Discover the story of the song > Je suis venu te dire que je m’en vais – Serge Gainsbourg

- "Je suis venu te dire que je m'en vais" is a song written, composed and performed by Serge Gainsbourg, released on the album Vu de l'extérieur and as a single in late 1973.
- Although critically acclaimed at the time of its release, the song has become over time a classic Gainsbourg.
- In 1973, Gainsbourg suffered his first heart attack, narrowly escaping death. Hospitalized for a week, he was inspired to write what would become "Je suis venu te dire que je m'en vais".
- The lyrics refer to "Chanson d'automne", a poem by Paul Verlaine, from which Gainsbourg quotes some lines while rearranging the order.
- To accentuate the dramatic effect of the song, Gainsbourg recorded the cries of Jane Birkin, his partner at the time who had just given birth to a daughter, Charlotte.
- When asked about this song by the journalist Michel Lancelot, Gainsbourg explains: "When everything goes wrong, you have to sing about beautiful love. When everything is going well, you have to sing about breakups and atrocities".
- In reality, the song is addressed to Françoise-Antoinette Pancrazzi, Gainsbourg's second wife and the mother of his first two children.