Jane, Je' taime

Jane Birkin: Jane Birkin was born in London on 14 December 1946, the daughter of Judy Campbell, an actress, and David Birkin, a captain in the Royal Navy. She first trod the boards at the age of 17 and met John Barry, who signed her up in 1965 for his musical comedy Passion Flower Hotel. When she was twenty years old, Jane attracted attention in Blow-up, Antonioni's scandalous film that received recognition at the Cannes Film Festival. In France, Pierre Grimblat was filming Slogan. He was looking for an Englishwoman to play opposite Serge Gainsbourg. The artist was already famous on the fringe of the 1960s teenage pop movement, but he was taking his break-up with Brigitte Bardot hard. Jane went for a screen test; she spoke broken French, knew nothing about her co-star and bore the brunt of his heartache. Gainsbourg, gruffer than ever, gave the frightened young woman a rough time, making her burst into tears in front of the camera. And that was how their mythical love story began in Paris in 1969. They became inseparable, becoming a legend in the 'underground' bars where the post-68 libertarian wind was blowing. Lasciviously languid in voice and body, they recorded Je t'aime moi non plus. Jane lent her ingenuousness to the hackneyed eroticism and was the talk of the town. Jane and Serge eventually parted ways, but remained close. Jane still sings today. Birkin's voice nestles with a sweetness rarely achieved in the past, among deceptively fragile arrangements which are set off by the likes of ex-Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr (and Marr doesn't take out his axe for just anyone these days) Bryan Ferry, or the Pet Shop Boys. Jane Birkin puts a lot of herself in Fictions: more than enough to keep pleasing her fans on both sides of the Channel. Home for Birkin is neither France nor England now, but the hearts of those who love her: "I've been a displaced person for most of my life and it's a bit impertinent to try to find out if I'll be received as just another singer. I needed to go and see. It's strange being part of other people's lives. Sometimes you feel like sailing without a compass. This record started out with a destination, but in the end it changed into an adventure that brought me back to where I am".