In 2013 it was covered by the French singer Jenifer .

Remarks

  1. ^ Son (French): bran; a doll filled with sawdust or straw is called “poupée de son”

swell

  1. ↑ DER SPIEGEL One day of November 15, 2012, The thing with the permanent lollipop
  2. ↑ TAZ of January 23, 2002, Das obszöne Werk
  3. ↑ gainsbourg.org Website of Serge Gainsbourg ( Memento of the original from October 18, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.gainsbourg.org
  4. ^ All Kinds of Everything, The Irish Eurovision website about Poupée de cire, poupée de son ( Memento of May 16, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
  5. ↑ Musicanet on Poupée de cire, poupée de son
  6. ^ Andy Roberts, Flying the Flag , 2009, p. 22
  7. ↑ "son" (French WP)
  8. ^ Sylvie Simmons, Serge Gainsbourg: A Fistful of Gitanes , 2009, p. 42

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