"Je t'aime… moi non plus" (French for "I love you… me neither") is a 1967 song written by Serge Gainsbourg for Brigitte Bardot. In 1969, Gainsbourg recorded the most famous version of the song as a duet with British actress Jane Birkin. This version reached the top of the charts in Birkin's home country, the United Kingdom, making it the first foreign-language song to do so. It also reached number two in Ireland. However, the song was banned in several countries because of its very sexual lyrics. In 1976, Gainsbourg directed an erotic film with the same name as the song, starring Jane Birkin.

History

The song was written and recorded in late 1967 for Gainsbourg's girlfriend at the time, Brigitte Bardot. After a disappointing date, Bardot called Gainsbourg the next day and asked him to write "the most beautiful love song he could imagine" as a way to make amends. That night, he wrote "Je t'aime" and "Bonnie and Clyde." They recorded an arrangement of "Je t'aime" by Michel Colombier at a Paris studio in a two-hour session inside a small glass booth. The engineer, William Flageollet, mentioned there was close physical contact during the recording. However, news of the recording spread, and Bardot's husband, Gunter Sachs, demanded the song be removed from release. Bardot asked Gainsbourg not to release it, and he agreed, though he was unhappy. He said, "The music is very pure. For the first time in my life, I write a love song and it's taken badly."

In 1968, Gainsbourg and the English actress Jane Birkin began a relationship while working on the film Slogan. After filming ended, he asked her to record "Je t'aime" with him. Birkin had heard the version with Bardot and thought it was very passionate. She said she agreed to sing it because she did not want anyone else to perform it, as she felt jealous about Gainsbourg sharing a close moment in the studio with someone else. Gainsbourg asked her to sing an octave higher than Bardot, "so [she'd] sound like a little boy." This version was recorded in an arrangement by Arthur Greenslade at a studio in Marble Arch Records. Birkin said she became very emotional during the recording, breathing heavily to the point that she was told to calm down. At one moment, she stopped breathing entirely. This pause can still be heard on the record.

Some people speculated, as with the Bardot version, that the recording included real-life intimate sounds. Gainsbourg told Birkin, "Thank goodness it wasn't, otherwise I hope it would have been a long-playing record." The version with Birkin was released as a single in February 1969. The single, released by Philips through its subsidiary Fontana, had a simple cover with the words "forbidden to those under 21" ("Interdit aux moins de 21 ans").

Gainsbourg also asked Marianne Faithfull to record the song with him. She later said, "Hah! He asked everybody." Others he approached included Valérie Lagrange and Mireille Darc. Bardot later regretted not releasing her version, and her friend Jean-Louis Remilleux encouraged her to contact Gainsbourg. They released it in 1986.

Lyrics and music

The song's title was inspired by a comment from artist Salvador Dalí: "Picasso is Spanish, me too. Picasso is a genius, me too. Picasso is a communist, me neither." The artist Gainsbourg called "Je t'aime" an "anti-fuck" song that expresses the sadness and difficulty of physical love. The lyrics describe a conversation between two lovers during a romantic moment. Some phrases include:

"Je t'aime, moi non plus" is translated as "I love you – me not anymore" in the version by the Pet Shop Boys. The song includes singing, speaking, and whispering over organ and guitar music with a special style, played in the key of C major. The melody is described as soft, smooth, and slightly sweet.

Reception

The song's meaning was not clearly understood by people in Britain during the late 1960s. They heard a smoothly played organ, deep and passionate sounds, and a soft, dreamy melody. These musical elements were compared to a movie that was intentionally unclear in its visuals. This suggested that life in France was filled with open expressions of sensuality. The phrase "Je t'aime" became an important part of romantic efforts, often paired with a bottle of Blue Nun wine.

Some people found the song's suggestive nature inappropriate. The lyrics are believed to address the topic of having sex without emotional connection, and were sung in a soft, inviting style. A music magazine called "Je t'aime" "the pop equivalent of an Emmanuelle movie."

When the version with Bardot was recorded, French newspapers described it as an unaltered recording of intimate moments ("audio vérité"). One newspaper noted that the sounds of pleasure in the recording made it seem as though two people were in a romantic moment. The first time Gainsbourg performed the song publicly was in a Paris restaurant, right after he and Birkin recorded it. Birkin said that as the song began, people stopped eating and listening. Gainsbourg then said, "I think we have a hit record."

The sounds made by Birkin led to the song being banned from radio in Spain, Sweden, Brazil, the United Kingdom, and Italy. It was also banned from radio play before 11 p.m. in France, and many radio stations in the United States avoided playing it. The Vatican officially criticized the song, and its newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, reported that the Vatican had excommunicated the person who released the song in Italy. Birkin said Gainsbourg once called the Pope "our greatest PR man." In Italy, the head of the record label was jailed for violating public morality standards.

In 2004, Birkin said, "It wasn't a rude song at all. I don't know what all the fuss was about. The English just didn't understand it. I'm still not sure they know what it means." Later, when Gainsbourg traveled to Jamaica to record with Sly and Robbie, they initially had difficulty getting along with him. However, their attitude changed immediately when they learned that "Je t'aime" was his work.

Commercial success

The song became very popular in Europe, selling 3 million copies by October 1969. By 1986, it had sold 4 million copies. In the United Kingdom, it was first released by Fontana label. After reaching number two in September 1969, it was taken off the shelves. Later, Gainsbourg made a deal with Major Minor Records. When the song was released again in early October, it reached number one. This made it the first banned number one single in the UK and the first foreign language song to top the charts. The song stayed on the UK chart for 31 weeks. In the United States, it reached number 58 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Mercury Records, the song’s US distributor, faced criticism for calling the song “obscene.” Because of this, the song received little radio play, which limited US sales to about 150,000 copies.

The song was released again in the UK in late 1974 by Antic Records, a part of Atlantic Records. It reached number 31 and stayed on the chart for nine weeks. By August 1969, the song had sold 300,000 copies in Italy. In France, it sold 400,000 copies in 1969 alone. In the UK, sales reached over 250,000 copies. By 1996, the song had sold 6 million copies worldwide.

Cover versions

The song has been performed many times since it was first released. In 1969, the Hollywood 101 Strings Orchestra released a 7-inch record single (on the A/S Records label) with two versions: the A-side had an instrumental recording, and the B-side included vocal parts with suggestive content by Bebe Bardon. After the original song was banned, the first covers were instrumental versions called "Love at First Sight." The first version by a British group named Sounds Nice (with Tim Mycroft on keyboard) became a top 20 hit. The group's name, "Sounds Nice," came from the words Paul McCartney said when he heard the instrumental version.

In 1970, Gainsbourg and Marcel Mithois wrote a parody of the song titled "Ça." It was recorded by Bourvil and Jacqueline Maillan, and it was Bourvil's final release before his death. Other comedy versions were made by Frankie Howerd and June Whitfield, Judge Dread, and Gorden Kaye and Vicki Michelle, who played characters from the BBC TV comedy 'Allo 'Allo!.

The song "Je t'aime" has also been used in other songs, including the 1994 single "A Fair Affair (Je T'Aime)" by Misty Oldland.

Zvonimir Levačić "Ševa" and Ivica Lako "Laky," members of the Croatian late-night talk show Nightmare Stage, performed a live version of the song during a spoof singing competition on the show. This version was later called the weirdest cover of the song ever.

Legacy

The song inspired the 1975 disco track "Love to Love You Baby" by singer Donna Summer and producer Giorgio Moroder. A. J. Cervantes, a producer who previously worked for Casablanca Records, suggested to Neil Bogart that Donna Summer record the song. Bogart at first refused the idea.

Cervantes' record label, Butterfly Records, released a disco version of the song titled "Je t'aime" by an all-female group called Saint Tropez in August 1977. This was the first disco version of the song and was part of the album Je T'aime (1977). Because of the small success of Saint Tropez, Casablanca Records released a duet version of "Je t'aime" by Donna Summer and Giorgio Moroder in 1978. This version was 15 minutes long and was included in the film Thank God It's Friday. The version was produced by Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte.

A version of the song without lyrics was played at the end of the 2024 Summer Paralympics opening ceremony.