Continental sophistication

In the post down below about Anna Karina, I neglected one of Serge Gainsbourg's other leading ladies: France Gall.

A glaring omission that, especially since it provides one of the earliest examples of Serge's supreme talents as provacateur. In this case, it involves getting a fresh faced, and genuinely innocent, according to most accounts, teenage girl to sing a song about a girl with a love of sucking lollipops, and, just to rub it in, produce a video like this.

France Gall was not amused when someone finally explained the joke to her.

Incidentally, the next someone starts moaning about the British attitude to sex – how sad it is we treat it as a joke or a bit of naughtiness, quite unlike the continentals, show them this. Then beat them over the head with the works of the Marquis de Sade since this position is usually adopted by joyless Puritans who hate sex and humour equally.

Incidentally, another version of this song is to be found here. Note how Serge struggles in vain to suppress a leer.