History Music / SergeGainsbourg

Had somewhat of a BrokenBase during his lifetime, particularly during TheEighties, but since his death he is [[DeadArtistsAreBetter pretty much universally celebrated]].

* DarkAndTroubledPast: His past as a young Jewish boy during the Nazi Occupation. Possibly parodied/satirized in the album ''Rock Around The Bunker''.

* EverythingSoundsSexierInFrench: Oh ''Hell'' yes.

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: France Gall [[https://web.archive.org/web/20040206023836/http://www.rfimusique.com/siteEn/biographie/biographie_6153.asp apparently]] she had no idea that the Gainsbourg-penned "Les Sucettes" was one big {{double entendre}} about oral sex.

* LikeASonToMe: While he may not be biologically related to them, Serge adored Jane Birkin's other daughters Kate Barry and Lou Doillon as much as his other biological children.
* MayDecemberRomance: Jane Birkin was twenty-one when she fell for the thirty-one year old Serge. His last partner, Caroline "Bambou" Paulus, was thirty years his junior.
* MoneyToBurn: He famously burnt a 500 francs bill on TV in 1984 to make a point about how much he had to pay in taxes (74 per cent of his incomes).

* SelfDeprecation

* TaxmanTakesTheWinnings: Gainsbourg once protested during a TV interview against taxes by burning a money bill live on the air. He felt he would rather burn this high amount of money than give it away to the tax collectors.

* YouMakeMeSic: "En Relisant Ta Lettre" has Gainsbourg reading a love letter. His only reactions are corrections of various spelling mistakes.

* BlackComedy: Many of his songs have a grim sense of humor.

* DramaticIrony: [[UnreliableNarrator He liked to tell]] the story of how he fought to be the first in line to receive the yellow star, thinking it was a sheriff star.

* TaxmanTakesTheWinnings: Gainsbourg once protested during a TV interview against taxes by burning a money bill live on the air. He felt he would rather burn this high amount of money than give it away to the tax institute.

He fathered two daughters, Creator/{{Charlotte|Gainsbourg}} and Natacha, and two sons, Lucien and Paul.

* YouMakeMeSic: "En Relisant Ta Lettre".

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: France Gall [[https://web.archive.org/web/20040206023836/http://www.rfimusique.com/siteEn/biographie/biographie_6153.asp apparently]] she had no idea that the Music/{{Serge Gainsbourg}}-penned "Les Sucettes" was one big {{double entendre}} about oral sex.

** "Bonnie & Clyde" was recorded after Gainsbourg saw ''Film/BonnieAndClyde''. The lyrics are heavily inspired by ''[[[[https://allpoetry.com/The-Trail%27s-End The Trail's End]]'', a poem written by the real Bonnie.

%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

** "Bonnie & Clyde" was recorded after Gainsbourg saw ''Film/BonnieAndClyde''. [[https://allpoetry.com/The-Trail%27s-End The lyrics are based on a poem written by the real Bonnie]].

** "Bonnie & Clyde" was recorded after Gainsbourg saw ''Film/BonnieAndClyde''.

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar:
** He famously wrote a song for then 18-years-old France Gall called "Les Sucettes" ("The Lollipops") about a girl named Annie who loved sucking lollipops (the double entendre meaning fellatio). The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-iysdFu_TQ attached video clip]] is so blatantly erotic that it is difficult to understand how this managed to pass censorship. France Gall claimed she sung it [[InnocentInnuendo completely innocently]], without understanding the sexual meaning of the lyrics.
** The song "69 Année Érotique" ("69, Erotic Year", being a pun on ''soixante-neuf'', the sexual position where both partners can give each other oral pleasure)

* DarkAndTroubledPast: His past as a Jew during the Nazi Occupation. Possibly parodied/satirized in the album ''Rock Around The Bunker''.

* TheAlcoholic: In TheEghties, when he was nicknamed ''"Gainsbarre"''. He made a lot of public appearances where he was visibly drunk.

He experimented with many genres of music, from {{Chanson}} and jazz to pop music, electro and reggae. He was a controversial character, who wrote many erotic and polemical songs and until his death was surrounded by a lot of controversy, but was also considered as a poet and a genius, the last of the tradition of the ''Poètes Maudits'' (doomed poets) and adapted many famous poems in songs.

Had somewhat of a BrokenBase during his lifetime, particularly during the 1980s, but since his death he is [[DeadArtistsAreBetter pretty much universally celebrated]].

* TheAlcoholic: Since he was nicknamed ''"Gainsbarre"''. He also made a lot of public appearances where he was visibly drunk.

He experienced with many genres of music, from {{Chanson}} and jazz to pop music, electro and reggae. He was a controversial character, who wrote many erotic and polemical songs and until his death was surrounded by a lot of controversy, but was also considered as a poet and a genius, the last of the tradition of the ''Poètes Maudits'' (doomed poets) and adapted many famous poems in songs.

** He famously wrote a song for then 18-years-old France Gall called "Les Sucettes" ("The Lollipops") about a girl named Annie who loved sucking lollipops (the double entendre meaning fellatio). France Gall claimed she sung it [[InnocentInnuendo completely innocently]], without understanding the sexual meaning of the lyrics.

->''Je t'aime, je t'aime\\

Oh mon amour''
-->"Je t'aime... moi non plus"

* KavorkaMan: Despite being notoriously ugly and an alcoholic, he had relationships with some of the most beautiful women of his time. He even wrote a song about this: "Des Laids Des Laids".

* RefugeInAudacity: The album ''Rock Around The Bunker'' (particularly the opening song "[[ThoseWackyNazis Nazi Rock]]"). "Lemon Incest" was also made with this intention. "Aux Armes Et Caetera", a reggae arrangement of the French national anthem, infuriated French nationalists and military veterans and "Je t'aime... Moi Non Plus" prudish listeners. Apart from that he caused many scandals by appearing drunk on TV and insulting other guests. A classic example was when [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQ7MqgSEK0I he turned up drunk to a chat show and candidly remarked to fellow guest Music/WhitneyHouston just how much he would like to fuck her]]. In exactly those words.

* RefugeInAudacity: The album ''Rock Around The Bunker'' (particularly the opening song "[[ThoseWackyNazis Nazi Rock]]"). "Lemon Incest" was also made with this intention. "Aux Armes Et Caetera", a reggae arrangement of the French national anthem, infuriated French nationalists and military veterans and "Je t'aime... Moi Non Plus" prudish listeners. Apart from that he caused many scandals by appearing drunk on TV and insulting other guests. A classic example was when he turned up drunk to a chat show and candidly remarked to fellow guest Music/WhitneyHouston just how much he would like to fuck her. In exactly those words.

* RefugeInAudacity: The album ''Rock Around The Bunker'' (particularly the opening song "[[ThoseWackyNazis Nazi Rock]]"). "Lemon Incest" was also made with this intention. "Aux Armes Et Caetera", a reggae arrangement of the French national anthem, infuriated French nationalists and military veterans and "Je t'aime... Moi Non Plus" prudish listeners. Apart from that he caused many scandals by appearing drunk on TV and insulting other guests.

** The song "69 Année Érotique" ("69, Erotic Year", being a pun on ''soixante-neuf'', the sexual position where both partners can give themselves oral pleasure)

* CoolCar: The Rolls-Royce silver ghost from ''Histoire de Melody Nelson''. He himself later bought a Rolls-Royce Phantom.

* ButNowIMustGo: "Je Suis Venue Te Dire Que Je m'en Vais".

You may know his daughter [[Creator/CharlotteGainsbourg Charlotte]].

* {{Lolicon}}: Recorded and wrote a lot of songs with and for female singers several years younger than him, including Charlotte, his daughter.

[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/SergeGainsbourg_2725.png]]

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: He famously wrote a song for then 18-years-old France Gall called "Les Sucettes" ("The Lollipops") about a girl named Annie who loved sucking lollipops (the double entendre meaning fellatio). France Gall claimed she sung it [[InnocentInnuendo completely innocently]], without understanding the sexual meaning of the lyrics.

* ParentalIncest: "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lemon_Incest Lemon Incest]]" makes ambiguous reference to this. Furthermore, the song is a duet with his [[RealLifeRelative daughter]], [[Creator/CharlotteGainsbourg Charlotte]], who was [[{{Squick}} twelve years old]] at the time. In the music video, they're laying on a bed, Serge is shirtless and Charlotte only wears a shirt and panties.
** In an interview in 2010 Charlotte defended her decision to record the track, though acknowledging it was a [[RefugeInAudacity "provocation".]]

* SmokingIsCool: It's hard to find a picture of him where he ''isn't'' smoking.

** "Je Suis Te Dire Que Je m'en Vais" has a shout-out to poet Creator/PaulVerlaine: "Comm' dit si bien Verlaine au vent mauvais" (''As Verlaine mentioned so well in the bad wind").