308 - [Gainsbourg and the New Wave]

[Gainsbourg and the New Wave] GAINSBOURG (Serge). Escroc. [1964] Autograph manuscript of 6 pp. on 6 ff. numbered "1+7" (indicating the repetition of the first verse at the end of the song) and then 2 through 6, SACEM registration stamp dated May 15, 1964. Final manuscript for SACEM registration, in neat handwriting, with a single correction on p. 4 (“en dollars” crossed out) for a song that remained unpublished for a long time, composed for the soundtrack of an anthology film titled “Les Plus Belles Escroqueries du monde.” The first page is titled “Credits,” the second “Amsterdam,” the third “Tokyo,” the fourth “Naples,” the fifth “Paris,” and the sixth “Marrakech.” "A film consisting of five sketches shot in five different cities by Hiromichi Horikawa (Tokyo), Roman Polanski (Amsterdam), Ugo Gregoretti (Naples), Claude Chabrol (Paris), and Jean-Luc Godard (Marrakech), *The World’s Most Beautiful Scams*, released on August 14, 1964, features actors such as Jean-Pierre Cassel, Catherine Deneuve, Francis Blanche, and Jean Seberg. Each sequence is linked by an excerpt from the song “L’Escroc,” written by Serge Gainsbourg, who also composed the film’s theme music. Other music for the sketches was composed by Krzysztof Komeda, Piero Emiliani, Pierre Jansen, and Michel Legrand. The track—which for a long time was Gainsbourg’s finest unreleased work, known only to die-hard fans until its release in 2011—was registered with SACEM on May 4, 1964; performed as a trio with Elec Bacsik (guitar) and Michel Gaudry (double bass), we can assume that the recording dates from the sessions for the album *Gainsbourg confidentiel*. […]" G. Verlant & L. Picaud, *L'Intégrale Gainsbourg*. The Story of All His Songs, Fetjaine, 2011. Long unreleased until its rediscovery and inclusion in the “Vingtième anniversaire” box set in 2011, this gem reflects a period of artistic transition for Gainsbourg, at the crossroads between the intimate jazz of his early days and a more cinematic, ironic, and poetic style of songwriting. The film, produced in the spirit of Italian comedy, also perfectly embodies the sensibility of the French New Wave: cosmopolitan, ironic, and disillusioned. Similarly, Gainsbourg’s aphorisms, marked by an elegant and cruel irony, evoke the influence of Baudelaire, Verlaine, and Decadent poetry: the verses are finely crafted, dark, and refined, foreshadowing the great works of his mature period (Initials B.B., La décadanse, Je suis venu te dire que je m’en vais): “Love is an exchange / Of bad behavior / And women take revenge / For having loved us,” or “This one hints / That she loves pebbles / But what, must she wait / For them to jump around her neck?” Gainsbourg, who moved in the circles of cinema, literature, and painting, further established himself as a complete artist, blending song, literature, and imagery. *L’Escroc*, long a missing link in his discography, is a striking example of this: a snapshot of elegance, disillusionment, and modernity.