Song Details
- Album Release Date: 1979-01-01
- Album Name: Aux armes et caetera
Song Meaning (Interpretation) of “Les locataires” by Serge Gainsbourg
‘Les locataires’ is a song by Serge Gainsbourg about the transitory and uncertain nature of life. He speaks of people living in rented accommodations, always on the move, with ‘the same few memories of our past ‘nests’. There seems to be a sense of longing there, as if the singer wants to be settled down in some place more permanent and perhaps even picturesque. He talks of ‘baggage of hope and sunlit illusions’, suggesting that people keep dreaming of a better life for themselves in spite of the constant state of flux. Ultimately, Gainsbourg sings of how life is never where you want it to be, and that everyone is constantly transitioning from one place to another, never quite arriving at that desired destination. He concludes the song by saying that life is unpredictable and that ‘you never know what the future is going to bring’.