The French singer-songwriter Serge Gainsbourg often behaved with dubious intent, fondling and insulting the women in his path, and alluding to incest and paedophilia in his lyrics.
But he was always forgiven by the Parisian intelligentsia which venerated him as a creative spirit, a sort of post-war version of the 19th-century poet Baudelaire, whose genius exceeded convention and everyday morality.
He was also a source of national pride after he became one of few French singers to achieve global fame with hits like Je T’aime . . . Moi Non Plus, the song full of heavy breathing that he performed with Jane Birkin, the British actress with whom he had a 12-year relationship.
Now one of France’s most celebrated contemporary singers, who performs under
