"Initials B.B." | |
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![]() 1968 French single cover | |
Single by Serge Gainsbourg | |
from the album Initials B.B. | |
Released | June 1968 |
Recorded | May 1968, Chappell Studios, London |
Genre | Chanson, baroque pop |
Length | 3:36 |
Label | Phillips |
Songwriter(s) | Serge Gainsbourg |
Initials B.B. is a 1968 song by Serge Gainsbourg. It was the opening single of his album Initials B.B. and is about French actress and sex symbol Brigitte Bardot, [1] who was so famous at the time that her initials were enough to know whom people referred to. [2] Gainsbourg once had an affair with her and this was his way of expressing how he felt about it. [3]
The song is a poetic evocation of Gainsbourg's relationship with Bardot in 1967. The song quotes from the first movement of Antonin Dvorak's Ninth Symphony, better known as From the New World [4] [5] [6] [7] and lyrically quotes from Edgar Allan Poe's The Raven in its opening lines. The song also mentions the book L'Amour monstre by Louis Pauwels, which was recommended to Gainsbourg by Bardot. [8] It was recorded between February and April 1968.
A music video was made, featuring various clips of Bardot during photo shoots and recording sessions.
The song was once used for a TV commercial of the perfume Shalimar by Guerlain. [9] [10]
English singer and songwriter Charli XCX named it as one of her five favourite songs of all time in 2013 [11]
Mick Harvey covered it on his album Intoxicated Man (1995) as the final track on that record.
In 2012 it was also covered by Therion on their album Les Fleurs du Mal .
In 2022, it was released as a single by Boz Boorer and James Maker on Fabrique Records.
Brigitte Anne-Marie Bardot, often referred to by her initials B.B., is a French former actress, singer, and model as well as an animal rights activist. Famous for portraying characters with hedonistic lifestyles, she is one of the best known symbols of the sexual revolution. Although she withdrew from the entertainment industry in 1973, she remains a major pop culture icon. She has acted in 47 films, performed in several musicals, and recorded more than 60 songs. She was awarded the Legion of Honour in 1985.
Serge Gainsbourg was a French singer-songwriter, actor, composer, and director. Regarded as one of the most important figures in French pop, he was renowned for often provocative releases which caused uproar in France, dividing public opinion. His artistic output ranged from his early work in jazz, chanson, and yé-yé to later efforts in rock, zouk, funk, reggae, and electronica. Gainsbourg's varied musical style and individuality make him difficult to categorise, although his legacy has been firmly established and he is often regarded as one of the world's most influential popular musicians.
Jane Mallory Birkin was a British-French actress, singer, style icon, and designer. She had a prolific career as an actress, mostly in French cinema.
"Je t'aime... moi non plus" is a 1967 song written by Serge Gainsbourg for Brigitte Bardot. In 1969, Gainsbourg recorded the best-known version as a duet with English actress Jane Birkin. Although this version reached number one in the UK, the first foreign-language song to do so, and number two in Ireland, it was banned in several countries because of its overtly sexual content. In 1976 Gainsbourg directed Birkin in an erotic film of the same name.
Histoire de Melody Nelson is a 1971 concept album by French singer and songwriter Serge Gainsbourg. Produced by Jean-Claude Desmarty, the album was released on March 24, 1971 through Philips Records. Its narrative follows an illicit romance which develops between the middle-aged narrator and fourteen-year-old girl Melody Nelson, portrayed on the album and its cover art by Gainsbourg's then-partner Jane Birkin.
Bloody Jack may refer to:
"Bonnie and Clyde" is a 1968 French-language song written by Serge Gainsbourg, and performed by Gainsbourg and Brigitte Bardot. The song tells the story of the outlaw couple Bonnie and Clyde. It is based on an English language poem written by Bonnie Parker herself a few weeks before she and Clyde Barrow were shot, entitled "The Trail's End". It was released on two albums in 1968: Gainsbourg's album Initials B.B., and Gainsbourg and Bardot's album Bonnie and Clyde.
Shalimar is a perfume originally created by Jacques Guerlain in 1921 for French perfume and cosmetics house Guerlain. In production continuously since 1925, Shalimar is currently a flagship product for Guerlain.
Bonnie and Clyde is a compilation album by Serge Gainsbourg and Brigitte Bardot. It was originally released by Fontana Records in 1968.
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Jacques Edouard Guerlain was a French perfumer, the third and most famous of the Guerlain family. One of the most prolific and influential perfumers of the 20th century, over eighty of Guerlain's perfumes remain known, though certain estimates suggest he composed some four hundred. Among his greatest fragrances are L’Heure Bleue (1912), Mitsouko (1919) and Shalimar (1925). Though his work earned him universal renown, a considerable fortune and honours such as that of Chevalier of the Legion of Honour, Guerlain avoided public attention, never once granting an interview. As a result, relatively little is known of his creative process or personal life.
Initials B.B. is a 1968 studio album by Serge Gainsbourg. It was originally released by Philips Records.
True Romance is the debut studio album by English singer Charli XCX. It was released on 12 April 2013 by Asylum and Atlantic Records. Originally scheduled for release in April 2012, the album's release was delayed for a full year and had been in the making since early 2010 when Charli met with producer Ariel Rechtshaid in Los Angeles. To promote the album's release, Charli embarked on a three-day UK promotional tour in April 2013.
L'Amour monstre is a 1954 novel by the French writer Louis Pauwels. It is set in the 16th century and tells the story of a possibly bewitched love affair between a doctor and a young woman sent to a monastery.
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