Customer Reviews

Pink Elephants

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Mick Harvey's exploring great Serge Gainsbourg, again!. Opening title is only original written by Harvey. Anita Laine is here again. Great duet of Serge's greatest hit Je t'aime...moi non plus is translated in I Love You...Nor Do I. Anita Laine and Nick Cave are singin'. Great!

This is the follow up to the album Intoxicated Man, containing 16 more English language versions of Serge Gainsbourg's songs. His interpretations are equally as effetive as on Intoxicated Man, but is ultimately more satisfying than that album because of the excellent song selection. Songs such as The Javanaise (La Javanaise), Non Affair (L'Anamour), and The Ballad of Melody Nelson are great in its English language versions, arguably even better than the original versions (although I may be biased because I don't understand French). Anita Lane plays a much smaller role on this album, lending her excellent voice to only two songs (compared to 6 on Intoxicated Man), but her amusing duet with Nick Cave on Gainsbourg's most famous composition Je T'Aime Moi Non Plus (titled I Love You...Nor Do I in its English version) somewhat makes up for it. Like Intoxicated Man, this is essential listening to anyone who likes Gainsbourg but doesn't understand French. Fans of bands like Pulp should also take note, since some of Gainsbourg's songs in its English versions sound a lot like Pulp (who's clearly been influenced by Gainsbourg).

Remember those cheesy kung fu movies from the 1970s - how bad the dialogue was when dubbed into English? The words of the original songs in French fit every note, change and nuance of the music, but here it sounds like a very bad translation that should have been left alone. The musical arrangements - lots of synthesizers, and overamplified guitars, destroy what's left of the music. perhaps that is the biggest sin in some of the tracks: to try to artificially make them sound contemporary. For the French impaired the album as well as its companion "Intoxicated Man", serve as an introduction to the music and words of Serge Gainsbourg. Hopefully at best, this won't discourage English language listeners from seaching out and acquiring the real thing. It sounds a whole lot better in the original French language and arrangements: Trust me!