History Music / GeorgesBrassens

** Also a bit of SexAsRiteOfPassage in that same song in that it isn't so much his first girlfriend, but his [[AManIsNotAVirgin ''first'']] ''girl'' (literally "the first girl you've taken in your arms"), which as he points out could be a virgin or a prostitute, the message being that for better or for worse you remember your first forever.

** Also a bit of SexAsRiteOfPassage in that same song in that it isn't so much his first girlfriend, but his first ''girl'' (literally "the first girl you've taken in your arms"), which as he points out could be a virgin or a prostitute, the message being that for better or for worse you remember your first forever.

** SpaceWhaleAesop: The Aesop of ''"Le Gorille"''? 'Abolish the death penalty.' According to the song, the magistrate crying for his mother while being graphically raped by a gorilla is an AssholeVictim for having smugly sentenced some shmuck to death minutes earlier while ignoring his pleas for mercy.

** Also a bit of SexAsRiteOfPassage in that same song in that it isn't so much his first girlfriend, but his first 'girl' (literally "the first girl you've taken in your arms"), which as he points out could be a virgin or a prostitute, the message being that for better or for worse you remember your first forever.

** SpaceWhaleAesop: The Aesop of ''"LeGorille"''? '"The death penalty is bad"'. According to the song, the magistrate crying for his mother while being graphically raped by a gorilla is an AssholeVictim for having smugly sentenced some shmuck to death minutes earlier while ignoring his pleas for mercy.

** Also a bit of SexAsRiteOfPassage in that same song in that it isn't so much his first girlfriend, but his first *girl* (literally "the first girl you've taken in your arms"), which as he points out could be a virgin or a prostitute, the message being that for better or for worse you remember your first forever.

* TakeThat: ''"Mourir pour des idées"'' has the line "to die for one's ideals, alright, but of a slow death", and is aimed at both MoralGuardians and fellow anarchists taking shots at him for songs like ''"Les Deux Ongles"'' mentioned above.

His singing career took off in the early 1950s, and although he published two novels and several collections of poems, he would from then on mostly be known as a singer. His musical style was spare: just his voice, an acoustic guitar, and occasionally a contrabass accompaniment (played pizzicato, jazz-style, to mark the beat). Most of his songs were by himself, though he also adapted in song format poems by various authors: François Villon, Creator/VictorHugo, Louis Aragon, etc. Among his favorite themes were friendship, tales of naughtiness, bourgeois hypocrisy, and ridiculing figures of authority.

* PrecisionFStrike: Brassens liked to insert expletives in his songs for shock value. A good example is ''"Marinette"'', a perky little ditty in which the singer tries several times to demonstrate his feelings to Marinette, but each time something prevents her from noticing him [[spoiler: including, in the final verse, the fact that she's died]]: the last line of the chorus is ''"J'avais l'air d'un con"'' ("I looked like a c***").

* PrecisionFStrike: Brassens liked to insert expletives in his songs for shock value.

His singing career took off in the early 1950s, and although he published two novels and several collections of poems, he would from then on mostly be known as a singer. His musical style was spare: just his voice, an acoustic guitar, and occasionally a contrabass accompaniment (played pizzicato, jazz-style, to mark the beat). Most of his songs were by himself, though he also adapted in song format poems by various authors: François Villon, VictorHugo, Louis Aragon, etc. Among his favorite themes were friendship, tales of naughtiness, bourgeois hypocrisy, and ridiculing figures of authority.

* RapeAsComedy: ''"Le Gorille"'' is about a randy gorilla who escapes from the zoo and rapes a magistrate.

Together with Music/JacquesBrel and Léo Ferré Georges Brassens (1921-1981) is considered to be one of the great three names in French {{Chanson}}. Born in a working-class family (his mother was an Italian immigrant and his father a bricklayer), he engaged in petty larceny as a teenager and interrupted his studies early. He spent part of WW2 as a conscripted laborer in Germany before going AWOL. After the war, he grew close to Anarchism and tried his hand at poetry, before being talked into becoming a singer-songwriter.

* UmbrellaOfTogetherness: ''"Un P'tit Coin d'Parapluie"'' (''"a little piece of umbrella"'') is about a boy who shares his umbrella with a girl. ''"A little piece of umbrella/For a piece of heaven/She sure looked like an angel"''.

* EthicalSlut: Lisa in "Les Croquants".

* ThePowerOfFriendship: ''"Les Copains d'Abord"''?

* YoureDrinkingBreastMilk: The girl in ''"Brave Margot"'' breast feeds a little kitten.

Georges Brassens (1921-1981) is considered together with Music/JacquesBrel and Léo Ferré one of the great three names in French {{Chanson}}. Born in a working-class family (his mother was an Italian immigrant and his father a bricklayer), he engaged in petty larceny as a teenager and interrupted his studies early. He spent part of WW2 as a conscripted laborer in Germany before going AWOL. After the war, he grew close to Anarchism and tried his hand at poetry, before being talked into becoming a singer-songwriter.

* BandOfBrothels: "La Complainte des filles de joie" is about the hardships faced by streetwalkers.
* BigBallOfViolence: "Hécatombe".
* BuryMeNotOnTheLonePrairie: "Supplique pour être enterré sur la plage de Sète".
* GoodSamaritan: "Chanson pour l'Auvergnat" is one of the most famous illustrations of this trope in French pop culture.
* GreyAndGreyMorality: His most controversial song, "Les Deux Oncles", implies that TheResistance and TheCollaborators were morally equivalent.

* PrincessInRags: Referenced in "Les Sabots d'Hélène", about a raggedy girl who's passed over by three army officers, yet turns out to have "the heart of a queen".
* RapeAsComedy: "Le Gorille" is about a randy gorilla who escapes from the zoo and rapes a magistrate.
* UmbrellaOfTogetherness: "Un P'tit Coin d'Parapluie" ("a little piece of umbrella") is about a boy who shares his umbrella with a girl. "A little piece of umbrella/For a piece of heaven/She sure looked like an angel".
* WW1: "La Guerre de 14-18".

* GreyAndGreyMorality: His most controversial song, "Les Deux Oncles", implies that TheResistance and TheCollaborators were morally equivalent.

* UmbrellaOfTogetherness: "Un P'tit Coin d'Parapluie" ("a little piece of umbrella") is about a boy who shares his umbrella with a girl, and whose chorus went: "A little piece of umbrella/For a piece of heaven/She sure looked like an angel".

* UmbrellaOfTogetherness: "Un P'tit Coin d'Parapluie" ("a little piece of umbrella") is about a boy who shares his umbrella with a girl, and whose chorus went: "A little piece of umbrella/For a piece of heaven/She sure looked like an angel".

His singing career took off in the early 1950s