Serge Gainsbourg's Histoire de Melody Nelson

33⅓ Main Series #87

by Darran Anderson

Outside his native France, the view of Serge Gainsbourg was once of a one-hit wonder lothario. This has been slowly replaced by an awareness of how talented and innovative a songwriter he was. Gainsbourg was an eclectic, protean figure; a Dadaist, poète maudit, Pop-Artist, libertine and anti-hero. An icon and iconoclast.

His masterpiece is arguably Histoire de Melody Nelson, an album suite combining many of his signature themes; sex, taboo, provocation, humour, exoticism and ultimately tragedy. Composed and arranged with the great Jean-Claude Vannier, its score of lush cinematic strings and proto-hip hop beats, combined with Serge's spoken-word poetry, has become remarkably influential across a vast musical spectrum; inspiring soundtracks, indie groups and electronic artists. In recent years, the album's reputation has grown from cult status to that of a modern classic with the likes of Beck, Portishead, Mike Patton, Air and Pulp paying tribute.

How did the son of Jewish Russian immigrants, hounded during the Nazi Occupation, rise to such notoriety and acclaim, being celebrated by President François Mitterand as "our Baudelaire, our Apollinaire"? How did the early chanson singer evolve into a musical visionary incorporating samples, breakbeats and dub into his music, decades ahead of the curve? And what are the roots and legacy of a concept album about a Rolls Royce, a red-haired Lolita muse, otherworldly mansions, plane crashes and Cargo Cults?

Genres: Music, Nonfiction, Biography, France

136 pages, Paperback

First published October 24, 2013

About the author

Darran Anderson is an Irish nonfiction writer who lives in London. He is the author of ‘Inventory’ (Chatto & Windus/Farrar, Straus & Giroux) and 'Imaginary Cities' (Influx Press/University of Chicago Press).

Reviews

[Tosh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Darran Anderson's little study on one of the great albums that came out of Europe, "Histoire de Melody Nelson" is a superb study on Serge Gainsbourg and his masterpiece. First of all I am touched that both titles ("Gainsbourg" by Gilles Verlant & Serge Gainsbourg's short novel "Evguenie Sokolov) that i published are in the bibliography. So with the music and the books he's coming from a good place!

Anderson's book is very brief, but there's no wasted words. He has a deep understanding of Gainsbourg's work, and not only does he talk about the Melody Nelson album, but it is also a brief biography on the great artist. As in the Verlant biography, it is moving as well as terrifying to read about Gainsbourg's childhood running away from the Nazis. Over time I have read tales dealing with the Occupation, but the Gainsbourg narration is one that really makes me emotionally aware how horrible those times were. Almost unthinkable, yet it is these surroundings that probably inspired the greatness in Gainsbourg's songs and his very own iconic stance against authority.

The book also captures the flavor of Gainsbourg's love for literature and how that inspired him as well. Baudelaire, Jarry, Rimbaud, and the lasting influence of Boris Vian played a big role in how Gainsbourg looked at life and art. Anderson is a wonderful writer, and his smart, intelligent take on Gainsbourg is right on the button. Essential read for anyone who even has the slightest interest in the world of Serge, but also insightful in how bad things (occupation) can charge a shy figure into a warrior of sorts. This book along with Gilles Verlant (The granddad of Serge bios), Sylvie Simmons' English bio and Gainsbourg's "Evguenie Sokolov" we now have a great representation of the world of Gainsbourg in print.

[Tomas Wallaert · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating journey full of discoveries of a part of our European culture I hitherto hardly paid attention to. To be read with the songs at hand!

[Janique · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wouter vroeg me laatst, gezien het boekenkast-experiment in Arnhem, om een stukje te schrijven over een 33 1/3 RPM-boekje wanneer ik deze gelezen had. Wat is nou een beter begin dan een editie die op dit moment niet eens in de winkel ligt! Van een zekere handelsgeest is bij mij overduidelijk nooit sprake geweest. Ditmaal een van mijn favoriete platen: “Histoire de Melody Nelson” van Serge Gainsbourg.

Dit essay gaat niet al te diep in op de opnametechnieken, tekstverklaringen en muzikale analysen. Het richt zich voornamelijk op Gainsbourg als persoon, de ethische kwesties die dit album doet opborrelen en de historie van Parijs en haar kunststromingen in de 20e eeuw.

Het eerste waar je bij Gainsbourg waarschijnlijk aan denkt, zijn de plaatsvervangende-schaamte-inducerende televisievertoningen. Hoewel “Wat een treurig figuur” (Eufemisme) een begrijpelijke (en terechte) reactie is op bijvoorbeeld het beruchte Whitney Houston-interview, biedt de schrijver genoeg handvatten om zulke beelden vanuit een psychologisch perspectief enigszins te kunnen verklaren.

De olifant in de kamer wordt, godzijdank, ook behandeld. Hoe je het ook wendt of keert, heeft dit album namelijk wel als concept een Lolita-esque verstandhouding tussen een volwassen man en een meisje van veertien. Ten tijde van de creatie van dit album bevond Gainsbourg zich in een relatie met de achttien jaar jongere Jane Birkin, wat het concept op dubieuze wijze extra beladen maakt. Dit essay geeft wat dat betreft genoeg te denken over het vervagen van het onderscheid tussen kunst en realiteit.

Histoire de Melody Nelson wordt daarnaast gebruikt als vehikel om Poètes Maudits (gedoemde dichters), Pop Art en het Dadaïsme te bespreken. Uitstekende onderwerpen om je met een rood wijntje in te verdiepen en vervolgens impulsief een hardcover van Baudelaires Les Fleurs du Mal te bestellen.

Met 124 pagina’s hoef je geen onnodig lange analyses te verwachten van bovengenoemde onderwerpen. Toch geeft het net genoeg om je aan te zetten om zelf iets meer diepgang op te zoeken met hier en daar zijsporen langs Nico, Hip-Hopsampling, Franse cinema en brandstichting in Colombia.


Luister & Kijktips:

Serge Gainsbourg & Nico - Strip-Tease (1962)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ndue...

Evelyne - Serge Gainsbourg - Slogan (1969)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRMM4...

Gainsbourg and Houston - English Subtitles (1986)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbE_w...

French Kids Paying Tribute to Serge Gainsbourg (1988)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unYu2...

[Tim · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have maybe 20 volumes in this series of dedicated album appreciations. The series is appealing: small, short, cute books on a clearly identified theme, namely the titular album in question.
However, most have disappointed. Clearly the commission is harder than writers expect.

I'm comfortable giving this a frank one-star rating as other readers have apparently enjoyed it, so my differing view offers balance rather than a hatchet.

I'll begin by saying that I did learn one or two (relevant) things from it (and several more things that weren't at all); and as I'm fairly well-informed about Gainsbourg, having been an obsessive fan a dozen or so years ago, I infer that other readers less versed in Gainsbourg would get more out of it than I did about the singer and his record.

Why didn't I like it? In a nutshell, three things. One, most of the text is at best remotely relevant to the album, and often not at all. So one yawns: "get back to the point!" Two, his style is poor. Three, his text sorely needs the intervention of an editor even at the grammatical level; the sensitive reader (as Gainsbourg would have been, had he lived to read this) winces at least 3 or 4 times per page.

Here's my tip: skip this book, but buy the record. If you want to read about it, try Gilles Verlant's biography.

[Alex Sarll]

"Art. The second greatest of all the three letter words." There is plenty here about the album itself, of course (I'd never noticed that Melody was from Sunderland, of all places), but more so than a lot of 33 1/3 books I've read, this is also a potted biography of the artist - Serge Gainsbourg examined through the lens of his acknowledged classic. I only knew bits and pieces before, some of his great outrages - but not even the greatest (the astonishing reggae Marseillaise controversy). The love of Fantômas, the childhood hiding from the Nazis in the woods - it all makes perfect sense. Perhaps the album is less a lens than a hologram, containing all the information of the life.
(I know it's regrettably endemic these days, but the copy-editing here is worth noting as especially poor)

[Kathleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked up this book for a friend who is a big Serge Gainsbourg fan, but wanted to read it before I gave it to him. I knew next to nothing about Serge before this book and never heard of the album, nor do I speak French, so I was very thankful for the author translating the song titles into English. If you're a big Serge Gainsbourg fan you probably already know everything in this book, but if you're like me, it was very interesting and made me listen to songs I hadn't heard before (unless randomly in Brian's car). I enjoyed the music and the brief biography, and will probably check out more of his work, including the songs he wrote for others.

[Vanyo666 · Rating 4 out of 5]

This little book manages, in only 136 pages, to give us an in-depth analysis of the album in question, its genesis, creation, making and cultural impact, and its place in the work of Gainsbourg. It is also a concise biography and an exploration of his impact and significance as an artist and a character, and helped me understand a lot more about SG and his notorious Gainsbarre persona.

[Larry · Rating 3 out of 5]

More a short biography of Gainsbourg than a specific analysis of the album. Fairly good, though.

[Trey Lane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Way better than it has any business being. If you’re even remotely interested in the subject matter, you won’t be disappointed.

[Tomas M.G. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This tiny book turned my appreciation for Gainsbourg into admiration.

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tyrants never laugh
and freedom offends them. Donc,
infinite jesting.

[Russell Barton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely one of the best 33 1/3 books I’ve read. It covers a broad range of topics related to Gainsbourg and his life, matching a broad world view with a deep interest in his artistic soul.

[Rob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Using the fabled 1971 album as a centrepiece of Gainsbourg's entire career, Darran Anderson lays out the case for Gainsbourg - aided on this particular work by the masterly Jean-Claude Vannier - as a true visionary so far ahead of his time that we are still in effect catching up. A provocateur, of course (and those calling for his head regarding Lemon Incest and the like should really ponder the difference between a provocateur and an apologist or practitioner - not at all the same thing), but also a restless composer looking to create texture and startling musical effects. The album itself is dreamlike and anxious rather than truly disturbing. You never believe for a minute that this is a sick man's actual action, although it may be his depraved fantasy. Is there a Melody and is she really underage? Of course not. It is a fiction, a starting point for an exploration of feelings, joy, hidden desires, transgressions, feeling around for the limits of darkness. It dives and swoons not as an accompaniment to what he is saying but as a counterpoint to what he is not saying. In the same way that murder ballads took the singers into the character of the murderer him or herself, here Gainsbourg takes us into this fantasy so that he can create an entire world and its soundscape, all existing in a short album (less than half an hour) covering a short timespan (a few hours).

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good number of the 33 1/3 books have a tendency to follow a pattern: The author dissects each track in detail and then concludes with the record's life lasting influence. Personally I don't mind this but I do like it when an author does it differently and Anderson does.

Here we get a detailed overview of Gainsbourg's life and how it affected Histoire de Melody Nelson, and trust me, I learnt a lot of things while reading this book. Yet there isn't an information overload so someone who is new to Gainsbourg won't feel daunted.

[Nathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of the latest books in the series, and it always amazes me how easily I can get wrapped up in a 120 page book. I think if I had a complaint here is that more time was devoted to the back story and the drama than the actual writing process of Serge...but I suppose that is what directly influenced the creation of this record. It's always nice to get some oddball quips from Mr. Gainsbourg.

[Sam · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite volumes of the 33 1/3 series! Perfectly intertwines the albums with his life of badassery, crucial current events, like Jewish suppression in France during World War II, and how his lyricism compares to well known poet maudits. Even though it can be a dense read, at times, it's still hard to put down!

[Simon Sweetman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some great context around this wonderful album - one of those ones that only seemed to find its right audience many years later.

[Curt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good background on Serge, but a little light on details of the album's songs and lyrics. A solid short intro to the man.

[Ola · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is fine, but sometimes i get the feeling that it's about anything BUT Melody Nelson. The book seems more like a short bio of Gainsbourgh than a potrait of the album.

[Rich · Rating 4 out of 5]

Absolutely awesome...my favorites in the series are when they give an overall history of the artist, or some historical context for the record. This one does both.

[Hernán M. Sanabria]

This book is a compelling summary of XX century's French art. The associations between Gainsbourg's life and the chosen quotes are enriching and relevant. However, I wished Anderson followed this journey with dates, at least years. The chapters division is sometimes confusing and it's not clear to which point of Gainsbourg's life is he referring.