Adieu à Jane Birkin (1946 – 2023)

I was saddened to read that Jane Birkin died in Paris on the 16th of July. I was a schoolgirl when her infamous duet, with Serge Gainsborough, hit the headlines and was banned in some countries. I remember loving this song, I thought it was so French!

Jane Birkin was born in London but moved to France in 1968. She was adopted by the nation and when she died President Emmanuel Macron tweeted: Parce qu’elle incarnait la liberté, qu’elle chantait les plus beaux mots de notre langue, Jane Birkin était une icône française.

This translates ‘Because she embodied freedom, because she sang the most beautiful words of our language, Jane Birkin was a French icon.’

As well as a singer, Jane was an actress and model, known for her distinctive style. The Hermès Birkin bag was designed for her and given her name. She met the chief executive of Hermès on a flight from Paris to London and commented that she needed a bag that would work for a mother of two. (She later had another child). Previously, she preferred to use baskets, lovely to look at but not practical.

Jane was awarded the OBE in 2001 for services to acting and British-French cultural relations. In France, Birkin was also known for her political activism and campaigning for a variety of causes, including Amnesty International, animal rights and Myanmar’s pro-democracy movement.

I was always fascinated by Jane’s accent which my French friends loved. They found it charming!

The clip I have chosen is of a song released in 2020 which I think is a perfect tribute to Jane Birkin.