Je Suis Venu Te Dire Que Je M’En Vais (I Came To Tell You That I’m Leaving)
Gainsbourg released this song on an album in October 1973. The lyrics ostensibly express pain from a decision to leave a partner after a long relationship, which at the time for Gainsbourg was Jane Birkin (her sobs highlight the background track). However, it was written just a few weeks after Gainsbourg’s weeklong hospitalization for his first heart attack in May 1973, so it may also suggest intimations of his own mortality (at age 45) and the possibility of a more personal and definitive departure. In fact, in “Gainsbourg, the Biography” (p. 396) Gilles Verlant quotes photographer Jean d’Hugues as saying: “Everyone thought that “Je suis venu te dire que je m’en vais” was Serge saying that he was leaving Jane, which was not at all the intention. In his mind, it meant “I’m going to die and I have to prepare you for that.” In any case, Serge and Jane's relationship often smacked of contrivance, like the time she jumped in the Seine after throwing a custard pie in Gainsbourg’s face. It is also reported that Gainsbourg actually intended to address the song to his second wife, Francoise-Antoinette Pancrazzi.
The lyrics to the song liberally draw words (shown by italics and underlining in the text below) from a short poem by Paul Verlaine (1866), “Chanson d'Automne,” (Autumn Song). This poem contemplates transiency via the symbolism of autumn, a favorite metaphor among French poets and echoed in Prévert’s “Les Feuilles Mortes.”
Gainsbourg released this song on an album in October 1973. The lyrics ostensibly express pain from a decision to leave a partner after a long relationship, which at the time for Gainsbourg was Jane Birkin (her sobs highlight the background track). However, it was written just a few weeks after Gainsbourg’s weeklong hospitalization for his first heart attack in May 1973, so it may also suggest intimations of his own mortality (at age 45) and the possibility of a more personal and definitive departure. In fact, in “Gainsbourg, the Biography” (p. 396) Gilles Verlant quotes photographer Jean d’Hugues as saying: “Everyone thought that “Je suis venu te dire que je m’en vais” was Serge saying that he was leaving Jane, which was not at all the intention. In his mind, it meant “I’m going to die and I have to prepare you for that.” In any case, Serge and Jane's relationship often smacked of contrivance, like the time she jumped in the Seine after throwing a custard pie in Gainsbourg’s face. It is also reported that Gainsbourg actually intended to address the song to his second wife, Francoise-Antoinette Pancrazzi.
The lyrics to the song liberally draw words (shown by italics and underlining in the text below) from a short poem by Paul Verlaine (1866), “Chanson d'Automne,” (Autumn Song). This poem contemplates transiency via the symbolism of autumn, a favorite metaphor among French poets and echoed in Prévert’s “Les Feuilles Mortes.”
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Je suis venu te dire que je m’en vais Et tes larmes n’y pourront rien changer. Comme dit si bien Verlaine au vent mauvais, Je suis venu te dire que je m'en vais. Tu te souviens des jours anciens et tu pleures, Tu suffoques, tu blêmis à présent qu’a sonné L’heure des adieux à jamais. Oui, je suis au regret de te dire que je m’en vais. Oui je t’aimais, oui, mais, Je suis venu te dire que je m’en vais. Tes sanglots longs n’y pourront rien changer. Comme dit si bien Verlaine au vent mauvais, Je suis venu de te dire que je m’en vais. Tu te souviens des jours heureux et tu pleures, Tu sanglotes, tu gémis à présent qu’a sonné l’heure Des adieux à jamais. Oui je suis au regret de te dire que je m’en vais Car tu m’en as trop fait. Je suis venu te dire que je m’en vais Et tes larmes n’y pourront rien changer. Comme dit si bien Verlaine au vent mauvais, Je suis venu te dire que je m'en vais. Tu te souviens des jours anciens et tu pleures Tu suffoques, tu blêmis à présent qu’a sonné L’heure des adieux à jamais. Oui, je suis au regret De te dire que je m’en vais Oui, je t’aimais, oui, mais… Je suis venu te dire que je m’en vais Et tes larmes n’y pourront rien changer. Comme dit si bien Verlaine au vent mauvais, Je suis venu te dire que je m'en vais. Tu te souviens des jours heureux et tu pleures, Tu sanglotes, tu gémis à présent qu’a sonné l’heure Des adieux à jamais. Oui, je suis au regret De te dire que je m’en vais Car tu m’en as trop fait. |
I came to tell you that I'm going away And your tears won’t change anything As Verlaine said so well, 'to an ill wind' I came to tell you that I'm going away You remember the old days and you cry You suffocate, you turn pale now that the hour has sounded for final goodbyes Yes, I regret to tell you I'm going away Yes I loved you, yes, but I came to tell you that I'm going away Your long sobs won’t change anything. As said so well by Verlaine 'to an ill wind' I came to tell you that I'm going away You remember happy days and you cry You suffocate, you turn pale now the hour has sounded for final goodbyes Yes I regret to tell you I'm going away Because you did too much to me I came to tell you that I'm going away Your tears can't do anything about it As said so well by Verlaine 'to an ill wind' I came to tell you that I'm going away You remember happy days and you cry You suffocate, you turn pale now the time's come for final goodbyes Yes, I feel regret For telling you I'm going away Yes, I loved you, yes but… I came to tell you that I'm going away Your tears can't do anything about it As said so well by Verlaine 'to an ill wind' I came to tell you that I'm going away You remember happy days and you cry You suffocate, you turn pale now the time's come for final goodbyes Yes, I feel regret To tell you I'm going away Because you did too much to me |
NB:
- Gainsbourg repurposes and adapts Verlaine’s following lines: “Et je m’en vais au vent mauvais,” “tes sanglots longs,” “Je me souviens des jours anciens et je pleurs.”
- During WWII, BBC’s Radio Londres used lines from Verlaine’s poem as code to the French Resistance in June 1944, signaling the onset of D-Day Operation Overlord for the liberation of France. The first 3 lines of the poem broadcast on June 1, signaling an invasion in two weeks. The next set of lines broadcast on June 5, signaling invasion within 48 hours and ordering sabotage operations.
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