Histoire de Melody Nelson

This made me le miserable.

Some of the instrumental parts were really great. When I heard first spoken words, I thought I won't make it through the whole album but after a little I didn't mind them. Overall it was good, but the whole concept and realization felt... uncomfortable. And Melody's laugh was annoying.

My French isn't good enuf for me to appreciate the lyrical quality of this record, but the fact that Serge talks and whispers the 'historie' of Melody Nelson, a vulnerable 14 year-old muse, w/o getting on my last nerve is a testament to the effective dynamism and theatricality of the music. The strings do not detract from the funky quality of the opening track or a song like 'L'hôtel particulier,' and the album is short enuf to avoid the pitfalls of self-indulgence. W/ that said, I cannot tell if the concept is deep or the mere gazing of a male: whom does the story ultimately benefit? Moreover, while it doesn't repel me, Serge's whispering is hardly my preference, and I for sure would've dug vocals that matched the explosiveness of the music.

I really wish I didn’t know what this is about because the instrumentation is very cool.

3/5 out of context
1/5 based on context

Halfway through this album I was extremely confused as to why this album was rated so low. Music is solid, got a vibe to it, was enjoying it but not something I'd necessarily go back to. But looking up the context, yeah. Lyrics about grooming an underage girl. Fun. There's separating the art and the artist, and then there's the artist just straight up writing these lyrics. Maybe I'm missing context due to the language barrier, but my short time looking up the album doesn't seem to paint the plot of the album in negative light or some sort of cautionary tale, it's just straight up cool with it.

I guess the album was vaguely based on his relationship with Jane Birken (who was thankfully 22 at the time of meeting him, but still side eyeing that relationship with him being close to 20 years her senior), but still. Hard to not feel uncomfortable listening to this album.

I guess it influenced Portishead, so at least it did some good in having a part in making one of my all time favorite albums, Dummy?

Ugh, not sure how to score this. The lyrical content/story is odious, obviously. I particularly hated the squealing/giggling in one track, which gave me the creeps. But on the other hand, I really liked how the guitar sounds on this album, and the musical content overall was pretty great. Going to go down the middle.

Hey, I like an album from the 70s! How bout that. (And it's a much more aesthetic topless lady album cover than the Pixies one... modulo the, uh, 14-yr-old cosplay.) I can't remember how I first got into Serge Gainsbourg, probably via Placebo, but of course I'm gonna like trip-pop en français. Maybe best that I don't think too hard about the lyrics on this one, though.
The whole thing is like one long, chill song with pleasant string instrumentals.

also, relevant tweet (from @tomwalkerisgood)::
KOKO: Koko birkin bag. Practical Koko possession bag
RESEARCHER: No, Koko. You can’t have a Birkin bag.
KOKO: Good Birkin good Koko give beautiful Koko deserve gorilla
RESEARCHER: Koko, we simply can’t afford a Birkin bag. It is an unjustifiable expense.
KOKO: jealousy professor

:)

I loved this album for years, and really feel like it continues to stand out as a unique and beautiful piece of work.

I don't know any French so had no idea about the Lolita-esque "ick" factors with the concept. Unfortunately this initially soured my previous appreciation of the album and I have had a tough time listening through and connecting with the vocalists as much as I used to.

At the end of the day, I remind myself that these are characters in a story created by an artist who prides himself in being controversial. No children were harmed in the making of this album and the goal does not seem to be an "advocation" of the narrators egregious acts (though again I don't know French so can only read synopses and do not understand the nuisances of the language).

Reflecting on what initially drew me to the album: his voice is amazing, there is so much musical variation and depth across it's short runtime, it was and continues to be cutting edge, it's funky and expressive, and it all comes full circle through masterful sequencing. For a non-french speaker like me, what is there not to love? 5/5

Nopers. Mostly spoken word and the music isn't really even intriguing.

Lyhyt ja ytimekäs, ilman mitään turhaa. Levyn tarina flirttailee aika arveluttavalla alueella olematta kuitenkaan sietämätön. Tykkäsin erityisesti avaus- ja lopetusraidoista. 4/5

*Takes a long draw of a Gauloises cigarette*

It is, how you say, a tale as old as time... An older man seducing and deflowering a young teenage girl after running her down in his car.

But this one has at least some badass basslines and funky riffs.

fuck the pedophiles

please look up French Kids Paying Tribute to Serge Gainsbourg (1988) on youtube

The music was nice, but the theme of this album is bonkers.

I’m at a 4 if it’s not as autobiographical as it seems, and if the main protagonist here is intentionally meant to sound & feel really, really creepy. I’m at a 1 if it’s as autobiographical as it seems, and if the main protagonist here is intentionally meant to sound romantic & feel really, really seductive. I’m going to give the full benefit of the doubt, split the difference, and go with a 2.5 that I’ll bump up to a 3.

From a purely musical standpoint, this album nails the tone it’s going for, which is a cinematic runthrough of a relationship caused by chance (i.e., him hitting this 15-year-old with his Rolls Royce & immediately being smitten), and ending in a tragedy of sorts (a plane crash). The orchestration, the choir, the percussion, his vocal stylings, her spoken dialogue – the cinematic feel of it all is really well done, it feels around 30 years ahead of its time (some of this felt like late 90s / early 2000s movie trailer music to me) and it’s a decently engaging 28 minutes with really strong production, and I did like the core of the album.

The big difference maker comes in Serge Gainsbourg himself, and I really can’t get a read on the guy. He was out here having relationships with significant age differences, but never as young & as disgusting as a relationship with a 15-year-old would be – I want to say he was more of a DiCaprio type – girls in their twenties, and all that. Everything about this, at least musically, suggests to me that he knows this behavior, at least with THIS big of an age gap, is deeply inappropriate, and I don’t think our protagonist here is meant to be endearing to me as a listener. However, to engage in behavior that’s so close to it in real life, without the underaged stigma, makes this album a bit of a strange enigma, and I just don’t want to go down the rabbit hole even deeper into his own personal life.

So, I’m at a 3, because I just can’t tell (and don’t really want to tell) either way. I don’t think this is an album that romanticizes pedophilia, but I can’t say it explicitly condemns it either. I’m giving a rather heavy benefit of the doubt here, and it would not surprise me to see this go down to a 1 with further research. However, if he’s relatively cleared of my suspicions, it could go up to a 4. It’s not within the range of a 5 at all for me, just based on the subject matter in general. For now, based on the effectiveness of the music at hand, I’m going to stay at a 3. Certainly a strange pull for the first album of 2025.

Too much talk singing and melodrama I think the concept of the album was a bit off off putting. I usually like this genre

God the plot of this is so fucking French. Since its a spoken word piece more than an album, its hard to rate. I personally enjoy French language but the story being about some asshole hitting a 14 year old with his car, taking her to bed, and her dying in a plane accident is just.......weird and gross. its one saving grace is that it's fiction?

This made me feel unsettling. I didn't like it.

I listened to this album while reading the english translated lyrics.

The album is a story about a forbidden relationship between the narrator and a juvenile girl after the narrator had hit her with his Rolls Royce.

While the topic of the story is not good, it is a story, and the music is made rather well.

I'll admit this was a difficult album to digest. For context, Serge Gainsbourg was a renowned French singer-songwriter known for provocative releases across numerous styles. He became the artist's favorite, and countless musicians consider him an influence—Beck, Pulp, R.E.M., Arctic Monkeys, Massive Attack, Portishead, and the list goes on.
For this list of albums to listen to before you die, it does make sense to include at least one from this guy, especially if it is an album that has become one of the most critically acclaimed in French pop music.

Also, to this album's credit, the style and production are top-notch. The avant-funk compositions where the rollicking guitar and complementing rhythm sections, complete with Serge and Jane Birkin's sultry hushed vocal deliveries made for such a delectable listen that transcends its time. Sonically, this album slaps, and it almost made me wish the runtime was
longer than 28 minutes to continue further in this soundscape. I say almost because now we get to dive into the "fun" part of Histoire de Melody Nelson - the lyrical content...

I had to check the English translation of these lyrics after reading the synopsis of this album's concept because it was shocking. This is the story of a man who nearly kills a teenage girl - the titular Melody Nelson - by hitting her with his car, is enamored with her to the point where he decides to take her virginity, and then said girl dies in a plane crash the next morning. The man can't accept what happened and proceeds to search for whatever remains of her body. The only saving grace for this kind of twisted tragic love story is that it is well-established that the male protagonist is a narcissist - he had no care for his reckless driving, he possessed an uncontrolled desire for this girl, and then later after she dies he compares his loss to that of the cargo cults of Melanesia as a self-centered justification to go off and find her remains. In that respect, Serge understood how to make a provocative piece that doesn't
misconstrue what is considered morally acceptable. Though that does put this album at odds with the replayability - how willing is one to go through this story again knowing the circumstances and what's to come?

I will say this - Histoire de Melody Nelson is an album that belongs on this list for its significance in the pantheon of French music and its large influence across the board. It does deserve to be listened through at least once to appreciate technically and understand the complex nature of its story. Whether you choose to keep coming back to this album is your decision. I don't see myself coming back anytime soon, but I can walk away and acknowledge its importance. Make of that what you will.