EDW: Anna Karina

Featured here with Serge Gainsbourg. Was this Danish-born actress the finest of all Gainsbourg's muses? Less iconic than Bardot and Deneuve, perhaps, and Jane Birkin inspired some of Serge's finest moments.

Still, there's something about Anna – and this performance, with its mixture of tenderness, melancholy, grace and feeling – that is the quintessence of elegance.

There are some other fine YouTube moments featuring this Danish-born actress and model, who was also a muse (and wife, if you must be prosaic) for Jean-Luc Goddard. Many of them are from Anna, which features her in fine form performing other Gainsbourg classics. This one here has a particular kooky charm, which brings out one's inner Austin Powers (groovy, baby) and this one here is a version of the song at the top of the page.

As Norm, has observed, the French language and musical tradition does this sort of thing so well.

Ne dis rien, surtout pas, ne dis rien suis moi,
Ne dis rien, n'ai pas peur, ne crains rien de moi,
Suis moi jusqu'au bout de la nuit,
Jusqu'au bout de ma folie,
Laisse le temps, oublie demain,
Oublie tout ne pense plus à rien

NB: I apologise for the late arrival of this EDW which, for once, was due to circumstances outwith my control. I hope those clips (and this one) make up for it.

Updated much later after Quink somehow dug this up. Here's a video that actually works.