ジェーン・バーキン Jane Birkin – セルジュ・ゲンスブール Serge Gainsbourg 「You look like holidays」 Missing La Décadance

ジェーン・バーキン Jane Birkin and セルジュ・ゲンスブール Serge Gainsbourg

Jane Birkin on the cover of histoire de melody nelson — Jane Birkin on the cover of “histoire de melody nelson”

Jane Birkin talking about Francis Bacon

Qui est mort? Our little and big deaths along our short or long road towards our own death. Better said, towards our mental death.
I need provocations, as ordinary life means boredom. Provocations as air to breath.
J’aime t’embrasser et ça me manque. La décadence me manque.
How did Jane Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg met? Why is this following scene an allegory about the later influences on women’s lib, on female audiences around the world?
Jane Birkin talking about how both came together, their first date in Paris. As actors they met on the set of the 1969 movie “Slogan”.

Jane Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg in Slogan 1969 — Jane Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg in the film “Slogan” 1969

Jane Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg at the Premiere of Slogan 1969 — Jane Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg @ the Premiere of “Slogan” 1969

Serge was 40 and Jane 22. “He barely spoke to me and I thought him terribly arrogant and unkind,” she recalled, “so the director suggested we go out for the night. We went to dinner, then to a club, where I dragged him onto the dancefloor. He trod all over my toes, and I realised that under the rashness and the mauve shirt, he was devastatingly unsure of himself, and that made him terribly intriguing. Then he whizzed me off to the Rasputin Club, where he made all the musicians play Sibelius’ Valse Triste while he threw 100-franc notes at them, saying, ‘C’est des putes, comme moi’ — ‘They’re bitches, like me’. Then we went off to another club where all the men were dressed up as ladies, to my amazement, kissing Serge on the forehead and saying, ‘Ooh, petit chou-chou’. His father had been a cabaret musician, and they’d all known him since he was tiny, and obviously thought he was a darling. By then it was 4 in the morning. We went back to the Hilton Hotel, where the desk clerk said, ‘Your usual room, Monsieur Gainsbourg?’ I thought, Uh-oh, but luckily Serge immediately fell asleep.”

All this reminds me of my buddy, novelist Masahiko (Shimada). The younger Gainsbourg resembles his face. Trying to provoke on several occasions. Where Japanese society shows its most vulnerable parts. Sometimes I would like to tell him, he should get a three-day stubble beard, like Gainsbourg. It’s a fact, that Gainsbourg had been styled up by Birkin. Women forget her influence on us men. “I put him in those double-breasted woollen Paletot coats with the upturned collars. He wanted shoes that felt like gloves, so I got him white Repetto ballet shoes, which he wore without socks. I bought him jewellery and encouraged him to keep a three-day stubble on his face. I thought he looked very existential.”

Jane Birkin changed Gainsbourg style. So I got him white Repetto ballet shoes, which he wore without socks — Jane Birkin changed Gainsbourg’s style. “So I got him white Repetto ballet shoes, which he wore without socks.”

French Existentialism

Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre, the main representatives of (Parisian) Existentialism. Beauvoir’s and Sartre’s concern was to understand woman and man as being alive / flourishing in the sense of Existential Philosophy. A state of mind in which the woman is her defining existence. That’s why she masturbates and fucks around.
I, as a woman, get an orgasm, therefore I am.
With this kind of lineage, the woman understood that she had to liberate herself from traditional heterosexual, monogamous relationships.
Ergo the social movement of sexual liberation, also known as sexual revolution, challenged the traditional codes of behaviour in society from the 1960s to the 1970s. The normalization of contraception and the pill, public nudity, pornography, premarital sex, homosexuality, masturbation, alternative forms of sexuality, and the legalization of abortion all followed.

During this period, in 1967, Gainsbourg wrote Brigitte Bardot the most famous love song on earth “Je t’aime… moi non plus”. Bardot’s words: ‘a hymn to love’.

Petting in the recording studio

Brigitte Bardot rushed to the studio to record the ode written for her as a duet with her new, adoring lover, Serge. Sound engineer William Flageollet claims to have overheard “heavy petting” in front of the recording mike during the two-hour recording session as the moans and sighs hit the tape.
After the final mixed song was ready, the then German husband of Bardot, decadent Andy Warhol art collector Gunther Sachs, intervened and prohibited the release.
However, 25 years before notorious playboy Sachs shot himself to death in 2011, Bardot gave the green light for publishing this legendary song.

Je t’aime… moi non plus (French/English) Lyrics Serge Gainsbourg/Brigitte Bardot

By fortune, world changing couple Jane Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg got in love at the right time. A fatalistic, significant relationship for humanity’s future. Gainsbourg asked Birkin to record that ultimate love song again. With a kawaii jealousy towards Bardot, Jane let her orgasmic voice go further, moan more intense than Bardot’s.
Eventually, Birkin and Gainsbourg hit the Zeitgeist of the 1969s. No.1 Top charts, – and women were moaning multiple orgasms, dancing intimately, masturbating, fucking around, an incarnation of the sex liberation movement had been found.

The lyrics sang by Brit Jane with a coquettish French mirrored a new era in sophisticated song writing. Let’s recapitulate the text, the youtube video is below:

Jane: Je t’aime, je t’aime // I love you, I love you
Oui je t’aime // Oh yes, I love you
愛してる　愛してる　ああ…愛してるわ････
Serge: Moi non plus // Me neither
僕？さあね？
Jane: Oh mon amour // Oh my love
ああ…わたしの恋人
Serge: Comme la vague irrésolue // Like a vacillating wave
Je vais, je vais et je viens // I go, I come and I go
Entre tes reins // Inside of you
Je vais et je viens // I come and I go
Entre tes reins // Inside of you
Et je me retiens // And I hold myself back
打ち寄せるさざ波のように　　僕はきみの腰の間を行ったり来たり
きみの腰の間を寄せてはかえす　　まだ大丈夫さ
Jane: Je t’aime, je t’aime // I love you, I love you
Oh oui, je t’aime // Oh yes, I love you
愛してる　愛してる　ああ…愛してるわ････
Serge: Moi non plus // Me neither
僕？さあね？
Jane: Oh mon amour // Oh my love
ああ…わたしの恋人
Tu est la vague // You are the wave
Moi, l’île nue // I’m a desert island
Tu vas, tu vas et tu viens // You go, you come and you go
Entre mes reins // Inside of me
Tu vas et tu viens // You come and you go
Entre mes reins // Inside of me
Et je te rejoins // And I’m joining you
Je t’aime, je t’aime // I love you, I love you
Oh oui, je t’aime // Oh yes, I love you
あなたは波、わたしは素っ裸の島
わたしの腰に向かって　あなたは押し寄せる、そしてかえす
わたしの腰に向かって　寄せてはかえす
そして　一緒に…
愛してる　愛してる　ああ…愛してるわ････
Serge: Moi non plus // Me neither
僕？さあね？
Jane: Oh mon amour // Oh my love
ああ…わたしの恋人
Serge: Comme la vague irrésolue // Like a vacillating wave
Je vais, je vais et je viens // I go, I come and I go
Entre tes reins // Inside of you
Je vais et je viens // I come and I go
Entre tes reins // Inside of you
Et je me retiens // And I hold myself back
肉体的な愛には抜け道がない
僕はきみの腰の間を行ったり来たり
きみの腰の間を寄せてはかえす
まだ大丈夫さ
Jane: Interlude de respiration lourde Heavy breathing interlude
ああ…
Tu vas, tu vas et tu viens // You go, you come and you go
Entre mes reins // Inside of me
Tu vas et tu viens // You come and you go
Entre mes reins // Inside of me
Et je te rejoins // And I’m joining you
Je t’aime, je t’aime // I love you, I love you
Oh oui, je t’aime // Oh yes, I love you
わたしの腰に向かって　あなたは押し寄せる、そしてかえす
わたしの腰に向かって　寄せてはかえす
そして　一緒に…
愛してる　愛してる　ああ…愛してるわ････
Serge: Moi non plus // Me neither
僕？さあね？
Jane: Oh mon amour // Oh my love
ああ…　わたしの恋人
Serge: L’amour physique est sans issue // Physical love, for its own sake
Je vais, je vais et je viens // I go, I come and I go
Entre tes reins // Inside of you
Je vais et je viens // I come and I go
Je me retiens // I hold myself back…
肉体的な愛には抜け道がない
僕はきみの腰の間を行ったり来たり
きみの腰の間を寄せてはかえす
まだ大丈夫さ
Jane: Non! Maintenant! Viens! // No! Come! Now!
イヤ、今よ！　はやくきて！！！
*respiration lourde* // *Very heavy breathing*
あああ････

“Je T’Aime… Moi Non Plus” (version longue) – Jane Birkin & Serge Gainsbourg

Let’s not forget, that this song had been censured in Japan (日本では1970年当時は要注意歌謡曲指定制度において放送禁止となるAランク指定を受け).
I would like to point out that Gainsbourg, as a former art student and failed painter, knew art history intimately. The title of “Je t’aime … moi non plus” was inspired by the following saying by Salvador Dali: “Picasso is Spanish, me too. Picasso is a genius, me too. Picasso is a communist, me neither”.
Whether the following phrase by Gainsbourg is true or not is irrelevant. As a heavy chain smoker and pathological alcoholic with a tiny Pimmelchen, this statement could have a half-truthfulness that is, of course, universally valid. He claimed “it was an anti-fuck song about the desperation and impossibility of physical love”.
💥 💥
Of course, Gainsbourg can invent all kinds of things afterwards to propagate an entertaining credo. In the end, it’s all about cultivating one’s own narrative. The essence of being an artist. And here he has cribbed a lot from the surrealists.

To go down in history, the artist must provoke

The great worldwide commercial success of “Je t’aime” brought Gainsbourg to the next step of provocation. With “La Décadance” he tried to encourage the young generation of the time to have erotic body contact while dancing. Grabbing your female dance partner’s breasts from behind was now the new coolness.

Jane Birkin in the Studio of Serge Gainsbourg La Decadanse 1971 — Jane Birkin in the studio of Serge Gainsbourg “La Décadanse” 1971

Jane Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg La Decadanse 1971, Saint Tropez — Jane Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg “La Décadanse” Saint Tropez 1971

Let’s check the lyrics with the English translation:
Turn yourself – No – Against me – No, not like that – … And dance “La décadance” – Move your hips – Slowly – In front of mine – Stay there – Behind me – Sway ‘The décadance’ – Let your hands brush my breasts – And my heart – Which is yours – My love – For forever – Patience – The décadance – Under my fingers – Will lead you – Towards faraway – Beyond – Troubled waters – Suddenly trouble – My senses – The décadance – Took me – Oh you kill me – My love – Tell me, – Do you love me? – I loved you – Already but – Nuance – The décadance – Even more – Than our deaths – Ties our souls – And our bodies – God forgive our – Offenses – The décadance Cradled – Our tired bodies – And our wandering souls – God – Forgive our offenses

La Décadance

Tourne-toi
Non
Contre moi
Non, pas comme ça
Et danse
La décadance
Oui c’est bien
Bouge tes reins
Lentement
Devant les miens
Reste là
Derrière moi
Balance
La décadanse
Que tes mains
Frôlent mes seins
Et mon cœur
Qui est le tien
Mon amour
De toujours
Patience
La décadanse
Sous mes doigts
T’emmènera
Vers de lointains
Au-delà
Des eaux troubles
Soudain troublent
Mes sens
La décadanse
M’a perdue
Ah, tu me tues
Mon amour
Dis, m’aimes-tu?
Je t’aimais
Déjà mais
Nuance
La décadanse
Plus encore
Que notre mort
Lie nos âmes
Et nos corps
Dieu pardonnez nos
Offenses
La décadanse
A bercé
Nos corps blessés
Et nos âmes égarées
Dieu
Pardonnez nos offenses
La décadanse
A bercé
Nos corps blasés
Et nos âmes égarées

The song became a flop, Jane not very amused, but Serge had his frivolous, deceitful fun. As with France Gall “Les Sucettes”.

France Gall Les sucettes 1966 — France Gall “Les Sucettes” 1966

France Gall Les sucettes + Bikini, 1966 — France Gall “Les Sucettes” with Bikini, 1966

France Gall and Serge Gainsbourg Les sucette 1966 — France Gall and Serge Gainsbourg “Les Sucettes” 1966

Serge Gainsbourg Les sucettes — Serge Gainsbourg sings “Les Sucettes”, live

The slow-motion sequences of Serge Gainsbourg/France Gall’s “Les Succettes” in 1966 exemplify how Jane Birkin later in the 70’s falls into a somehow similar “trap” of the psychopath Serge Gainsbourg. The mental traits reveal that Monsieur Provocateur takes pleasure in the world of sado-masochistic games. Gainsbourg, as a heavy chain smoker and strong alcoholic, pro-actively accepts the risk of showing his own vulnerability, because pain brings him plaisir, the ultimate arousal, the blood filled, tiny Pimmelchen, to reach a libidinous climax.
Provocation for provocation’s sake, the result should always be: To go down in history, the artist must provoke.
Shock La Bourgeoisie, from which British Jane Birkin was part of.

Heavy cigarette consumption and alcoholism

Serge and Jane were together for 12 years without being married. She frivolously played la belle noiseuse. Anti-bourgeois. Numerous happy moments together as an “open” family, carefree child rearing in Provence with a beautiful villa, enjoying success without financial worries. An envied progressive, cool couple, admired for their bohemian and hedonistic lifestyle, not only in France.

Happy times as a family, Provence, France — Happy times as a family (Provence, France)

And yet the relationship went to pieces. His stubborn character was not appropriate for a relationship. Any partner, woman, man, trans or non-binary, would not want to live with such a guy. Serge sensed this, vaguely foresaw it, and stopped a marriage with her. Even at Jane’s insistence, Serge did not agree to alcohol rehab at home in nature-loving Provence, nor to admission to a professional addiction clinic. In addition, he refused to go into therapy with Alcoholics Anonymous. Apart from that, due to the heavy cigarette consumption and alcoholism, he must have stunk a lot from the mouth. No father or partner to kiss. Consequently, Jane made the right decision and separated from him. Also to protect the children and her own mental and physical health.
“She dumped me, and I deserved it. I was breaking her down,” Gainsbourg said in an interview in 1987.
Their relationship was frequently described as “tumultuous”, and Birkin reportedly wrote in her 2020 diaries that there had been violence. During one of their rows, Birkin launched herself into the River Seine after throwing a custard pie in Gainsbourg’s face.
But she frequently defended the man with whom she became so closely associated, including against charges by one singer that he was a “harasser”, in an interview in the Times in 2020.
“He and I became the most famous of couples in that strange way because of “Je t’aime and …” he went on being my friend until the day he died. Who could ask for more?” Birkin told CNN in 2006. “So Paris became my home. I’ve been adopted here. They like my accent.”
She continued her singing career in the 1990s and beyond, regularly performing at French music festivals and in Japan. Birkin was also a lifelong pro-democracy and animal rights activist. Unforgettable her engagements shortly after the Tohoku-Earthquake-Tsunami in March 2011.
Her first child, Kate Barry, a fashion photographer who worked for Vogue, died in 2013 at the age of 46. Birkin had another daughter, the singer Lou Doillon, from her 13-year relationship with the director Jacques Doillon.
The 2021 documentary by her daughter Charlotte on her, partly being shot in Japan, reveals the everlasting legacy of Serge Gainsbourg. Simultaneously ‘Jane par Charlotte’ is an astonishingly moving portrait of Jane Birkin while being one of the most beautiful declarations of love of a daughter to her mother.

Mother, artist, actress, singer, muse, fashion icon

Together with a specific part of my female friends, #inspiringmesincechildhood, I am sadden by Jane Birkin’s passing. I had the fortune to be part of her world, also in Tokyo. She was the embodiment of charm and humbleness. An epitome of beauty. The muse of all muses. Famous for her casual chic style. Whilst being a multifaceted, pivotal figure, anticonformista of my generation, she passed on Serge Gainsbourg’s anima gracefully. Nobody cooler than her. Mother, artist, actress, singer, muse, fashion icon.
Je Vous aime.
The last sentence belongs to her quote.
My mother was right: When you’ve got nothing left, all you can do is get into silk underwear and start reading Proust.

Tokyo-Basel, July 22nd 2023
Mario A

an・an アンアン雑誌、1971年7月5日、ジェーン・バーキン、セルジュ・ゲンズブール

Tokyo 1971

妊娠中のジェーン・バーキン、セルジュ・ゲンズブールと、日本で、1971 — 妊娠中のジェーン・バーキン、セルジュ・ゲンズブールと、東京 1971年

妊娠中のジェーン・バーキン、セルジュ・ゲンズブールと、日本で、1971年 — 妊娠中のジェーン・バーキン、セルジュ・ゲンズブールと、東京 1971年

Jane Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg in Tokyo 1971

English actress-singer Jane Birkin as activist in France

Birkin Bag

Beyond cinema, her legacy includes being the name behind the Hermès Birkin handbag, which was launched in 1984. It was reportedly born after a conversation between Birkin and the Hermès chief executive, Jean-Louis Dumas, on a flight from Paris to London, on which they discussed how difficult it was to find a bag that could fulfil Birkin’s needs as a mother of two.
Jane Birkin was never precious about her eponymous Hermès bags. She would use one at a time and then auction it off for charity.
For use of her name, she made Hermès donate money to charity every year.
She has arranged for it to continue in perpetuity.