page_title: Serge Gainsbourg
section_title: Early work
hierarchical_section_title: Serge Gainsbourg / Biography / Early work
caption_attribution_description: Serge Gainsbourg, France Gall &amp; Mario Del Monaco at the Eurovision Song Contest 1965
context_page_description: Serge Gainsbourg was a French singer, songwriter, pianist, film composer, poet, painter, screenwriter, writer, actor and director. Regarded as the most important figure in French pop whilst alive, he was renowned for often provocative and scandalous releases which caused uproar in France, dividing its public opinion; as well as his diverse artistic output, which ranged from his early work in jazz, chanson, and yé-yé to later efforts in rock, funk, reggae, and electronica. Gainsbourg's varied musical style and individuality make him difficult to categorize, although his legacy has been firmly established and he is often regarded as one of the world's most influential popular musicians.
  His lyrical works incorporated wordplay, with humorous, bizarre, provocative, sexual, satirical or subversive overtones, including sophisticated rhymes, mondegreen, onomatopoeia, spoonerism, dysphemism, paraprosdokian and pun. Gainsbourg wrote over 550 songs, which have been covered more than 1,000 times by a range of artists.
context_section_description: His early songs were influenced by Boris Vian and were largely in the vein of old-fashioned chanson.
  Around 1958 he backed the Parisian "Cabaret Milord l'Arsouille" star, singer Michèle Arnaud. She discovered a shy songwriter, who considered his compositions too modern and provocative for mainstream chanson. Arnaud offered to sing and even record such songs, and propelled his early career.
  Later, Gainsbourg began to move beyond this and experiment with a succession of musical styles: modern jazz early on, yé-yé pop in the 1960s, then funk, rock and reggae in the 1970s and electronica in the 1980s.
  Many of his songs contained themes with a bizarre, morbid or sexual twist in them. An early success, "Le Poinçonneur des Lilas", describes the day in the life of a Paris Métro ticket man, whose job is to stamp holes in passengers' tickets. Gainsbourg describes this chore as so monotonous, that the man eventually thinks of putting a hole into his own head and being buried in another.
  By the time the yéyés emerged in France, Gainsbourg was 32 years old and was not feeling very comfortable: he spent much time with Jacques Brel or Juliette Gréco but the public and critics rejected him, mocking his prominent ears and nose. During this period, Gainsbourg began working with Gréco, a collaboration that lasted throughout the 'Left Bank' period culminating in the song La Javanaise in the fall of 1962.
  He performed a few duets in 1964 with the artist Philippe Clay, with whom he shared some resemblance. Around this time, Gainsbourg met Elek Bacsik, who pleased Gainsbourg, despite knowing that such a sound would not allow him access to success. The album Gainsbourg Confidentiel sold only 1,500 copies. The decision was taken right upon leaving the studio: "I'll get into hack work and buy myself a Rolls". Still, his next album, Gainsbourg Percussions, inspired by the rhythms and melodies of Miriam Makeba and Babatunde Olatunji, was a world away from the yéyé wave, on the scene which was to become a key to the Gainsbourg fortune.
  More success began to arrive when, in 1965, his song Poupée de cire, poupée de son was the Luxembourg entry in the Eurovision Song Contest. Performed by French teen and charming singer France Gall, it won first prize. The song was recorded in English as "A Lonely Singing Doll" by British teen idol Twinkle.
  His next song for Gall, Les Sucettes ("Lollipops"), caused a scandal in France: Gainsbourg had written the song with double meanings and strong sexual innuendo, of which the singer was apparently unaware when she recorded it. Whereas Gall thought that the song was about a girl enjoying lollipops, it was actually about oral sex. The controversy arising from the song, although a big hit for Gall, threw her career off-track in France for several years.
  Gainsbourg arranged other Gall songs and LPs that were characteristic of the late 1960s psychedelic styles, among them her 1968 album. Another Gainsbourg song, Boum Bada Boum, was entered by Monaco in the 1967 contest, sung by Minouche Barelli; it came fifth. He also wrote hit songs for other artists, such as Françoise Hardy (Comment te dire adieu, based on a complex scheme of rare rhymes), Anna Karina (Sous le soleil exactement, Ne dis rien), and his lifelong friend and muse-égérie, Michèle Arnaud (Les Papillons Noirs).
  In 1967, Gainsbourg appeared as a dancer along with Jean Yanne and Sacha Distel in the Sacha Show with Marie Laforet singing Ivan, Boris & Moi.
  His relationship with Brigitte Bardot led to a series of prominent pop duets, such as Ford Mustang and Bonnie and Clyde.
  In 1969, he released Je t'aime... moi non-plus, which featured explicit lyrics and simulated sounds of female orgasm. The song appeared that year on an LP, Jane Birkin/Serge Gainsbourg. Originally recorded with Brigitte Bardot, it was released with his future girlfriend Birkin when Bardot backed out. While Gainsbourg declared it the "ultimate love song", it was considered too "hot"; the song was censored or banned from public broadcast in numerous countries and in France even the toned-down ver
caption: Gainsbourg, Gall, and del Monaco in a screenshot of the Eurovision Song Contest, on 20 March 1965
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