It’s a song that resembles us. “I love you, me neither”, the explicit and the censorship

“Je t’aime moi non plus”, a duet by Jane Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg, shocks and amazes people around the world but is replaced on the radio by multiple instrumental versions, which let the listener’s imagination reinvent the lyrics.

In partnership with the exhibition It’s a song that resembles us – Worldwide hits of French-language popular music At the Cité internationale de la langue française in Villers-Cotterêts, these chronicles look in detail at each of the stories presented there.

You obviously know, I love you less either. And if you’ve ever listened to the exact lyrics of this song, you know that you can’t make them fully heard in a podcast or on a radio show that could be listened to by children. So the best way to play it safe is to have them listen to Love at First Sighta 45 rpm record by Sounds Nice, which is the name of the group given to them by keyboard player Tim Mycroft and arranger Paul Buckmaster, surrounded by a few studio musicians for this instrumental cover of I love you less either. And in the history of popular music, few songs have had wordless versions with such success.

I love you less eitherwithout the words, by Franck Bourcel : a huge radio hit and on the dance floors of nightclubs, balls, private parties. In fact, this song started out like that, being danced to. Originally, the title I love you, me neither was filed with SACEM under the title Ball scene 1because it’s the music from a ball scene in Green Hearts by Édouard Lunds, a film about the lives of young black jackets from the suburbs.

You know the story of this song, of course. At the end of 1967, Serge Gainsbourg was working with Brigitte Bardot, the biggest star in cinema, and they fell in love. In the heat of passion, he suggested that she record a duet version of this slow song, but she quickly understood what a huge scandal it would be. I love you, me neitherand all the more so since she is married. So this first version will remain in the drawers until 1986.

In May 1968, a few months after his break-up with Brigitte Bardot, Serge Gainsbourg met a young English actress, Jane Birkin, and he recorded with her the version of I love you, me neither that we all know. A version that will cause a scandal and excite the resourcefulness of the radios of 1969. The song is a huge recording success and everyone wants to make it heard on the radio. But between the explicit prohibitions and the caution of the programmers, a few amusing ideas arise here and there. Like on Northern European radio stations that broadcast the 45 rpm record by the Thai group The Traces. The programmers respect decency by not broadcasting the explicit text of Gainsbourg and Birkin, while making a transparent allusion to it. And everywhere in the world, we listen to a song whose lyrics we guess, fantasize about, and hope are in French.

In this episode of This song reminds me of usyou hear excerpts from:

Jane Birkin, Serge Gainsbourg, I love you, me neither, 1969

Sounds Nice, Love at First Sight, 1969

Frank Pourcel, I love you, me neither, 1973

Excerpt from Green Hearts by Edouard Luntz, 1966

Serge Gainsbourg, Michel Colombier, Ball scene 1 (BOF The Green Hearts), 1966

Brigitte Bardot, Serge Gainsbourg, I love you, me neither, 1986 (1967 recording)

The Traces, ธรณีรัก / พนาไพร, 1969

Byron Lee & the Dragonnaires, I love you (Love at First Sight), 1969

You can also extend this column with the book This song reminds me of us published by Heritage Publishing.

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