I think it is the first or one of the first songs by Serge Gainsbourg who wrote (and sang) many others. Le poinçonneur was the person who was in charge of checking (puncturing) the tickets in the Parisian subway (le métro). They have been replaced by machines in September 1973. Les Lilas is a subway station.
YouTube
Site devoted to the history of metro tickets.
It's a good song. I had never heard it before.
Posted by: Anne | 09/17/2009 at 11:18 AM
This is the song that launched Gainsbourg's career and also Hugues Aufray's
career as i think I read on Wikipedia he was the first to sing it. The video
is also amazing: he is so young with such a different look.
On Thu, Sep 17, 2009 at 11:18 AM, wrote:
Posted by: Philippe Boucher | 09/17/2009 at 06:43 PM