L'Anamour
By: Serge Gainsbourg

Original Performance: Jane Birkin, Serge Gainsbourg
Written by: Serge Gainsbourg

Versions:
  1. L'Anamour
 
Lyrics:
L'Anamour [Version (a)]:

Jane Birkin:
Aucun Boeing sur mon transit
Aucun bateau sur mon transat
Je cherche en vain la porte exacte
Je cherche en vain le mot exit


Beck:
Je chante pour les transistors
Ce récit de l'étrange histoire
De tes anamours transitoires
De Belle au Bois Dormant qui dort

Both:
Je t'aime et je crains
De m'égarer
Et je sème des grains
De pavot sur les pavés
De l'anamour


Tu sais ces photos de l'Asie
Que j'ai prises à deux cents Asa
Maintenant que tu n'es pas là
Leurs couleurs vives ont pâli


J'ai cru entendre les hélices
D'un quadrimoteur mais hélas
C'est un ventilateur qui passe
Au ciel du poste de police

Je t'aime et je crains
De m'égarer
Et je sème des grains
De pavot sur les pavés
De l'anamour

Je t'aime et je crains
De m'égarer
Et je sème des grains
De pavot sur les pavés
De l'anamour


Odelay!
 
The Song:

"L'Anamour" is a song originally by Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin. Beck's a huge fan of Serge's, and has often spoken about him (see "Paper Tiger"; his influence has mostly shown up on Sea Change, though the video for "The New Pollution" has some references too).

Anyway, while appearing on French TV, on April 1 2000, Beck got to play Serge's part on the song! I'm sure it was something he enjoyed doing. He does a good job, considering there's little evidence that he actually knows French. It's a light, poppy tune.

A kind Belgian reader edited my original translation to English, it makes a little more sense now in some of the parts. Translating lyrics usually loses meaning, and rarely does the original justice...
No Boeing on my transit
No boat on my deck
In vain, I seek the right door
In vain, I seek the word 'exit'

I sing for the transistors
The story of a strange history
Of your lovers transitory (?)
Of Sleeping Beauty who sleeps

I like you and I fear getting lost
I'm sowing the seeds of poppy
On the pavement
Of the lovers

You know these photographs of Asia
That I have taken with two hundred ASA
Now that you are not here anymore
Their lively colors have faded

I believed I heard the propellers
Of a four-engined plane but alas
It is a ventilator which passes
To the sky of the police station


 
Live:

Played live 2 times:
Earliest known live version: April 1, 2000
Latest known live version: July 23, 2000

The first performance of this song came on April 1 2000, when Jane Birkin joined Beck on a television show in Paris. This is the version that is circulating as a bootleg.

A few months later, Beck was back in Paris, and she again joined him on stage.

Give it a listen!