Je t'aime... moi non plus

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"Je t'aime... moi non plus"
"Je t'aime... moi non plus" cover
Single by Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin
Released 1969
Writer(s) Serge Gainsbourg


"Je t'aime... moi non plus"
"Je t'aime... moi non plus" cover
Single by Donna Summer
from the album Thank God It's Friday (soundtrack)
B-side(s) Je t'aime... moi non plus (Part Two)
Released 1978
Format 7" single, 12" single
Genre Disco, Pop, Soul, R&B
Label Casablanca
Writer(s) Serge Gainsbourg
Producer(s) Giorgio Moroder, Pete Bellotte
Donna Summer singles chronology
"Last Dance"
(1978)		 "Je t'aime... moi non plus"
(1978)		 "MacArthur Park"
(1978)

"Je t'aime... moi non plus" is the title of a French song written by Serge Gainsbourg, arranged by Arthur Greenslade and sung by Gainsbourg and his lover, Jane Birkin.

Contents

[edit] Controversy

Jane Birkin replaced actress Brigitte Bardot after protests of Bardot's manager, fearing for her image. The official version was, that her then husband Gunter Sachs had been upset. (Hard to believe for a well known high society playboy) The song was considered controversial when recorded and released in 1969, because no song pictured a sexual act so frankly and unmistakeably like this one at the height of the Sexual Revolution in the 1960s.

[edit] Lyrics

The song was known much for its racy undertones and the simple repetition of the title phrase (which translates as "I love you... I don't either") detailed by Birkin's breathy moans. The lyrics of the song, sung in very sultry tones, with Gainsbourg and Birkin/Bardot alternating, are considered by some to be somewhat explicit. Phrases from the song include:

  • "Je vais et je viens, entre tes reins" ("I come and I go, in between your hips" - literally: "Entre tes reins"; reins means kidneys or lower back in French)
  • "Tu es la vague, moi l'île nue" ("You are the wave, I am the naked island")
  • "L'amour physique est sans issue" ("Physical love is without end")

At times, the moans of Birkin/Bardot are the focus of the song and sound like an orgasm (which some claim to be the result of Serge and Jane/Brigit actually engaging in sex during the recording of the song).

[edit] Commercial success

It was a commercial success all over Europe despite being banned from radios in Italy, Iceland, Poland, Sweden, Spain, ex-Yugoslavia and the UK, and being denounced by The Vatican.

The song reached No. 1 on the UK charts and No. 58 in the US.

[edit] Covers

The song would go on to be the influence for the disco classic "Love To Love You Baby" by singer Donna Summer and legendary producer Giorgio Moroder, both of whom would later duet "Je t'aime" in its original form.

English singer Misty Oldland recorded a version of the song with different lyrics ("A Fair Affair") in 1993. The British pop duo Pet Shop Boys recorded it with Sam Taylor-Wood in 1999, and Cat Power and Karen Elson recorded a new English version in 2006.

[edit] Selected list of recorded versions

[edit] Film of the same name

Je t'aime... moi non plus is also the name of a 1976 feature film directed by Gainsbourg, starring Jane Birkin, Hugues Quester and Joe Dallesandro, and featuring a cameo by Gérard Depardieu. The plot of the movie centers on a homosexual man, played by Joe Dallesandro, who is attracted to "Johnny," a boyish looking woman, played by Jane Birkin. They begin an affair, which is complicated by the fact that he cannot achieve orgasm through vaginal intercourse. The pain of anal intercourse is so great for Johnny, though, that her screams cause them to be thrown out of every hotel in town.

[edit] External links

Preceded by:
"Bad Moon Rising" by Creedence Clearwater Revival		 UK number one single
October 7, 1969		 Succeeded by:
"I'll Never Fall In Love Again" by Bobbie Gentry
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