Gourdin literally translates to "club" or "cudgel," a heavy stick used as a weapon. However, in French slang, it's also a euphemism for a penis.
In the context of this Serge Gainsbourg song, the line "Ça y est tu as l'gourdin t'es en rut" (That's it, you have the club, you're in heat) clearly uses the slang meaning. It's a provocative and memorable word that captures the song's edgy and irreverent tone, making it interesting for learners to discover this double meaning.
This is Gainsbourg picking a fight with a motorcycle. The whole song is one side of an argument aimed at David, a Harley owner he accuses of stealing the bike and running off to sleep with anyone who'll have him: "Qu'est-ce tu décides, tu vas aux putes?" (So what's it going to be, off to the whores?) Between every accusation the title comes back like a chorus and an insult in the same breath, "Harley David son of a bitch," half French slang and half English, so David and the machine blur into one target.
It ends exactly where this kind of jealousy usually points. "Tu es mort sur le coup c'est bien fait" (You died on the spot, serves you right). Gainsbourg wrote it in 1984 for "Love on the Beat," at his most deliberately vulgar, and the joke only lands because he never lets you decide whether he's horrified or delighted that the bike finally killed him.
Serge Gainsbourg (1928-1991) was one of France's most influential and provocative singer-songwriters, celebrated for his sharp wit, playful wordplay, and fearless approach to taboo subjects. Born Lucien Ginsburg in Paris to Russian-Jewish immigrant parents, he first made his name writing songs for other French stars before building his own singing career through the 1960s and 1970s.
He moved fluidly between chanson, pop, reggae, and rock, and became internationally known for the breathy 1969 duet "Je t'aime... moi non plus" with Jane Birkin. Songs like "Premiers SymptĂ´mes" show his gift for turning dark, personal subject matter, heartbreak and self-destruction, into vivid, darkly funny storytelling. He remains one of the most sampled and studied songwriters in French pop history.