Cunnilingue is an adjective derived from the sexual act of cunnilingus. It's a highly unusual and provocative word to find in a song, especially in a mainstream context, making it instantly memorable and intriguing.
In the song, Serge Gainsbourg uses it to describe a "voix cunnilingue" (cunnilingus voice) coming from the control tower. This personifies the voice in a suggestive and explicit way, hinting at the song's playful and often risqué themes, characteristic of Gainsbourg's style. It's a word that immediately grabs attention due to its rarity and explicit nature.
"Transit À Marilou" comes from Serge Gainsbourg's 1976 concept album "L'Homme à tête de chou," where the whole record follows one obsessive love story. Here Gainsbourg turns a plane journey into an extended, tongue-in-cheek metaphor for desire and disorientation.
The narrator pictures himself as a rickety little aircraft, engine sputtering, altimeter failing, losing his bearings as he tries to land. Every technical detail of the flight, from the cockpit to the control tower, doubles as something more intimate, in classic Gainsbourg style: playful wordplay hiding an explicit joke just under the surface.
It's less a story with a plot than a mood: giddy, a little lost, and unmistakably French in its mix of humor and seduction. The final line, "Je suis à Marilou," lands the whole flight, literally and otherwise, at the woman who has been the destination all along.
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 Symptômes" 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.