Simply "Mouthwatering" Music: Serge Gainsbourg and "L'eau a la Bouche"

Facebook has a neat little tradition called Throwback Thursdays. Every Thursday a number of my friends post pictures of themselves or friends and loved ones from sometime in the past. When I do these little posts, I also make an even shorter post on our KUNM Global Music First Monday Facebook page with the same video that I post here. The black and white, old looking television quality of this video identifies it from sometime in the 60s (1960, to be exact), as does the fact that the guy singing takes several deep puffs on a cigarette as the music starts and he gets ready to sing. Some things remain the same - it's obvious that he's lip synching to the words. But what gets me is his look at the camera. It's the look of a cocky, self-possessed guy who knows he has plenty of talent and isn't afraid of letting you know it.

This same guy, about seven years after this video was taken, would have a short affair with Brigitte Bardot, so I guess the cockiness was justified. In fact, he is now considered to be a legend in France. But I had no idea who or what this man was until I saw a movie trailer of a documentary about his life, and then not long after a friend gave me a song on a mix-CD that was by him, and my curiosity led me to check him out.

Serge Gainsbourg was a French singer, songwriter, pianist, film composer, poet, painter, writer, actor and director. He was regarded as one of the most important figures in French popular music, and covered an astonishing array of musical styles. His songs were known for their wordplay that ran the gamut from humorous to satirical to subversive, and in his career he wrote over 500 songs. Born in Paris as the son of Russian Jewish emigrants, he was profoundly haunted by the treatment of Jews in World War II, which influenced his later work. His relationship with English actress Jane Birkin produced the actress Charlotte Gainsbourg. His early work was in French chanson, but he also experimented with and moved into jazz, pop, funk, rock, reggae and electronica in the course of his career. He also made over 50 films. He died in 1991 of a heart attack, and in the years since his death his music has reached legendary proportions in France. This song, L'eau a la Bouche, is typical Gainsbourg. The title refers to a watering mouth, and the song is a song of seduction as these sample lyrics attest:

I will take you gently and without restraint
What are you afraid of, now then don't be scared
I beg you don't be shy
When my mouth waters

L'eau a la Bouche was composed by Gainsbourg and Alain Goraguer for the film of the same name directed by Jacques-Doniol Valcroze.