Serge Gainsbourg, “Là-bas C’est Naturel”

Oh boy, finally a real bomb of a song. There’s something about the
Gainsbourg approach, even beyond his French-lover persona, that makes
his music irresistible. This one starts out with a kind of
jungly-rhythm, then the female chorus pops in with the wordless
singing, le-le-le-le-le-le and so on.

 I think what it is about Gainsbourg is his willingness to submit to a
relatively narrow dynamic range, especially in the difference between
the verse and the chorus. It creates a sense of tension in the song,
that matches up with the clippity-cloppity beat and the crazy jungle
sounds. I’m waiting for the song to explode into something that Sly
and the Family Stone would do, and it never does. Fantastic.