![\"Top](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Top-of-The-Pops-BBC-TV-Show-Music-Television-Show-British-TV-Show-Far-Out-Magazine-1140x855.jpg\")
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(Credits: Far Out \/ Top of The Pops \/ BBC)<\/p>\n
Mon 16 March 2026 20:10, UK <\/p>\n
If you\u2019re setting out to write a number one<\/a> hit, one of the first things you should consider is the subject matter of your lyrics.\u00a0<\/p>\n Stay away from excessive expletives, overt depictions of sex or violence, or anything that might harm your chances at mainstream airplay. Sing about love or the loss of it, sing about inspiration or togetherness, sing about anything that won\u2019t get you banned from mainstream radio stations and Top of the Pops.<\/p>\n Or, ignore all of those directives completely and pen one of the sultriest songs of all time, knowing it will rise to the top of the charts not despite its sexual nature, but because of it.<\/p>\n This is the path that Serge Gainsbourg opted to take in the late 1960s when he penned \u2018Je t\u2019aime\u2026 moi non plus\u2019. Spawning from a failed date with actor Brigitte Bardot, Gainsbourg recorded the song in 1969 and recruited fellow actor Jane Birkin<\/a> to join him in the studio.<\/p>\n Together, they created one of the most sensual songs of all time. Instrumentally, the song featured a sultry combination of guitar strums, occasional strings, and a gentle organ, setting the scene for the romantic lyrics. But it was Gainsbourg and Birkin\u2019s duet that made \u2018Je t\u2019aime\u2026 moi non plus\u2019 so sultry. While the songwriter sings in a low voice, Birkin whispers her lines, infusing them with lust and even gasping and moaning towards the climax of the song.\u00a0<\/p>\n The lyrics to \u2018Je t\u2019aime\u2026 moi non plus\u2019 are equally sultry, with repeated declarations of \u201cI love you\u201d and lines that translate to \u201cYou\u2019re going, you\u2019re going, and you\u2019re coming inside me\u201d. Uncompromising in its sonic depictions of sex, the song didn\u2019t exactly seem primed to go to number one. It was far too noticeably sexual, right?<\/p>\n But Gainsbourg had faith that \u2018Je t\u2019aime\u2026 moi non plus\u2019 would become a hit nonetheless. According to Birkin, who recalled the test run during an interview with Mojo, they played the song to an unsuspecting group of restaurant-goers, who were all immediately stopped in their tracks.<\/p>\n \u201cEverybody\u2019s knives and forks were in the air, suspended,\u201d she remembered, \u201cNobody went on eating. Serge said, \u2018I think we\u2019ve got a hit.\u2019\u201dGainsbourg was right. Despite the subject matter of the song, \u2018Je t\u2019aime\u2026 moi non plus\u2019 hit number one in the United Kingdom in 1969. In fact, it was the first foreign-language song to achieve this feat<\/a>, and it did so against all odds. Despite the whispered sexual content, despite the mass bans from radio stations, Gainsbourg and Birkin\u2019s duet still managed to top the charts.<\/p>\n Even though it topped the charts in the United Kingdom, the song wouldn\u2019t receive airtime on chart show Top of the Pops. The programme joined the radio stations that had banned the song and refused to play it. This only added another impressive feat to Gainsbourg\u2019s resume: he had penned the first song that Top of the Pops had refused to play. <\/p>\n Four decades have passed since \u2018Je t\u2019aime\u2026 moi non plus\u2019 was first hit or was banned from the airwaves, but the song still retains that sultry quality that endeared so many listeners and repelled many others. The song has been reused, sampled, and parodied consistently ever since its first release, proving that Gainsbourg penned not just a number one hit but an enduring cultural moment.<\/p>\n \u2018Je t\u2019aime\u2026 moi non plus\u2019 and Gainsbourg\u2019s sexual revolution<\/p>\n In her diaries, Birkin bemoans the years that she was simply labelled Jane \u2018Blow-Up\u2019 Birkin, the scantily clad \u201cit girl\u201d, as opposed to the legitimate actor making steps towards liberation, and then suddenly with \u2018Je t\u2019aime\u2026 moi non plus\u2019, the quivering jazzy half-notes of husky French tones launched her as a serious chart-topping artiste.<\/p>\n![\"Jane](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Jane-Birkin-Serge-Gainsbourg-1960s-Far-Out-Magazine-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/a>(Credits: Far Out \/ Alamy)<\/p>\n