Serge Gainsbourg

Serge Gainsbourg was a French musician, pianist, writer, actor, and film director.

He experienced with many genre of music from the Chanson and jazz to pop music, electro and reggae. He was a controversial character, who wrote many erotic and polemical song 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 Poètes Maudits (doomed poets) and adapted many famous poems in songs.

He had somewhat of a Broken Base. But since his death he is pretty much universally celebrated.

In 2010, a biopic was released : Gainsbourg, vie héroïque.

Serge Gainsbourg and his work provide examples of:

 * The Alcoholic: Gainsbarre.
 * Becoming the Mask: With his alter-ego Gainsbarre.
 * Chanson
 * Cool Car: The Rolls-Royce silver ghost from Histoire de Melody Nelson. He himself later bought a Rolls-Royce Phamtom.
 * A Date with Rosie Palms: "Variation sur Marilou"
 * Dark and Troubled Past: His past as a Jew during the Nazi Occupation.
 * Dramatic Irony: 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.
 * Dirty Old Man
 * Everything Sounds Sexier in French
 * Expy: Histoire de Melody Nelson is a Concept Album which is heavily based around Lolita.
 * Getting Crap Past the Radar: He famously wrote a song for then 18-years-old France Gall called "Annie aime les sucettes" ("Annie likes lolipops") about fellatio. France Gall claimed she sung it completely innocently, without understanding the sexual meaning of the lyrics.
 * Intercourse with You: "Je t'aime... moi non plus"
 * Kavorka Man: 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".
 * Outlaw Couple: "Bonnie and Clyde" (with Brigitte Bardot).
 * Parental Incest: "Lemon Incest" makes ambiguous reference to this. Furthermore, the song is a duet with his real daughter, Charlotte, who was twelve years old at the time.
 * Real Life Relative: Did duets with his daughter Charlotte and his wife, Jane Birkin. Also most of the women he wrote song for became his mistress. Notably, Brigitte Bardot.
 * Saying Sound Effects Out Loud: In the song "Comic Strip" typical comic strip onomatopeia are imitated.
 * Self-Deprecation
 * Smoking Is Cool: It's hard to find a picture of him where he isn't smoking.
 * You Make Me Sic: "En relisant ta lettre"