NEW YORK — In addition to being a French sex symbol of the 1960s, he was an actor, singer and animal activist, Brigitte Bardot was a muse for many – in particular, musicians.
Her name, with its alliterative cadence, became synonymous with classical beauty. Bardot's songs often don't. Bardo Woman, but the symbol of desire is short for bomb. Decades after the peak of her screen fame, contemporary performers continue to sing her name despite numerous controversies, including being convicted five times by French courts for inciting racial hatred and making provocative comments about #MeToo movement.
This may not be her main legacy, but Bardot, who died on Sunday in the south of France, will live on in the songs in which she is mentioned. Below is a selection by genre and language.
The last track of the canonical “Free Bob Dylan” showcases Dylan's vicious verbosity and elastic folk. “Well, my phone rang and it couldn't stop / It's President Kennedy calling me / He said, 'My friend Bob, what do we need to keep the country growing?' I said, my friend John, Brigitte Bardot,” he sings. “Anita Ekberg/Sophia Loren/The country will rise.”
Brazilian artist Caetano Veloso composed a protest song at the start of the protest. tropicalism movement; it became the hallmark of his career and one of the most famous Brazilian songs of all time. In it he sings: “Em caras de Presidentes / Em grandes beijos de amor / Em dentes, pernas, Bandeiras / Bomba e Brigitte Bardot” (“In the faces of the presidents / In the big kisses of love / In the teeth, legs, flags / Bombs and Brigitte Bardot”).
The main architect of French pop music, singer Serge Gainsbourg wrote this duet for himself and Bardot. It is styled after the poem “End of the Trail”, written by criminal Bonnie Parker shortly before she and her partner Clyde Barrow were murdered.
Merry piano and Elton Jones rising vocal melodies, all for a song with a less than optimistic title. John sings the words of his longtime lyricist Bernie Taupin: “I'd make an exception / If you want to save my life / Brigitte Bardot should come / And see me every night.”
The challengers know a thing or two about Bardo's social power. The main songwriter of the English rock band and frontwoman Chrissie Hynde sings, “When love walks into a room / Everybody stands up / Oh, it's good, good, good / Like Brigitte Bardot.”
Perhaps it's a little unfair to include Billy Joel here's a classic that loses its name more than most pop hits, but it's telling that Bardot is praised along with “Budapest, Alabama, Khrushchev/Princess Grace, Peyton Place, Trouble in Suez” and right after “Einstein, James Dean, Brooklyn's Got a Winning Team/Davy Crockett, Peter Pan, Elvis Presley, Disneyland.” Not a little-known name in plain sight.
“Stratford-On-Guy” from the influential indie rocker Liz Phair seminal album Exile in Guyville targets the guy-centric music scene. But Bardo is also used to describe the flight attendant, who reminds her that while communities may be isolated, from 30,000 feet up they all look the same. “The flight attendant came back and checked my drink / In the last rays of Brigitte Bardot’s sunlight,” she sings. “Cause I had my headphones on along with these eyes / This is what happens when your circumstances are the size of a movie.”
In the second verse of “Warlocks” from the funky California rockers red hot chili pepper, singer Anthony Kiedis nearly blurted out, “Ring side and in detail / Another main event at the old Rainbow / We're going straight to the top of tupelo / When she looks just like Brigitte Bardot.” This is a descriptive image of Los Angeles, even with Bardot in mind.
Kali Uchis and Jorja Smith's dreamy collaboration imagines “Bardot” as shorthand for a make-out session with a difficult partner. “The world is asking us to lose control,” Uchis swoons. “Everything we ever do is French, like Brigitte Bardot (Brigitte Bardot).”
Olivia Rodrigo best known for her energetic punk pop, but she's also a singer of powerful ballads to keep anyone forget it was a “driver's license” this made her a household name. “Lacey,” an excerpt from “Guts,” is soft and slow, and Rodrigo is obsessed with a woman she is not. It's a jealous song, and it's ripe for a Bardo reference. “Smart, sexy Lacey, I've been going crazy lately / I can feel your compliments like bullets on my skin,” she sings in a whisper. “Dazzling starlet, reincarnation of Bardo / Well, aren't you the greatest being that ever existed?”
It's right at the top to describe the thrill of falling in love. “She was a playboy, Brigitte Bardot”, pop musician Chappell Roan sings over bouncy synths and fun guitar riffs. “She showed me things I didn't know.”
