Elisa Lyrics in English Serge Gainsbourg

Serge Gainsbourg’s “Elisa” is a cheeky snapshot of forbidden flirtation wrapped in playground imagery. The narrator, a worldly forty-year-old, invites the twenty-year-old Elisa to “jump on his neck” and pick through his hair for imaginary lice, a childlike game that quickly turns into a sensual ritual. By asking her to dig her delicate fingers into the “jungle” of his hair and style playful curls, he blurs the line between innocent fun and adult desire, hinting that love can feel both mischievously youthful and intensely physical.

At its heart, the song celebrates carefree rebellion against social judgment. Gainsbourg openly mentions their age gap yet shrugs it off with a wink, declaring “les autres on s’en fout” (we don’t care about the others). Together they pretend their combined ages add up to only “thirteen, fourteen,” emphasizing how love makes them feel like kids again. The result is a light, catchy ode to living in the moment, ignoring critics, and indulging in the playful intimacy that sparks between two people who refuse to let convention clip their wings.