Je t'aime, je t'aime
Oh oui, je t'aime
I can't have been the only person to hear those words echoing in my ears the moment I read about the sudden death of Jane Birkin last week. There's not many pop stars who can claim to have had a record condemned by The Vatican.
Although most will remember her for that song, and her tumultuous relationship with Serge, the English woman who became a French icon also recorded with everyone from Franz Ferdinand to Ian McCulloch, as well as being a successful actress, political activist and giving her name to a designer handbag. The number of rap songs that refer to the "Birkin bag" made compiling this feature an arduous task... but here's a few tunes that pay tribute to Jane herself instead...
Ed Harcourt - Blondes, Brunettes And Redheads (Demo For Jane Birkin)
Ed Harcourt is almost old enough to remember Jane at her peak (but he's still younger than me). Charlie Hickey, on the other hand, doesn't look old enough to know Jane's daughter Charlotte...
Dressed like Jane Birkin, but you look like a kid
Wish you lived in a decade when you didn't exist
Momus, on the other hand, was born in 1960. Clearly Jane Birkin had a huge effect on him growing up, hence why she appears in two of his tunes...
When bubblegum and glam rock reigned
A young Momus dug the J5
And Jane Birkin's shapely legs
Momus - Not Intended For Children
I play Charlotte Gainsbourg, Bambou and Jane Birkin at my party
But when the radiant night is over and the sun begins to shine
I kiss the simple lover who is mine
Unloved is a collaboration between soundtrack maestro's David Holmes (yes, that one) and Keefus Ciancia (no, me neither), along with singer Jade Vincent, who clearly has been chanelling a little of the Birkin mystique...
She dreams of Jane Birkin and talks in Serge's voice
Mother's been a bad girl
Mother had no choice
Unloved - Mother's Been A Bad Girl
But nobody does it better than Jane herself... and here she is supported by French band, Mickey 3D.
No comments:
Post a Comment