- Les sucettes
Infobox Single
Name = Les sucettes
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Artist =France Gall
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Released =1966
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Writer =Serge Gainsbourg
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Misc ="Les sucettes" "song" (from French "
lollipop s") is one ofFrance Gall 's most important hits along with "Poupée de cire, poupée de son", both written bySerge Gainsbourg . The1966 single proved a great success and became a classic in French pop music. The song established a new trend for erotic double entendres in pop music."Les sucettes" was, on the surface, a pleasant children's song. But, unknown to Gall, the lyrics were filled with strong sexual innuendo and sexually humorous puns. [ [http://www.rfimusique.com/siteEn/biographie/biographie_6153.asp France Gall biography at RFI Musique] , accessed 25 June 2007] According to Gall, she performed the song as a simple children's song about a girl who loves
anise ed-flavored lollipops and was completely unaware of the erotic subtext of the lyrics, which involve extensive, playful double meanings referring tooral sex . Gall was filmed singing "Les sucettes" for television programs, with actions and props playing on the sexual references. Gall did not realize until later why the filming attracted so many visitors to the set. [Interview, 2001, French television, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAynqbVT5o8, accessed 14 June 2008.]The 18-year-old Gall was upset upon finally learning the truth about the lyrics--"mortified, hiding herself away for weeks, refusing to face anyone".Sylvie Simmons, "Serge Gainsbourg: A Fistful of Gitanes", ISBN 978-0306811838, page 44] Gall said that she had sung Gainsbourg's songs "with an innocence of which I'm proud. I was pained to then learn that he had turned the situation to his advantage, mocking me." [Gilles Verlant, "Gainsbourg", quoted in Sylvie Simmons, "Serge Gainsbourg: A Fistful of Gitanes", ISBN 978-0306811838, page 44] In a 2001 television interview, Gall said that she felt "betrayed by the adults around me." [Interview, 2001, French television, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAynqbVT5o8, accessed 14 June 2008.]
Gall's discovery of this second, sexual meaning led to the breakup of their successful partnership [ [http://www.francegall.com/ FranceGall.com (unofficial website)] , biography page, accessed 26 June 2007] and caused Gall, throughout her later life, to turn her back on the Gainsbourg period and most of the songs he wrote for her.
However, much of the humor lay in the fact that the song was sung, unknowingly, by a young innocent girl and Gainsbourg took a different view: "It's the most daring song of the century," he claimed in an interview in the magazine "Rock and Folk".
References
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