Je t'aime... moi non plus
Encyclopedia
"Je t'aime… moi non plus" (French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...

 for "I love you… me neither") is a French duet written by Serge Gainsbourg
Serge Gainsbourg
Serge Gainsbourg, born Lucien Ginsburg was a French singer-songwriter, actor and director. Gainsbourg's extremely varied musical style and individuality make him difficult to categorize...

. It was written for and sung with Brigitte Bardot
Brigitte Bardot
Brigitte Anne-Marie Bardot is a French former fashion model, actress, singer and animal rights activist. She was one of the best-known sex-symbols of the 1960s.In her early life, Bardot was an aspiring ballet dancer...

 in 1967, but that version was not released until 1986. In 1969, Gainsbourg recorded a version with his lover, Jane Birkin
Jane Birkin
Jane Mallory Birkin, OBE is an English-born actress and singer who lives in France. In recent years she has written her own album, directed a film and become an outspoken proponent of democracy in Burma.- Early life :...

. It reached number one in the UK, but was banned in several countries due to its sexual content. The song has been covered by many different artists.

History

The song was written for and recorded with Gainsbourg's girlfriend, Brigitte Bardot, in winter 1967. Bardot asked him to write the most beautiful love song he could imagine and that night he wrote "Je t'aime" and "Bonnie and Clyde
Bonnie and Clyde (Serge Gainsbourg and Brigitte Bardot song)
"Bonnie and Clyde" is a French language song written by Serge Gainsbourg, and performed by Gainsbourg and Brigitte Bardot. It is based on an English language poem written by Bonnie Parker herself a few weeks before she and Clyde Barrow were shot, entitled "The Trail's End". The song tells the story...

". They recorded an arrangement of "Je t'aime" by Michel Colombier
Michel Colombier
Michel Colombier was a French composer, songwriter, arranger, and conductor.- External links :*...

 at a Paris studio in a two-hour session in a small glass booth; the engineer William Flageollet said there was "heavy petting". However, news of the recording reached the press and Bardot's husband, German businessman Gunter Sachs
Gunter Sachs
Fritz Gunter Sachs was a German photographer, author, industrialist, and latterly head of an institute that researched claims of astrology. As a young man he became a sportsman, then gained international fame as a documentary film-maker and documentary photographer...

, was angry and called for the single to be withdrawn. Bardot pleaded with Gainsbourg not to release it, and although he protested that "The music is very pure. For the first time in my life, I write a love song and it's taken badly", he complied.

In 1968, Gainsbourg fell in love with English actress Jane Birkin on the set of their film Slogan. After filming, he asked her to record the song with him. Birkin had heard the Bardot version and thought it "so hot." She said: "I only sang it because I didn't want anybody else to sing it," jealous at the thought of his sharing a recording studio with someone else. Gainsbourg asked her to sing an octave higher than Bardot, "so you'll sound like a little boy." It was recorded in an arrangement by Arthur Greenslade
Arthur Greenslade
Arthur Greenslade was a British conductor and arranger for films and television as well as for a number of performers. In the 1950s he was pianist and arranger with the Oscar Rabin Band. He has arranged for Jack Jones, Chris Farlowe, Serge Gainsbourg, Genesis, Cat Stevens, Diana Ross and Dusty...

 in a studio at Marble Arch
Marble Arch
Marble Arch is a white Carrara marble monument that now stands on a large traffic island at the junction of Oxford Street, Park Lane, and Edgware Road, almost directly opposite Speakers' Corner in Hyde Park in London, England...

. Birkin said she "got a bit carried away with the heavy breathing – so much so, in fact, that I was told to calm down, which meant that at one point I stopped breathing altogether. If you listen to the record now, you can still hear that little gap." There was media speculation, as with the Bardot version, that they had recorded live sex, to which Gainsbourg told Birkin, "Thank goodness it wasn't, otherwise I hope it would have been a long-playing record." It was released in February 1969. The single had a plain cover, with the words "Interdit aux moins de 21 ans" (forbidden to those under 21), and the record company changed the label from Philips to Fontana.

Gainsbourg also asked Marianne Faithfull
Marianne Faithfull
Marianne Evelyn Faithfull is an award-winning English singer, songwriter and actress whose career has spanned five decades....

 to record the song with him; she said: "Hah! He asked everybody". Others approached included Valérie Lagrange and Mireille Darc
Mireille Darc
Mireille Darc is a French model and actress. She was Alain Delon's longtime co-star and companion. She appeared as a lead character in Jean-Luc Godard's 1967 film Week End...

. Bardot regretted not releasing her version, and her friend Jean-Louis Remilleux persuaded her to contact Gainsbourg. They released it in 1986.

Lyrics and music

The title was inspired by a Salvador Dali
Salvador Dalí
Salvador Domènec Felip Jacint Dalí i Domènech, Marquis de Púbol , commonly known as Salvador Dalí , was a prominent Spanish Catalan surrealist painter born in Figueres,Spain....

 comment: "Picasso is Spanish, me too. Picasso is a genius, me too. Picasso is a communist, me neither". Gainsbourg claimed it was an "anti-fuck" song about the desperation and impossibility of physical love. The lyrics are written as a dialogue between two lovers during sex. Phrases include:

"Je vais et je viens, entre tes reins" ("I go and I come, in between your loins")

"Tu es la vague, moi l'île nue" ("You are the wave, I the naked island")

"L'amour physique est sans issue" ("Physical love goes nowhere")



"Moi non plus" ("Me neither") as a response to "Je t'aime" is a joke some English-speaking listeners did not understand. It is often translated as "I love you - me not anymore", for instance in The Pet Shop Boys' version. The lyrics are sung, spoken and whispered over a baroque organ and guitar track in C major, with a "languid, almost over-pretty, chocolate-box melody."

Reception

When the version with Bardot was recorded, the French press reported that it was an "audio vérité". France Dimanche
France Dimanche
France Dimanche is a French weekly celebrity newsmagazine published by Hachette with a circulation of about 450,000.-Sources:*...

said the "groans, sighs, and Bardot's little cries of pleasure [give] the impression you're listening to two people making love". The first time Gainsbourg played it in public was in a Paris restaurant immediately after they recorded it . Birkin said that "as it began to play all you could hear were the knives and forks being put down. 'I think we have a hit record,' he said."
The eroticism
Eroticism
Eroticism is generally understood to refer to a state of sexual arousal or anticipation of such – an insistent sexual impulse, desire, or pattern of thoughts, as well as a philosophical contemplation concerning the aesthetics of sexual desire, sensuality and romantic love...

 was declared offensive. The lyrics are commonly thought to refer to the taboo of sex without love, and were delivered in a breathy, suggestive style. The Observer Monthly Music magazine called it "the pop equivalent of an Emmanuelle
Emmanuelle (film)
Emmanuelle is a 1974 French softcore erotic film, directed by Just Jaeckin, and starring Sylvia Kristel. The screenplay was written by Jean-Louis Richard, based on the novel Emmanuelle: The Joys of a Woman by Emmanuelle Arsan. The music score is by Pierre Bachelet. The film was highly successful in...

 movie."

The song culminates in orgasm
Orgasm
Orgasm is the peak of the plateau phase of the sexual response cycle, characterized by an intense sensation of pleasure...

 sounds by Birkin: mostly because of this, it was banned
Ban (law)
A ban is, generally, any decree that prohibits something.Bans are formed for the prohibition of activities within a certain political territory. Some see this as a negative act and others see it as maintaining the "status quo"...

 from radio in Spain, Sweden, Brazil, the UK, Italy, Poland, and Portugal, banned before 11pm in France, not played by many radio stations in the United States because it was deemed too risque, and denounced by the Vatican
Vatican City
Vatican City , or Vatican City State, in Italian officially Stato della Città del Vaticano , which translates literally as State of the City of the Vatican, is a landlocked sovereign city-state whose territory consists of a walled enclave within the city of Rome, Italy. It has an area of...

 and the L'Osservatore Romano
L'Osservatore Romano
L'Osservatore Romano is the "semi-official" newspaper of the Holy See. It covers all the Pope's public activities, publishes editorials by important churchmen, and runs official documents after being released...

; the Vatican excommunicated the record executive who released it in Italy. Birkin says Gainsbourg called the Pope "our greatest PR man."

Birkin said in 2004 that "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." When Gainsbourg went to Jamaica to record with Sly and Robbie
Sly and Robbie
Sly and Robbie is the prolific Jamaican rhythm section and production team of drummer Sly Dunbar and bassist Robbie Shakespeare who joined in the mid 1970s after having established themselves separately in Jamaica as professional musicians...

, they initially did not get on well. They said "We know just one piece of French music, a song called Je t'aime… Moi Non Plus, which has a girl groaning in it." Gainsbourg said "It's me", and their mood changed immediately.

Commercial success

The song was a commercial success throughout Europe. By 1986, it had sold four million copies. In the UK, it was released on the Fontana
Fontana Records
Fontana Records is a record label which was started in the 1950s as a subsidiary of the Dutch Philips Records; when Philips restructured its music operations it dropped Fontana in favor of Vertigo Records. In the seventies PolyGram acquired the dormant label....

 label, but, after reaching number 2, it was withdrawn for sale. Gainsbourg arranged a deal with Major Minor Records
Major Minor Records
Major Minor Records was a record label started by Phil Solomon in 1966. It had a distribution deal with Decca Records. Artists on the label included The Dubliners and Johnny Nash. Ultimately the label was bought by EMI....

 and on re-release it reached number one, the first banned number one single in the UK and the first single in a foreign language to top the charts. It stayed on the UK chart for 31 weeks. It reached 69 on the Billboard chart in the US; the New York Times called this a "poetic fluke", and Gainsbourg's reaction was "Superbe, superbe!" Mercury Records
Mercury Records
Mercury Records is a record label operating as a standalone company in the UK and as part of the Island Def Jam Motown Music Group in the US; both are subsidiaries of Universal Music Group. There is also a Mercury Records in Australia, which is a local artist and repertoire division of Universal...

, the US distributor, faced criticism that the song was "obscene" and there was limited airplay, limiting US sales to around 150,000.
Chart (1969) Peak
position
Ö3 Austria Top 40
Ö3 Austria Top 40
Ö3 Austria Top 40 is the name of the official Austrian singles chart, as well as the radio show which presents it, aired Fridays on Hitradio Ö3. The show presents the Austrian singles, ringtones and downloads chart. It premiered on 26 November 1968 as Disc Parade and was presented by Ernst Grissemann...

1
German Musikmarkt/Media Control Charts
Media Control Charts
The official music charts in Germany are gathered and published by the company Media Control GfK International on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindustrie...

3
Dutch Top 40
Dutch Top 40
The Dutch Top 40 is a weekly music chart, which started as the "Veronica Top 40", because the offshore radio station Radio Veronica was the first to introduce it. It remained "The Veronica Top 40" until 1974, when the station was forced to stop broadcasting...

2
Irish Singles Chart
Irish Singles Chart
The Irish Singles Chart is Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association and compiled on behalf of the IRMA by Chart-Track. Chart rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through over-the-counter retail data captured...

2
Norwegian VG-lista
VG-lista
VG-listen is a Norwegian record chart. It is weekly presented in the newspaper VG and the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation program Topp 20. It is considered the primary Norwegian record chart, charting albums and singles from countries and continent around the world. The data is collected by...

 Chart
1
Swiss Top 100 Singles
Swiss Music Charts
The Swiss Music Charts are Switzerland's main music sales charts. The charts are a record of the highest-selling singles and albums in various genres in Switzerland.The Swiss Charts include:* Singles Top 75...

 Chart
1
UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...

1
US Billboard Hot 100 69

Covers

The song has been covered dozens of times, both serious and comedic. The first covers were instrumentals, "Love at first sight", after the original was banned; the first version by "Sounds Nice" became a top 20 hit. The first parody was written in 1970 by Gainsbourg himself and Marcel Mithois. Titled "Ça", it was recorded by Bourvil
Bourvil
André Bourvil, born André Robert Raimbourg was a French actor and singer best known for his roles in comedy, most notably in his collaboration with Louis de Funès in La Grande Vadrouille .-Biography:His father was killed in the First World War before Bourvil was born...

 and Jacqueline Maillan (:fr:Jacqueline Maillan), Bourvil's last release before his death. Other comedy versions were made by Frankie Howerd
Frankie Howerd
Francis Alick "Frankie" Howerd OBE was an English comedian and comic actor whose career, described by fellow comedian Barry Cryer as "a series of comebacks", spanned six decades.-Early career:...

 and June Whitfield
June Whitfield
June Rosemary Whitfield, CBE is an English actress, well known in the United Kingdom since the 1950s for roles in radio and television comedy series....

, Judge Dread
Judge Dread
Alexander Minto Hughes , better known as Judge Dread, was an English reggae and ska musician. He was the first white recording artist to have a reggae hit in Jamaica, and has the most banned songs of all time.-Career:...

, and the cast of the BBC TV comedy 'Allo 'Allo!
'Allo 'Allo!
'Allo 'Allo! is a British sitcom broadcast on BBC One from 1982 to 1992 comprising eighty-five episodes. It is a parody of another BBC programme, the wartime drama Secret Army, and was created by David Croft, who also wrote the theme music, and Jeremy Lloyd. Lloyd and Croft wrote the first 6...

.

The song influenced the 1975 disco
Disco
Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...

 classic "Love to Love You Baby
Love to Love You Baby (song)
"Love to Love You Baby" is a song by American singer Donna Summer released in 1975 . It became one of the first ever disco hits to also be released in an extended form.-Song information and original release:...

" by singer Donna Summer
Donna Summer
LaDonna Adrian Gaines , known by her stage name, Donna Summer, is an American singer/songwriter who gained prominence during the disco era of the 1970s. She has a mezzo-soprano vocal range. Summer is a five-time Grammy winner and was the first artist to have three consecutive double albums reach...

 and producer Giorgio Moroder
Giorgio Moroder
Hansjörg "Giorgio" Moroder is an Italian record producer, songwriter and performer based in Los Angeles. When in Munich in the 1970s, he started his own record label called Oasis Records, which several years later became a subdivision of Casablanca Records...

; they duetted "Je t'aime" in a 15-minute version for the film Thank God It's Friday
Thank God It's Friday
The triple album was, unlike the movie, a commercial success. It contained contributions from some of the biggest names in disco at the time, including Donna Summer, Diana Ross, Thelma Houston, The Commodores, and many others....

in 1978. In 1998, Sam Taylor-Wood
Sam Taylor-Wood
Samantha "Sam" Taylor-Wood OBE , born Samantha Taylor, is an English filmmaker, photographer, and visual artist. Her directorial feature film debut came in 2009 with Nowhere Boy, a film based on the childhood experiences of The Beatles songwriter and singer John Lennon...

 recorded a cover with the Pet Shop Boys
Pet Shop Boys
Pet Shop Boys are an English electronic dance music duo, consisting of Neil Tennant, who provides main vocals, keyboards and occasional guitar, and Chris Lowe on keyboards....

 for the compilation CD/book "futique" entitled Ambassadors - We Love You, a concept designed to promote collaboration between visual and musical artists. This track was a bonus on the "I Don't Know What You Want But I Can't Give It Any More
I Don't Know What You Want But I Can't Give It Any More
"I Don't Know What You Want But I Can't Give It Any More" is a song by British electronic music group Pet Shop Boys, featured on their 1999 album Nightlife...

" CD single.

In 2002, Trash Palace published a cover version on their album Positions, featuring Brian Molko
Brian Molko
Brian Molko is a songwriter, lead vocalist, and guitarist of the band Placebo. He is known in particular for his high-pitched vocals, androgynous appearance, and unique, Sonic Youth-influenced guitar style and tuning.-Early life:Born to an American father of French-Italian heritage and a Scottish...

 of Placebo
Placebo (band)
Placebo are a British rock band from London, England, formed in 1994 by singer and guitarist Brian Molko and bass guitarist Stefan Olsdal. The band was joined by drummer Robert Schultzberg, who was later replaced by Steve Hewitt after conflicts with Molko. Hewitt left the band in October 2007 and...

 and Asia Argento
Asia Argento
Aria Asia Anna Maria Vittoria Rossa Argento is an Italian actress, singer, model and director.-Family and early life:...

. The singers reverse their parts throughout the song, so that sometimes the female persona was sung by Molko. Cat Power
Cat Power
Charlyn Marie Marshall , also known as Chan Marshall or by her stage name Cat Power, is an American singer/songwriter and occasional actress and model. Cat Power was originally the name of Marshall's first band, but has come to refer to her musical projects with various backing bands...

 and Karen Elson
Karen Elson
Karen Elson is a British model, singer-songwriter and guitarist.As a child, Elson attended North Chadderton School in Chadderton with her twin sister, filmmaker Kate Elson. She began working as a model as a teenager....

 performed "a suitably breathy sapphic treatment" in English entitled I love you (me either) for the 2005 tribute album Monsieur Gainsbourg Revisited
Monsieur Gainsbourg Revisited
Monsieur Gainsbourg Revisited is a tribute album to the works of late French singer/songwriter Serge Gainsbourg. First released on Virgin Records in 2006, it consists of English language cover versions of Gainsbourg songs, performed by a diverse array of contemporary artists...

.

Selected list of recorded versions

  • 1968 - Serge Gainsbourg
    Serge Gainsbourg
    Serge Gainsbourg, born Lucien Ginsburg was a French singer-songwriter, actor and director. Gainsbourg's extremely varied musical style and individuality make him difficult to categorize...

     & Brigitte Bardot
    Brigitte Bardot
    Brigitte Anne-Marie Bardot is a French former fashion model, actress, singer and animal rights activist. She was one of the best-known sex-symbols of the 1960s.In her early life, Bardot was an aspiring ballet dancer...

    . It was not issued until 1986. When Universal Records
    Universal Records
    Universal Records was a record label owned by Universal Music Group, and it is now owned by Manny Patino and Michael Jackson, and operated as part of the Universal Motown Republic Group.-History:...

     made their back catalogue available to purchase online in 2006, this song was the third most popular download.
  • 1969 - Serge Gainsbourg
    Serge Gainsbourg
    Serge Gainsbourg, born Lucien Ginsburg was a French singer-songwriter, actor and director. Gainsbourg's extremely varied musical style and individuality make him difficult to categorize...

     & Jane Birkin
    Jane Birkin
    Jane Mallory Birkin, OBE is an English-born actress and singer who lives in France. In recent years she has written her own album, directed a film and become an outspoken proponent of democracy in Burma.- Early life :...

  • 1969 - Giorgio Albertazzi
    Giorgio Albertazzi
    Giorgio Albertazzi is an Italian actor and film director.Born in San Martino a Mensola Albertazzi joined the Italian Social Republic and reached the rank of lieutenant. After their defeat, he spent two years in prison for collaborating...

     and Anna Proclemer Ti amo… ed io di più cover in Italian
  • 1969 - Sounds Nice featuring Tim Mycroft (instrumental, entitled "Love at First Sight"). It reached number 18 in the UK and stayed on the chart for 11 weeks.
  • 1970 - Bourvil
    Bourvil
    André Bourvil, born André Robert Raimbourg was a French actor and singer best known for his roles in comedy, most notably in his collaboration with Louis de Funès in La Grande Vadrouille .-Biography:His father was killed in the First World War before Bourvil was born...

     and Jacqueline Maillan - Ça. The first parody, and Bourvil's last release.
  • 1971 - Frankie Howerd
    Frankie Howerd
    Francis Alick "Frankie" Howerd OBE was an English comedian and comic actor whose career, described by fellow comedian Barry Cryer as "a series of comebacks", spanned six decades.-Early career:...

     & June Whitfield
    June Whitfield
    June Rosemary Whitfield, CBE is an English actress, well known in the United Kingdom since the 1950s for roles in radio and television comedy series....

     as "Up Je t'aime," a "no sex please, we're British" parody [wife keeps saying "Je t'aime", husband wants to get ready for golf]
  • 1972 - Hot Butter
    Hot Butter
    Hot Butter was an instrumental cover band fronted by the keyboard player Stan Free. The other band members were Dave Mullaney, John Abbott, Bill Jerome, Steve Jerome, and Danny Jordan. They are best known for their 1972 cover of the Moog synthpop instrumental, "Popcorn", originally recorded by its...

     (instrumental, as "Love at First Sight")
  • 1974 - Abigail
    Abigail (actress)
    Abigail is an actress who emigrated to Australia in 1968 and via the media of television became one of that country's significant sex symbols of the mid-1970s. Although born in England, she was educated in France. Her mother was a Ceylonese of Dutch Burgher/Eurasian ethnicity...

    . This cover reached the top 10 in Australia.
  • 1975 - Judge Dread
    Judge Dread
    Alexander Minto Hughes , better known as Judge Dread, was an English reggae and ska musician. He was the first white recording artist to have a reggae hit in Jamaica, and has the most banned songs of all time.-Career:...

    . It reached number 9 in the UK in July 1975 and spent 9 weeks on the chart.
  • 1977 - Saint Tropez as "Je T`aime" on the album disco
  • 1978 - Giorgio Moroder
    Giorgio Moroder
    Hansjörg "Giorgio" Moroder is an Italian record producer, songwriter and performer based in Los Angeles. When in Munich in the 1970s, he started his own record label called Oasis Records, which several years later became a subdivision of Casablanca Records...

     & Donna Summer
    Donna Summer
    LaDonna Adrian Gaines , known by her stage name, Donna Summer, is an American singer/songwriter who gained prominence during the disco era of the 1970s. She has a mezzo-soprano vocal range. Summer is a five-time Grammy winner and was the first artist to have three consecutive double albums reach...

  • 1981 - Einstürzende Neubauten
    Einstürzende Neubauten
    Einstürzende Neubauten is a German post-industrial band, originally from West Berlin, formed in 1980. The group currently comprises Blixa Bargeld , Alexander Hacke , N.U...

     (as "Jet'm")
  • 1984 - Trafassi as "Me jam". Dutch-language version.
  • 1986 - Psychic TV
    Psychic TV
    Psychic TV or PTV, is a video art and music group that primarily performs psychedelic, punk, electronic and experimental music...

    , Je T'Aime. It was variously credited to Genesis P-Orridge
    Genesis P-Orridge
    Genesis Breyer P-Orridge is an English singer-songwriter, musician, writer and artist. P-Orridge's early confrontational performance work in COUM Transmissions in the late 1960s and early 1970s along with the industrial band Throbbing Gristle, which dealt with subjects such as prostitution,...

     and The Angels of Light
    The Angels of Light (UK band)
    The Angels of Light, also known as Thee Angels of Light, first appeared on the Psychic TV single "Godstar", featuring Rose McDowall, Steve Broughton, Micky Groome, Dave McKintosh and Mark Fishlock...

     or Psychic TV and Mistress Mix. The 1985 version was a limited edition 12" vinyl of 5000 copies, with "Supermale" on the B-side. The 1989 version had a B-side called "Wicked (Lucifer Mix)".

  • 1986 - René
    René François Artois
    René François Artois is a fictional character, the main character in the BBC sitcom Allo 'Allo!, which ran from 1982 to 1992. The character was played by the actor Gorden Kaye...

     & Yvette
    Yvette Carte-Blanche
    Yvette Carte-Blanche is a fictional character in the BBC sitcom Allo 'Allo!, which ran from 1982 to 1992. She was played by the actress Vicki Michelle....

     from 'Allo 'Allo. It only reached 57 on the UK chart.
  • 1992 - Chayanne
    Chayanne
    Elmer Figueroa Arce , best known under the stage name Chayanne, is a Puerto Rican Latin pop singer and actor. As a solo artist, Chayanne has released 21 solo-albums and sold over 20 million albums worldwide.-Early life:...

     & Natalie as "Extasis" on his album Provócame
    Provócame
    - Chart performance :...

    .
  • 1993 - Barry Adamson
    Barry Adamson
    Barry Adamson is a British rock musician who has worked with rock bands such as Magazine, Visage, The Birthday Party, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, and the electronic musicians Pan sonic and Depeche Mode. Adamson created the seven-minute opus "Useless " remix for the latter band in 1997...

     with Anita Lane
    Anita Lane
    Anita Lane is an Australian singer and songwriter who directly influenced the early 1980s European post-punk landscape.-Birthday Party:Lane was born in Melbourne, Australia in the late 1950s. Lane began singing and writing songs at age 16. She was a classmate with Rowland S. Howard who would...

     on his album The Negro Inside me
  • 1994 - Malcolm McLaren
    Malcolm McLaren
    Malcolm Robert Andrew McLaren was an English performer, impresario, self-publicist and manager of the Sex Pistols and the New York Dolls...

     on his album Paris
    Paris (Malcolm McLaren album)
    Paris is a double-CD by Malcolm McLaren released in 1994.-Disc one:# "Mon Dié Sénié" – 4:30# "Walking With Satie" – 4:03# "Père Lachaise" – 3:41# "Miles And Miles Of Miles Davis" – 2:04# "Jazz Is Paris" – 5:15# "Rue Dauphine" – 3:26...

    .
  • 1996 - 2Defy "Je t'aime moi non plus (Forever My Lady)"
  • 1997 - Cibo Matto
    Cibo Matto
    Cibo Matto are a New York City-based band formed by two Japanese women, Yuka Honda and Miho Hatori, in 1994...

     with Sean Lennon
    Sean Lennon
    is an American singer, songwriter, musician, guitarist and actor. He is the only child of John Lennon and Yoko Ono. His godfather is Sir Elton John.-Early life and education:...

    , "a cute romp" that was part of the tribute album Great Jewish Music: Serge Gainsbourg
    Great Jewish Music: Serge Gainsbourg
    Great Jewish Music: Serge Gainsbourg is a tribute album featuring the music of French singer/songwriter Serge Gainsbourg. Executive-produced by John Zorn, it was released on Tzadik Records in 1997 as part of their series on "Radical Jewish Culture"....

    on Tzadik Records
    Tzadik Records
    Tzadik Records is a record label based in New York City specialising in avant-garde and experimental music. The label was established by the eclectic composer and saxophonist John Zorn in 1995; Zorn is the executive producer of all Tzadik releases...

    .
  • 1997 - Nick Cave
    Nick Cave
    Nicholas Edward "Nick" Cave is an Australian musician, songwriter, author, screenwriter, and occasional film actor.He is best known for his work as a frontman of the critically acclaimed rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, established in 1984, a group known for its eclectic influences and...

     with Anita Lane
    Anita Lane
    Anita Lane is an Australian singer and songwriter who directly influenced the early 1980s European post-punk landscape.-Birthday Party:Lane was born in Melbourne, Australia in the late 1950s. Lane began singing and writing songs at age 16. She was a classmate with Rowland S. Howard who would...

     as "I Love You (Nor Do I)" on the album Pink Elephants
    Pink Elephants
    Pink Elephants is Mick Harvey's second collection of Serge Gainsbourg covers.-Track listing:#"Pink Elephants" – 2:90#"Requiem. . . " – 2:35#"The Javanaise " – 2:30#"Black Seaweed " – 2:21...

    by Mick Harvey
    Mick Harvey
    Michael John Harvey , is an Australian rock musician, composer, arranger and record producer. He is best known for his long-time collaboration with the singer and songwriter Nick Cave...

    . CMJ New Music Monthly called it "perhaps the worst cover version in history".
  • 1998 - Pet Shop Boys
    Pet Shop Boys
    Pet Shop Boys are an English electronic dance music duo, consisting of Neil Tennant, who provides main vocals, keyboards and occasional guitar, and Chris Lowe on keyboards....

     & Sam Taylor-Wood
    Sam Taylor-Wood
    Samantha "Sam" Taylor-Wood OBE , born Samantha Taylor, is an English filmmaker, photographer, and visual artist. Her directorial feature film debut came in 2009 with Nowhere Boy, a film based on the childhood experiences of The Beatles songwriter and singer John Lennon...

    , with some of the lyrics digitally voiced.
  • 1998 - Bob Downe & Julian Clary
    Julian Clary
    Julian Peter McDonald Clary is an English comedian and novelist, known for his deliberately stereotypical camp style, with a heavy reliance on innuendo and double entendre.-Early life and education:...

  • 2000 - Koffi Olomide
    Koffi Olomide
    Antoine Christophe Agbepa Mumba, also known as Koffi Olomide , is a DR Congolese soukous singer, dancer, producer, and composer. He is also known by a multitude of other names and aliases.-Background:...

     & Nayanka Bell
    Nayanka Bell
    Nayanka Bell is an Ivorian singer who has released several albums, the earliest in 1984.-Biography:Bell's early work was inspired by the Francophone Caribbean, and although her native tongue is French she sings in English. Her debut album, Amio, was released in 1984, with styles ranging from funk...

    , an afro-zouk version.
  • 2001 - Sven Väth
    Sven Väth
    Sven Väth is a Frankfurt-based DJ who has produced an extensive range of work since his career began in 1982. From 1985, he was part of the band OFF which released the hit "Electrica Salsa" in 1986...

     featuring Miss Kittin
    Miss Kittin
    Miss Kittin is an electronic music DJ, vocalist, and songwriter. Since rising to prominence in 1998 for her singles "1982" and "Frank Sinatra" with The Hacker, she has worked with other musicians such as Chicks on Speed, Felix da Housecat and Golden Boy...

     (electronic version)
  • 2002 - Böhse Onkelz
    Böhse Onkelz
    The Böhse Onkelz were a German rock group that existed from 1980 to 2005. Although being ignored by the mass media for their controversial past, since Viva los tioz in 1998 almost every album reached number one on the German album charts. According to record certifications and additional sources...

     as a B-side on the single Keine Amnestie für MTV
  • 2003 - Brian Molko
    Brian Molko
    Brian Molko is a songwriter, lead vocalist, and guitarist of the band Placebo. He is known in particular for his high-pitched vocals, androgynous appearance, and unique, Sonic Youth-influenced guitar style and tuning.-Early life:Born to an American father of French-Italian heritage and a Scottish...

     & Asia Argento
    Asia Argento
    Aria Asia Anna Maria Vittoria Rossa Argento is an Italian actress, singer, model and director.-Family and early life:...

     (with the male and female roles inverted - creating an allusion to oral sex
    Oral sex
    Oral sex is sexual activity involving the stimulation of the genitalia of a sex partner by the use of the mouth, tongue, teeth or throat. Cunnilingus refers to oral sex performed on females while fellatio refer to oral sex performed on males. Anilingus refers to oral stimulation of a person's anus...

    )
  • 2004 - The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain
    The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain
    The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain is a musical ensemble featuring ukuleles in different registers and a bass ukulele .-History:...

    . An "hilariously deadpan" version.
  • 2006 - Cat Power
    Cat Power
    Charlyn Marie Marshall , also known as Chan Marshall or by her stage name Cat Power, is an American singer/songwriter and occasional actress and model. Cat Power was originally the name of Marshall's first band, but has come to refer to her musical projects with various backing bands...

     & Karen Elson
    Karen Elson
    Karen Elson is a British model, singer-songwriter and guitarist.As a child, Elson attended North Chadderton School in Chadderton with her twin sister, filmmaker Kate Elson. She began working as a model as a teenager....

     (sung in English as "I Love You, Me Either")
  • 2010 - Baggalútur (sang in Icelandic "Saddur")


Use as sample

The song's riff has been used in songs including: A Fair Affair by Misty Oldland, "Guitar Song
Guitar Song
Guitar Song is a 2001 single release by Texas taken from their greatest hits album The Greatest Hits. It contains a sample of the song "Je t'aime... moi non plus" performed by Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin. The song was released in 2001 exclusively in Belgium...

" by Texas
Texas (band)
Texas are a Scottish pop band from Bearsden, near Glasgow, Scotland. They were founded by Johnny McElhone in 1986 and feature Sharleen Spiteri on lead vocals. Texas made their performing debut in March 1988 at Scotland's University of Dundee...

 on the album The Greatest Hits and released as a single in Belgium in 2001; The Speed Freak in 1993 on the "Sonic Mine EP"; Twangy Wigout by Transvision Vamp
Transvision Vamp
Transvision Vamp were a British alternative rock group. Formed in 1986 by Nick Christian Sayer and Wendy James the band enjoyed chart success in the late 1980s...

 off their album Little Magnets Versus the Bubble of Babble
Little Magnets Versus the Bubble of Babble
Little Magnets Versus the Bubble of Babble was the third album by UK pop rock band Transvision Vamp. The album was released in 1991, two years after their UK #1 album Velveteen....

; Kylie Minogue
Kylie Minogue
Kylie Ann Minogue, OBE - often known simply as Kylie - is an Australian singer, recording artist, songwriter, and actress. After beginning her career as a child actress on Australian television, she achieved recognition through her role in the television soap opera Neighbours, before commencing...

 used a sample and excerpts of "Je t'aime" to back a version of "Breathe" in her 2003 Money Can't Buy
Money Can't Buy
Money Can't Buy was a one-off, invitation only concert in support of Kylie Minogue's 2003 album, Body Language held at the Hammersmith Apollo in London, England. This event cost £1 million to stage and tickets were not available for sale...

 concert at the Hammersmith Apollo in London. A studio version of "Je t'aime" by Kylie exists, but is unreleased.

External links

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