Je t'aime... moi non plus - Serge Gainsbourg et Jane Birkin / lyrics

[cynthiabutler]

Such beautiful and peaceful love making, the music is out of this world and I feel I’m in heaven when listening to this ecstatic melody. Thank you so much Jane and Serge. This will be with me for eternity. May you now be with God in eternity.

[Rubypixel]

Thank you so much for this immortal french song. In spite of the fact that it belongs to my parents age, is quiet beautiful and perfectly reflects the legendary french love way. Whit the sweetest interstate kiss...Ruby pixel...

[jamesprior]

Truely a song of love and beauty that my first love(Eve Denning) and I used to listen to in the late 60's.john .

[mariejo]

Woooow great song. Forever amazing in the whole world. ❤❤❤

[EmmettGlenn]

The humorous and sarcastic tone underlying the French lyrics is sadly lost in an English translation. It sounds like a love song at first brush, but it's a song that tells the story about how each lover views the other. The woman is devoutly in love with the man, and the man compliments her with words that sound loving, but actually have double meanings. "Tu es la vague, " for instance, on one hand, means "You're like the gentle wave that comes and goes, but is ceaseless and constant." But on the other hand, it is also a subtle insult, and the girl obviously doesn't catch on. "Tu es la vague" is a subtle way of telling the woman he is having sex with that he thinks of her a being "empty-headed, witless, and unpredictable." He's saying he really has no respect for her. However, he'll say anything to keep her around because he enjoys the "meaningless" sex he has with her.

That's the hidden meaning of the song: She believes the sex is a sign that they are deeply in love, while he sees their having sex as a meaningless, but gratifying experience. He would say, if he were being blunt, "This is not love between us. This is only good sex."

"L'Ile nue, " on one hand means, "A bare seashore, " a metaphor for purity and virgin-esque. She takes it as a compliment. But on the other hand, it means "You're a deserted island, like millions of similar deserted islands." It also re-infers the idea that the girl is seen by the man as vapid and empty-headed.

It's a tongue-in-cheek song where the woman is saying one thing and the man is saying just the opposite without coming right out and saying it. She is saying she loves him, but he's saying things that indicate he clearly regards her as nothing more than a case of "friends with benefits." However, he cleverly disguises his feelings by using language that leads the girl to believe he loves her, too. He doesn't want to ruin a good thing.

The dichotomy represented in the song is right in the title: "Je T'Aime" (she says, and he replies) "Moi, Non Plus." The title has two translations -- one obvious, the other subtle: "I love you (Me Neither)" or (Me, Not So Much)." Listened to as a love song, "Moi, non plus" means "I no longer only just love you. My love for you is beyond ordinary love." But as a song in which he really considers her a "thing" to have sex with, "Moi Non Plus" means he's dismissing her feelings as not even relevant.

"Je viens" literally means "I come, " but the word "come" has nothing to do with sex, even in French. "Je viens chez moi" means "I'm coming home." "Je viens entre tes reins" has a dual meaning, depending on whether you read "entre" as an infinite verb (to enter) or as a preposition (between). "Je viens entre" means both "I come to enter" and "I come between." "Reins" means "kidneys." So their sexual encounter becomes either "mad, passionate love making" or "banging the hell out of her" -- depending on how you interpret the word "entre." Also, the French language always refers to body parts with "le, " "la, " or "les, " the definitive article of "the." One wouldn't say I have a headache as "J'ai mal a ma tete, " where "ma" is a personal pronoun (my). The correct way is "J'ai mal a la tete." The fact that he refers to her private parts as "tes reins" (your kidneys) is another example of a subtle insult because "tes reins" is a way of calling her privates an object, as opposed to a part of her as a whole. The incorrect use of proper grammar is another subtle insult of the woman and her womanhood.

It's difficult to explain. But listen to the song again with the idea in your head that the man is being facetious in his use of language.

In English, the title would basically mean this:

Woman: I love you!
Man: Yeah, me, too. NOT!

[wayneburnside]

I haven’t heard this song since I was teenager in 1969. Not speaking French, I had no idea what the exact lyrics were until now. I knew the song was banned in some countries and now I know exactly why. Dang!

[Makis..Greece.]

1111from makis preveza Greece 🇬🇷 ❤🎉1990 Hotel preveza beach
All costumers from France
Endless summers what a memories

[antonellagarofani]

M'ha ! 61 anni e credo .che quando si pensa ad una musica ....o canzone ...di contenuto erotico .o si possa che pensare a questa straordinaria canzone francese ! È veramente molto bella e rimarrà nella storia di tante persone che come me ! L' hanno vissuta ! Bravissimi gli interpreti !❤️❤️❤️❤️💋💋💋🎼🎼🎼💄💄😋

[agungsuseno]

Thanks you for translating in to English,  

[LaurenceOConnor-fgdk]

Jane Birkin is brown bread, mates.
Jane Birkins is brown 🍞, mates.

[SzerenM]

Emmett Glenn You can NOT explain this so profoundly without knowing Serge's life and his meaning of it. He was an artist and wrote this song to Brigitte Bardot and YES they were in love. The song very well represents the true feeling of love, the give in, the doubts and has a great humor and double meaning like the best poetry usually have. Sorry you don't get it. (You are right about loosing the real meaning and humor of it in English.)

[Moszkva]

Yes. Fortunatelly I have understood it since I read it in English.. :)

[robertogarridolopez]

OLA FELICIDADES 🙂 ESTA MÚSICA AUNQUE NO SEA MODERNA 👉 SIEMPRE EN NUESTROS CORAZÓNES ❤ SERA HETERNA👍🙂

[renqianghan]

To fall in love with french woman is different from to fall in love with USA woman.The former often keeps silent in order to let you think of her and miss her.It looks like she is your lover and your wife, very mature.

The later always quarrels with you in order to let you dislike her and forget her fast.It looks like she is naughty girl, unmature.

Diffrrent country, different personality.

French woman is free, open, generous, friendly.

USA woman is free, open, generous, noisy.

[evathatsme]

Now that i know what they sing i am a little disappointed :(