Hello Dr. Jekyll!

Back last summer, I wrote about Serge Gainsbourg, a popular and influential French singer who became drunk and insane in the eighties.

Make no mistake about it, Gainsbourg was a creep. In addition to the stuff I linked to in that post, one of his last 'hits' was a song called "Lemon Incest" - sung with his then-12-year-old daughter, who would eventually go on to a nice career of her own.

Even in the early days, he was pushing the boundaries of acceptable taste. One of his most well-known songs is "Je T'aime ... moi non plus", which was banned from radio play in France because of its explicit lyrics and simulated orgasm sounds. This was more than fifteen years before he would burn money on live TV.

But every once in a while, Mr. Gainsbourg would come up with something more mainstream, more in line with acceptable tastes of the time, and actually quite good. Case in point, "Dr. Jekyll et Mr. Hyde".



I've been enjoying this song for a few weeks now. The French is ridiculously simple, to the point where even I can follow most of it (although if you want to cheat, the Youtube page contains lyrics). The plotline, such as it is, is equally easy to understand, in part because it's based on well-known literary characters. And above all, the song is catchy beyond belief - even the verses will stick in your head.

--Ryan