Serge Gainsbourg + Jane Birkin
He had a way with words, with melodies and song structure that taps directly into the soul. It captured the hearts of many women: some beautiful, some famous, sometimes fleetingly. Among the most infamous were his tumultuous affair with Bridget Bardot, and his 13-year marriage to Jane Birkin, an actress who later became a famous songstress in her own right. These women wrote songs with him and appeared on his records, as well as in his apartment and his bedroom.
In 1964 he wrote the song Bonnie & Clyde with Bridgette Bardot, which was later sampled by MC Solaar in Nouveau Western and remixed by Herbert.
In 1969 his erotic ballad with Jane Birkin – Je T’aime… moi non plus’ caused a nationwide scandal in France, as it included alongside its explicit lyrics the sounds of the female orgasm.
He was an artist of many talents: first a painter, then a singer in a piano bar, a songwriter and master of arrangement, an actor and film director. But now, 20 years after his death, it is his music that remains relevant, its powerful emotional and melodic chords capable of wrenching even the most stringent of heart strings.
