Je t'aime... moi non plus: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 12:40, 20 January 2024

Revision as of 22:29, 6 February 2024

Line 3:

{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}}

{{Infobox song

| name = Je t'aime… moi non plus

| cover = Je t'aime moi non plus by Jane Birkin et Serge Gainsbourg French vinyl Fontana release.jpg

| alt =

| caption = Fontana distribution variant of original French release, whose image was also used for some other continental European releases and some re-releases

| type = single

| artist = [[Serge Gainsbourg]] and [[Jane Birkin]]

| album = [[Jane Birkin/Serge Gainsbourg]]

| B-side = {{ubl|"Jane B."|"''69 Année Érotique''" (Belgium only)}}

| released = February 1969

| recorded = 1968

| studio =

| venue =

| genre = {{hlist|[[Pop music|Pop]]|[[chansonChanson]]||[[psychedelic pop]]|[[baroque pop]]|[[orchestral pop]]}}

| length = 4:22<ref>[{{AllMusic|class=album|id=r562370|pure_url=yes}} 1969 Album on the AMG]. Retrieved 15 February 2007</ref>

| label = UK: [[Fontana Records|Fontana]], [[Major Minor Records|Major Minor]], Antic<br/>US: Fontana

| writer = [[Serge Gainsbourg]]

| producer = Jack Baverstock

| prev_title =

| prev_year =

| next_title =

| next_year =

}}

"'''Je t'aime... moi non plus'''" ([[French language|French]] for "I love you… me neither") is a 1967 song written by [[Serge Gainsbourg]] for [[Brigitte Bardot]]. In 1969, Gainsbourg recorded the best known version as a duet with English actress [[Jane Birkin]]. Although thethis duetversion reached number one in the UK—the first foreign-language song to do so—and number two in Ireland, it was banned in several countries due to its overtly sexual content.

In 1976, Gainsbourg directed Birkin in an erotic film of the [[Je t'aime moi non plus (film)|same name]].

==History==

The song was written and recorded in late 1967 for Gainsbourg's then-girlfriend, [[Brigitte Bardot]]. After a disappointing, witless date with Bardot, she "phoned and demanded as a penance" the following day<ref name="theguardian/Simmons/Gainsbourg">{{cite news |last1=Simmons |first1=Sylvie |title=An extract from Serge Gainsbourg: A Fistful of Gitanes by Sylvie Simmons |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2001/feb/02/culture.features |access-date=21 November 2022 |work=[[the Guardian]] |date=2 February 2001 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="978-0-306-81183-8">{{cite book |last1=Simmons |first1=Sylvie |title=Serge Gainsbourg: A Fistful Of Gitanes |date=19 September 2002 |publisher=Da Capo Press |isbn=978-0-306-81183-8 |language=en}}</ref> that he write, for her, "the most beautiful love song he could imagine" and; that night, he wrote "Je t'aime" and "[[Bonnie and Clyde (Serge Gainsbourg and Brigitte Bardot song)|Bonnie and Clyde]]".<ref name=evene>{{cite news|url=http://www.evene.fr/musique/actualite/je-t-aime-moi-non-plus-gainsbourg-birkin-1819.php|title=Chanson cul(te) Je t'aime moi non plus|last=Durand|first=Mathieu|date=February 2009|work=Evene|access-date=4 August 2010}}</ref> They recorded an arrangement of "Je t'aime" by [[Michel Colombier]] at a Paris studio in a two-hour session in a small glass booth; the engineer William Flageollet said there was "heavy petting".<ref name=simmons>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2001/feb/02/culture.features|title=The eyes have it|last=Simmons|first=Sylvie|date=2 February 2001|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|access-date=4 August 2010|___location=London}}</ref> However, news of the recording reached the press, and Bardot's husband, German businessman [[Gunter Sachs]], was angry andangrily called for the single to be withdrawn. Bardot pleaded with Gainsbourg not to release it. He complied, but observedwas not pleased: "The music is very pure. For the first time in my life, I write a love song and it's taken badly."<ref name=simmons/><ref name=rfi>{{cite web|url=http://www.rfimusique.com/siteEn/biographie/biographie_6305.asp |title=RFI Musique - - Serge Gainsbourg |access-date=8 May 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090528081900/http://www.rfimusique.com/siteen/biographie/biographie_6305.asp |archive-date=28 May 2009 }}</ref><ref name=bardot>{{cite book|last=Singer|first=Barnett|title=Brigitte Bardot: a biography|year=2006|publisher=McFarland|isbn=0-7864-2515-6}}</ref>{{rp|92}}

In 1968, Gainsbourg and the English actress [[Jane Birkin]] began a relationship when on the set of the film [[Slogan (film)|''Slogan'']]. After the end of filming, he asked her to record the"Je songt'aime" with him.<ref name=simmons/> Birkin had heard the Bardot version and thoughtconsidered it "so hot".<ref name=telegraph/> SheBirkin said:has stated that "I only sang it because I didn't want anybody else to sing it", jealous at the thought of hisGainsbourg sharing aintimacy in the recording studio with someone else. Gainsbourg asked her to sing an octave higher than Bardot, "so you[she'lld] sound like a little boy".<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.kidderminstershuttle.co.uk/shuttlextra/4678474.Birkin__Much_more_than_a_bag/|title=Birkin: Much more than a bag|last=Lloyd|first=Albertina|date=17 October 2009|work=Kidderminster Shuttle|access-date=4 August 2010}}</ref> ItThis wasversion recorded in an arrangement by [[Arthur Greenslade]] in a studio at [[Marble Arch Records|Marble Arch]].<ref name=simmons/> Birkin said that she "got a bit carried away with the heavy breathing – so much so, in fact, that I was told to calm down, which meant that at one point I stopped breathing altogether. If you listen to the record now, you can still hear that little gap."<ref name=telegraph>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/starsandstories/6269958/Jane-Birkin-interview.html|title=Jane Birkin interview|last=Walden|first=Celia|date=13 October 2009|newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph]]|access-date=3 August 2010|___location=London}}</ref>

There was media speculation, as with the Bardot version, that theythe hadrecording recordeddocumented liveunsimulated sex, to which Gainsbourg told Birkin, "Thank goodness it wasn't, otherwise I hope it would have been a [[LP record|long-playing record]]."<ref name=simmons/> ItThe recording featuring Birkin was released as a single in February 1969.<ref name=evene/> The single, which [[Philips Records|Philips]] relegated to its subsidiary [[Fontana Records|Fontana]],<ref name="evene" /> had a plain cover, with the words "forbidden to those under 21" ("{{lang|fr|Interdit aux moins de 21 ans}}"),<ref name=zwerin/> and the record company changed the label from [[Philips Records|Philips]] to its subsidiary [[Fontana Records|Fontana]].<ref name=evenezwerin/>

Gainsbourg also asked [[Marianne Faithfull]] to record the song with him; she said:later recalled, "Hah! He asked everybody".<ref>{{cite news|last=Simmons |first=Sylvie |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2001/feb/02/culture.features |title=An extract from Serge Gainsbourg: A Fistful of Gitanes by Sylvie Simmons &#124; Books |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |date= 2 February 2001|access-date=27 March 2014 |___location=London}}</ref> Others whom Gainsbourg approached included [[Valérie Lagrange]] and [[Mireille Darc]].<ref name=simmons/> Bardot later regretted not releasing her version, and her friend Jean-Louis Remilleux persuaded her to contact Gainsbourg. They released it in 1986.<ref name=bardot/>{{rp|147}}

== Lyrics and music ==

The title was inspired by a [[Salvador Dalí]] comment: "Picasso is Spanish, me too. Picasso is a genius, me too. Picasso is a communist, me neither".<ref name=zwerin>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/29/style/29iht-zwer29_ed3_.html |title=Music's laureate of the outrageous |last=Zwerin |first=Mike |date=29 January 2003 |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=4 August 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120918050429/http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/29/style/29iht-zwer29_ed3_.html |archive-date=18 September 2012 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.evene.fr/musique/actualite/je-t-aime-moi-non-plus-gainsbourg-birkin-1819.php |title=''Je t'aime moi non plus'', Gainsbourg Birkin |website=Evene.fr |date=13 February 2009 |access-date=2 October 2016}}</ref> Gainsbourg claimeddescribed it"Je wast'aime" as an "anti-fuck" song about the desperation and impossibility of physical love.<ref name=simmons/> The lyrics are written as a dialogue between two lovers during sex. Phrases include:

<blockquote>

"{{lang|fr|Je vais et je viens, entre tes reins}}" ("I go and I come, between your loins")

Line 53:

==Reception==

{{quote box|align=right|width=25%|bgcolor=#c6dbf7|quote=The lyrical subtleties were lost on late-1960s Brits. What they heard was an expertly stroked organ, orgasmic groans and a soft-focus melody, the musical equivalent of a Vaseline-smeared Emmanuelle movie. It was confirmation that life across the Channel was one of unchecked lubriciousness, and Je t'aime became as essential a part of any successful seduction as a chilled bottle of [[Blue Nun]].|source=— Sylvie Simmons, Serge Gainsbourg: A Fistful of Gitanes, 2001<ref name=simmons/>}}

Some deemed the song's [[eroticism]] offensive. The lyrics are commonly thought to refer to the taboo of sex without love, and were delivered in a breathy, suggestive style. ''The Observer'' Monthly Music magazine later called it "the pop equivalent of an [[Emmanuelle (1974 film)|Emmanuelle]] movie".<ref name=omm/>

When the version with Bardot was recorded, the French press reported that it was an "unedited recording" ("{{lang|fr|[[wikt:audio vérité|audio vérité]]}}"). ''[[France Dimanche]]'' said the "groans, sighs, and Bardot's little cries of pleasure [give] the impression you're listening to two people making love".<ref name=simmons/> The first time Gainsbourg played it in public was in a Paris restaurant immediately after they recorded it. Birkin said that "as it began to play all you could hear were the knives and forks being put down. 'I think we have a hit record', he said."<ref name=simmons/><ref name=telegraph/>

When the version with Bardot was recorded, the French press reported that it was an "unedited recording" ("{{lang|fr|[[wikt:audio vérité|audio vérité]]}}"). ''[[France Dimanche]]'' said the "groans, sighs, and Bardot's little cries of pleasure [give] the impression you're listening to two people making love".<ref name="simmons" /> The first time Gainsbourg played it in public was in a Paris restaurant immediately after they recorded it. Birkin said that "as it began to play all you could hear were the knives and forks being put down. 'I think we have a hit record', he[Gainsbourg] said."<ref name="simmons" /><ref name="telegraph" />

The song culminates in [[orgasm]] sounds by Birkin: mostly because of this, it was banned from radio in Spain, Sweden, Brazil, the UK,<ref name=omm/> Italy,<ref name=italy/> banned before 11 pm in France, not played by many radio stations in the United States because it was deemed too risqué,<ref name=evene/> and denounced by the [[Vatican City|Vatican]] and the ''[[L'Osservatore Romano]]'';<ref name=omm>{{cite news|url=http://observer.guardian.co.uk/omm/the10/story/0,,1487369,00.html|title=The 10 most x-rated records|last=Spencer|first=Neil|date=22 May 2005|work=Observer Music Monthly|publisher=Guardian Newspapers|access-date=3 August 2010|___location=London}}</ref><ref name=italy>{{cite book|last1=Cheles|first1=Luciano|last2=Sponza|first2=Lucio|title=The art of persuasion: political communication in Italy from 1945 to the 1990s|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Vy1NMicVUEEC&pg=PA331|year=2001|publisher=Manchester University Press|isbn=0-7190-4170-8|page=331}}</ref> one report even claimed the Vatican excommunicated the record executive who released it in Italy.<ref name=zwerin/> Birkin said Gainsbourg called the Pope "our greatest PR man".<ref name=telegraph/>

The song culminates in [[orgasm]] sounds by Birkin:; mostly because of this, it was banned from radio in Spain, Sweden, Brazil, the UK,<ref name="omm" /> and Italy,<ref name="italy" /> banned from radio play before 11 pm in France, and not played by many radio stations in the United States because it was deemed too risqué,.<ref name="evene" /> andThe song was officially denounced by the [[Vatican City|Vatican]] and theits newspaper, ''[[L'Osservatore Romano]]'';<ref name="omm">{{cite news|url=http://observer.guardian.co.uk/omm/the10/story/0,,1487369,00.html|title=The 10 most x-rated records|last=Spencer|first=Neil|date=22 May 2005|work=Observer Music Monthly|publisher=Guardian Newspapers|access-date=3 August 2010|___location=London}}</ref><ref name="italy">{{cite book|last1=Cheles|first1=Luciano|last2=Sponza|first2=Lucio|title=The art of persuasion: political communication in Italy from 1945 to the 1990s|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Vy1NMicVUEEC&pg=PA331|year=2001|publisher=Manchester University Press|isbn=0-7190-4170-8|page=331}}</ref> one report even claimed that the Vatican had excommunicated the record executive who released it in Italy.<ref name="zwerin" /> Birkin said that Gainsbourg had called the Pope "our greatest PR man" in response.<ref name="telegraph" />

Birkin said in 2004 that, "It wasn't a rude song at all. I don't know what all the fuss was about. The English just didn't understand it. I'm still not sure they know what it means."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2004/aug/15/popandrock1|title=Serge needed all the love he could get|last=Solomons|first=Jason|date=15 August 2004|newspaper=[[The Observer]]|access-date=3 August 2010|___location=London}}</ref> When Gainsbourg went to [[Jamaica]] to record with [[Sly and Robbie]], they initially did not get on well. They said "We know just one piece of French music, a song called 'Je t'aime… Moi Non Plus', which has a girl groaning in it." Gainsbourg said "It's me", and their mood changed immediately.<ref name=simmons/>

Birkin said in 2004 that, "It wasn't a rude song at all. I don't know what all the fuss was about. The English just didn't understand it. I'm still not sure they know what it means."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2004/aug/15/popandrock1|title=Serge needed all the love he could get|last=Solomons|first=Jason|date=15 August 2004|newspaper=[[The Observer]]|access-date=3 August 2010|___location=London}}</ref> When Gainsbourg later went to [[Jamaica]] to record with [[Sly and Robbie]], they initially did not get on well., Theybut saidtheir "Wemood knowchanged justimmediately oneupon piecelearning ofthat French music, a song called '"Je t'aime…aime" Moi Non Plus', which has a girl groaning in it."was Gainsbourg said "It's me", and their mood changed immediatelywork.<ref name="simmons" />

== Commercial success ==

The song was a commercial success throughout Europe, selling 3three million copies by October 1969.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Record-World/60s/69/Record-World-1969-10-25.pdf|title=Money Music|magazine=[[Record World]]|page=20|date=25 October 1969|accessdate=8 April 2022}}</ref> By 1986, it had sold four million copies. In the UK, it was released on the [[Fontana Records|Fontana]] label, but, after reaching number two, it was withdrawn from sale. Gainsbourg arranged a deal with [[Major Minor Records]] and on re-release it reached number one, making it the first banned number one single in the UK<ref name=omm/> and the first single in a foreign language to top the charts. It stayed on the UK chart for 31 weeks.<ref name=chrisafis>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2006/apr/14/7|title=Gainsbourg, je t'aime|last=Chrisafis|first=Angelique|date=14 April 2006|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|access-date=4 August 2010|___location=London}}</ref> It made the Top 100 in the United States, reaching number 58 on the [[Billboard Hot 100]] chart.<ref>''Top Pop Singles'' (8th edition) by Joel Whitburn</ref> [[Mercury Records]], the US distributor, faced criticism that the song was "obscene" and there was limited airplay, limiting US sales to around 150,000.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pSkEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA26|title=Steinberg: Obscenity is Relative|date=7 November 1970|magazine=Billboard|access-date=5 August 2010}}</ref>

It was re-released in the UK in late 1974 on the [[Atlantic Records]] subsidiary Antic Records and charted again peaking at No. 31 and charting for nine weeks. By August 1969, the single had sold 300,000 copies in Italy,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.archiviolastampa.it/component/option,com_lastampa/task,search/mod,libera/action,viewer/Itemid,3/page,11/articleid,1529_02_1969_0200_0011_21319176/|title=Il disco della Birkin venduto alla borsa nera|publisher=[[la Stampa]]|page=11|date=30 August 1969|accessdate=8 April 2022}}</ref> while in France in 1969 alone sold 400,000 copies.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.top-france.fr/html/45tours/45t1969.htm|title=TOP – 1969|work=40 ans de tubes : 1960–2000 : les meilleures ventes de 45 tours & CD singles|author=[[Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique]] (SNEP)|editor=Fabrice Ferment|access-date=8 April 2022|language=fr|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210515150607/http://www.top-france.fr/html/45tours/45t1969.htm|archive-date=15 May 2021|via=Top-France.fr|oclc=469523661}}</ref> In UK sales were over 250,000.<ref>{{cite book|title=Million selling records from the 1900s to the 1980s : an illustrated directory|url=https://openlibrary.org/works/OL120558W/Million_selling_records_from_the_1900s_to_the_1980s|first=Joseph|last=Murrells|year=1985 |publisher=Arco Pub.|quote=In Britain, the disc was eventually handed over to the major minor label. Sales went over 250,000 there.|isbn=0668064595|page=277}}</ref> By 1996, it had sold 6 million copies worldwide.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music//Billboard/90s/1991/BB-1991-07-27.pdf|title=Cracking Global Language Barrier Is Tough For French Megastars|magazine=[[Billboard magazine|Billboard]]|page=F-6|first=Emmanuel|last=LeGrande|date=27 July 1991|issn=0006-2510|accessdate=8 April 2022}}</ref>