Monsieur Gainsbourg

If you know me, you know I harbor some serious love and admiration for Serge Gainsbourg. I've been playing this song a lot recently.


"Requiem pour un con" - Serge Gainsbourg

I'm dying to know what movie that scene came from. It is really a fantastic groove, over which I'm sure many a dance and hip-hop record has been built. I like how sparse it is - just snappy drums, bass, and the occasional bow-chicka-bow guitar bit, and the fact that the melody doesn't stray very far from a certain set of notes makes it hookier for me. For a while, my dream DJ moment would be to play that, and then mix a segue into Beyonce's "Crazy In Love". Oooh, or Amerie's "One Thing". That might be better. Less is more in this case, no?

If you're unfamiliar with Gainsbourg I'd have a look here. I'm always conflicted about him - he's an absolute genius and provacateur on both a musical and personal level. However, he's also essentially a mess, with the kind of drinking problems and womanizing that would rival most contemporary celeb troublemakers (stand forward, most of young female Hollywood). He seemed so damaged esteem-wise, as well, having supposedly become an unapologetic, misogynistic, bing-drinking and chainsmoking playboy after getting his heart broken/blueballed by the daughter of Leo Tolstoy. This insecurity about women spurred his obsession with them, and his insecurity about his own notoriety and talent constantly made him want to be in the papers even more. But despite the a-hole womanizing, you can see that he also really worships and respects women as well. It's so weird, it teeters on exploitative but never quite gets there (with me). I highly recommend picking up Comic Strip and/or Couleur Cafe to sample my favorite Gainsbourg era, although it's all pretty interesting and entertaining. Avoid the 80's stuff if you're a newbie, and don't say I didn't warn you.

For fun, here's some old footage of ol' Serge telling a young Whitney Houston that they should bone:

Classic!