Histoire de Melody Nelson

Geschmacklose Verharmlosung von pädophlilen Fantasien. Es wird einem schlecht beim zuhören.

I heard this was Jeffery Epstein’s favorite album.

Four stars to the music for sure!
-3 stars for the subject matter. Every time I went to check the translations I was reminded how gross it is. I might have let it slide if one track had been about a 15 year old girl, it was a different time, and he’s French. But the whole album? Too far.

While the music sounds nice enough, I can’t in good conscience give an album that glorifies pedophilia anything other than a 1 star. This is fucking gross.

ESSE EH O VEIO DAS CRIANÇA FUMANDO CIGARRO E BEBENDO ENQUANTO CANTAM EM HOMENAGEM A ELE!!!!!

talvez o album mais FRANCÊS do mundo. ele em si já tem um clima horrível, com a temática então...
ignorando isso, nao eh ruim. mas é bem monotono. mas eh foda ignorar né...

Histoire De Melody Nelson is, quite frankly, an unsettling listen. Serge Gainsbourg’s whispery, sleazy vocals and the disturbing subject matter make for a deeply uncomfortable experience. The only redeeming features are the occasional flashes of great guitar work and the fact that the whole thing is mercifully short—over in under half an hour.

Favourite track: I couldn’t pick one if I tried.
Least favourite track: Take your pick from any of tracks 1–7.
Album artwork: A cool cover, even if what’s inside doesn’t live up to it.

I hate how good this album is. I feel conflicted as to whether I should give it a 4 or maybe even a 5 solely based on music or a 1 based on lyrics. I have decided to split the difference and give a 3. Hope any readers will understand.

I almost forgot the name of the girl mentioned in this album! Good thing I have a seductive French man whispering in my ear to remind me 57 times 😊

If you are going to make albums about having sex with 15 year olds, you need to avoid being sleazy. This gains miserably

𝘏𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘦 𝘔𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘕𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘰𝘯 remains one of Serge Gainsbourg’s most distinctive works — a compact concept album blending smoky spoken vocals, Jean-Claude Vannier’s lush string arrangements, and deep, funky bass lines. Musically, it feels timeless, influencing artists from Beck to Portishead, yet it’s still very much a product of Gainsbourg’s provocative imagination.

Here’s a quick plot summary, which you can find almost anywhere online: an unnamed man (played by Gainsbourg) drives through town in a Rolls-Royce, spots a 14-year-old girl named Melody (played by Jane Birkin), falls in love with her, spends intimate moments with her in a hotel, and eventually loses her in a plane crash.

Gainsbourg’s lyrics here would, in a #MeToo era, likely be condemned as sexist or exploitative — and that was, at the time, very much his intent: to shock. It was a strategy he had already used successfully with 𝘗𝘰𝘶𝘱é𝘦 𝘥𝘦 𝘤𝘪𝘳𝘦, 𝘱𝘰𝘶𝘱é𝘦 𝘥𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘯 — the France Gall song that won the 1965 Eurovision Song Contest — whose playful yet suggestive lyrics she famously did not fully understand at the time — and the scandalous 𝘑𝘦 𝘵’𝘢𝘪𝘮𝘦… 𝘮𝘰𝘪 𝘯𝘰𝘯 𝘱𝘭𝘶𝘴.

Problematic by design, but musically exquisite, 𝘔𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘕𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘰𝘯 remains a fascinating example of art deliberately walking the line between beauty and provocation.

Not all that interesting a listen, but on the plus side it really flew by.

Not too bad

Cool atmospheric sexy little album

The music is good. I wish I had not read that it is about a romantic fling between a middle aged man and a 14 year old girl. Kind of sours the vibe, and I would have had no idea since I don't speak french.

Orchestra was boring, dude doesnt even sing, and also *gag*

Quite annoying french music

Wtf Robert Dimnery....a gross French album about pedophilia?? Why??

Before I even understood what this album's theme was (a man falls in love with a 14 year old girl named Melody, and proceeds to seduce her), it gave me an uneasy feeling. The music is fine, but Serge whispers in your ear, and it's just gross. I feel like he is trying to bang me. Fuck off Serge. This prick should be on an FBI watch list...

Favorite songs: Ballade de Melody Nelson

Least favorite songs: En Melody

1/5

I don't speak French - if I were to just judge based on the music, I would say it sounds like what would happen if Leonard Cohen turned French and funky. The music alone would probably bring the album to at least a 3, if not a 4.

However, the album cover provides cause for caution: Jane Birkin as a young, topless girl clutching a doll over her chest. She was 25 when the album was released, so the pedophilia is suggested, not actual...until you read the translation of the lyrics. In a nutshell, while driving one night, the narrator hits a young girl who is riding a bicycle: Melody Nelson, who we learn is not quite 15. He becomes obsessed with her (and whether she's a virgin - saying "Oh! Melody / You don't know what love is / You told me that yourself / But is everything that you say true?" and then "Oh! Melody / If you lied to me I'd do / Some crazy things / I don't know what I'll do to you"). He takes her to what sounds like a pretty seedy hotel and, well, "Slowly, I embraced Melody." Ugh. Spoiler alert: she dies in a plane crash and he is left poetically pining for her.

Maybe this album is shades of Lolita - you're supposed to recognize that the narrator is a horrible person. At least I hope so, because if he meant it...ugh. Double ugh. Reading up on Serge Gainsbourg, it sounds like he was a provocateur - and hopefully provocation was his aim - but it's just too hard not to think of this album as a paean to pedophilia. The seductive musical style makes it even worse. The ick is too strong, and I move on.

asswater

The guitar player was great! Lyrics in French though.