alors voilà clyde a une petite amie, elle est belle et son prénom c'est bonnie

In greatness usually only imaginable in my wildest dreams, my obsession with French sixties pop music and American gangsters came together in a beautiful union in 1967. One of the most famous (and infamous) couples of the Sixties, bombshell sex symbol Brigitte Bardot and famed womanizer Serge Gainsbourg, took on the roles of a perhaps even more infamous pair of lovers: Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker. While I love me some Dillinger and Ma Barker, and I'm fascinated by the men from Murder Inc., Bonnie and Clyde still hold the top spot for me. It's not just their terribly romanticized lifestyle that's been perpetuated over the years (I know that Bonnie didn't really wear heels, and those pencil skirts would've slowed down her getaway run) - though I do love buying into that - but also because they were born, bred, robbing, and dead in my hometown. (Both Bonnie and Clyde are buried in Dallas, and I once ate at a restaurant that used to be a famous jail, and dined in the cell that once housed W.D. Jones, member of the Barrow Gang. I know, I'm awesome).
Serge and Brigitte's song "Bonnie and Clyde" was recorded in 1967, perhaps the peak of the pop culture obsession with these Depression-era bank robbers, as it was also the year that Arthur Penn released his film Bonnie and Clyde. The film changed the entire nature of cinema, ushering in the New Hollywood era, and also launching the careers of Faye Dunaway, Gene Hackman, Estelle Parsons (who won an Oscar for her role as Blanche Barrow), and Gene Wilder (in his very first film role), as well as cementing Warren Beatty as a major player in Hollywood (he produced, starred, and gave uncredited contributions to the script of the film).
More importantly (to me at least), the film also tremendously influenced fashion, with the glam gal-on-the-run look coming back to the runways and magazines at least once every two years. (You can read my post on Faye's Bonnie looks here). It is no coincidence that Bardot is dressed in snug printed blouses, tailored pencil skirts, berets atop short blonde bobbed hair - the very same style of dress that Dunaway wore in the film. Serge and Brigitte prefer to channel the glammed, sexy version of Bonnie and Clyde, rather than the rough-and-tumble reality of the two on-the-run gangsters.
The song is typical Gainsbourg genuis - sometimes a bit random, and always a bit inappropriate, the darker tones of the song are masked by the catchy melody and the sweet singing voices of the duo. The lyrics were inspired by a poem entitled "The Trail's End" (now known as "The Story of Bonnie and Clyde"), written by Miss Parker herself only weeks before her and Clyde's fatal shootout with the police.
Released in 1968, the tune and its accompanying video are both classic. The song is a must-have for fans not just of American gangster heroes and history, and not just for fans of French pop by the likes of Bardot and Gainsbourg, but for anyone who likes a fun tune to cruise around in their car and listen to with their windows rolled down. Trust me, if you do it you'll feel like a supreme badass.

Title: from "Bonnie and Clyde" (Serge Gainsbourg and Brigitte Bardot)

you get a gun and name it after a girlfriend

Jean-Luc Godard once said, "all you need for a movie is a gun and a girl." While I am not promoting or advocating violence by any means, I think that in life sometimes all you need is a girl with a gun. I don't know ... I'm very random sometimes. 

Sylvie Vartan tries her hand at weaponry (and of course looks stunning - can you believe how incredible her hair looks here?)

Another popular yé-yé girl, France Gall, poses alongside her mentor - and perhaps partner-in-crime - Serge Gainsbourg

Armed, wigged, and dangerous - Anita Pallenberg tries a new look on in Performance

Who could forget Natalie Portman as the precocious badass Mathilda in Léon?

Marilyn Monroe takes Cupid to a whole other level, ditching a bow and arrow for some heavier artillery for gettin' those hearts to fall in love

Makes sense that Anna Karina, wife and muse to Godard, was so often seen toting a gun in his movies, such as in Pierrot Le Fou and Made in USA

Ann-Margret dares any of her critics to 'make her day' - she's got a gun in hand and bullets strapped around her waist

Brigitte Bardot channels Bonnie Parker (or, perhaps, more accurately, channels Faye Dunaway-channeling-Bonnie Parker) in the promo video for her duet with Serge Gainsbourg, "Bonnie and Clyde" 

Farrah Fawcett perhaps takes her role as gun-toting glamazon in Charlie's Angels a bit too far in these photo shoots. With aim as spectacular as her looks, it's no surprise that no man was left standing

The unparalleled Faye Dunaway wowed critics and fashionistas alike with her performance as Bonnie Parker, the gun-slingin', beret-wearing beauty who captured the eye - and heart - of Clyde Barrow

The late great Jane Russell made a name for herself as a bombshell gun moll in such films as The Outlaw

I don't know what looks more dangerous - Louise Brooks' deadly stare or the two guns that she's holding

Anita Pallenberg and Michele Breton explore the gun belonging to on-the-run gangster Chas, played by James Fox, in their sixties masterpiece Performance

Marilyn Monroe looks somehow so innocent with her gun - and of course, ever the bombshell, she wears lipstick. The gal knew that even more important than the right to bear arms was the right to look fabulous while doing so

Karen Elson gives Little Red Riding Hood quite a daring twist - let's see the big bad wolf try to get Elson's Red, who looks fierce with her gun and five-inch heels

France Gall is perhaps the only gal in the world who can pose alongside a rifle and large stuffed animals and have it look completely normal and actually charming

The November 1936 cover of Vogue Magazine shows that even guns can be in fashion from time to time

Title: from "I Remember Every Kiss" (Jens Lekman)

hier ou demain

Screencaps made by me from her performance of Hier ou Demain on French television. Here's a link to the video - keep an eye out for an appearance by Serge Gainsbourg at the beginning of the video.