Le Poinconneur des Lilas

Le Poinconneur des Lilas (1964) was the first "hit" by the French singer, composer, artist, actor...professionally notorious human controversy, Serge Gainsbourgh.

The lyrics of the song are about a subway ticket puncher, at that time, there was a fellow whose job it was to put a little hole (petit trou) in the ticket when you went into the Metro.

The song describes the despair of the repititious monotony of the job. The Poinconneur, in the end, decides to put a petit trou in his head and so he can finally find rest in a petit trou in the ground.

Gainsbourgh went on to become one of the most influential and notorious figures in French pop music and for the rest of the world as well. A musical career that embraced jazz, pop and rock, reggae and finally in the late 80's, Electronica.

He was born in 1928 and died in 1991. He was a Jewish child in occupied Paris and his family was forced to flee. I will post more about him, but this is a good place to start.