Story behind a song: Protège-moi, part I

The song "𝗣𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗲̀𝗴𝗲-𝗺𝗼𝗶", its origin and the shooting of an "officially unofficial" video for this song, which was never released in public, is a topic that definitely deserves our attention.
I've always been very interested in why Placebo released a music video, which was not allowed to be officially shown anywhere.
I am a very open person. I'm interested in everything about my beloved band, and if my freedom allows me to create posts here according to my interests, then I can't miss such a tricky topic as PLACEBO's porn video.
So: a little summary of what we know about the song "𝗣𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗲̀𝗴𝗲-𝗺𝗼𝗶".

Placebo at Gurten festival 2004 and Rock am Ring 2003 (2), edit by Marti

The song "𝗣𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗲̀𝗴𝗲-𝗺𝗼𝗶" was released as a single in 2004 and also became part of the album of singles „𝑶𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝑴𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝑾𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝑭𝒆𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈“.
The beautiful cover of the single is the work by Helena Berg, who is often mentioned in connection with Placebo and is a very important person in Brian's life.
It's a French version of the song „𝗣𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗠𝗲 𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗜 𝗪𝗮𝗻𝘁“ released on the album „𝙎𝙡𝙚𝙚𝙥𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙂𝙤𝙨𝙩𝙨“ in 2003.
According to Brian, one of the reasons why the idea to release the song "Protect me" in French version arose was that Placebo have a special relationship with French fans, who have been very supportive towards the band from the beginning.

🔹 𝑾𝒉𝒚 𝒅𝒊𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒆 𝒂 𝑭𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒉 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒇 "𝑷𝒓𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒄𝒕 𝑴𝒆 𝑭𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑰 𝑾𝒂𝒏𝒕"?🔹
Brian: "This track is a waltz. So there was this little continental, Viennese atmosphere. And the French I know in London found that it sounded french. So, it was a Franco-German thing. But we didn't make a Teuton version. Sometimes, when I sing it, I feel like Edith Piaf." (And Brian Molko imitates Edith Piaf) 
𝘉𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘔𝘰𝘭𝘬𝘰, 𝘔𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘴, 𝘕𝘦𝘸'𝘡𝘪𝘤 𝘯° 6 2004

Because Brian himself did not dare to translate the text into French, the guys approached their friend, the French writer and artist 𝗩𝗶𝗿𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗲 𝗗𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝘀. She became famous in France with the novel "𝗕𝗮𝗶𝘀𝗲-𝗺𝗼𝗶" (𝙁𝙪𝙘𝙠 𝙢𝙚), "a raw, no-holds-barred tale of violence and sexual revenge", which she began writing while working part-time as a sex worker. Since then, she has written many other novels, some of which have received literary awards and have also been put into film form.
From this quote, we can easily understand why Brian and Virginie became friends:
„𝐼𝑓 𝐼’𝑚 𝑤𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎 𝑏𝑜𝑜𝑘 𝑜𝑟 𝑑𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎 𝑚𝑜𝑣𝑖𝑒, 𝐼 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑘 𝑜𝑓 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑜 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝐼 𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 – 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝐼’𝑚 𝑡𝑟𝑦𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚. 𝐼 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑘 𝑜𝑓 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑜 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑎 𝑝𝑢𝑛𝑘 𝑟𝑜𝑐𝑘 𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘𝑔𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑, 𝑤ℎ𝑜 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑑 𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑒 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑢𝑡𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦, 𝑤ℎ𝑜 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑑 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑦, 𝑤ℎ𝑜 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑑 𝑟𝑒𝑗𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛. 𝑊ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝐼 𝑑𝑜 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑣𝑜𝑘𝑒 – 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝐼 𝑚𝑦𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑓 𝑠𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑐ℎ 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝐼 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑 𝑜𝑟 𝑙𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑛 𝑡𝑜 𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑠 – 𝑖𝑠 𝑎 𝑓𝑒𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑓: “𝑌𝑜𝑢 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑎𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑒. 𝑌𝑜𝑢 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑐𝑟𝑎𝑧𝑦.”“

https://032c.com/virginie-despentes-hates

Photo credit: Jean-François Paga

And what does Virginie say about working with Placebo?
🔹𝙃𝙤𝙬 𝙙𝙞𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙜𝙚𝙩 𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙋𝙧𝙤𝙩𝙚̀𝙜𝙚-𝙢𝙤𝙞 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙟𝙚𝙘𝙩?🔹
"I had known Placebo for two, three years already. Brian is bilingual and he wanted to adapt a song in French for quite a while. I did a translation of "Protect Me From What Want" which he liked, and he asked me to join him in the studio in London. There was just Brian, the mixer and I, it all came together very naturally. We reworked the lines he didn't like, that didn't sound, we had a lot of discussion about the song. He told me that at first for him it was a descent of acid..."

🔹𝙃𝙤𝙬 𝙙𝙞𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙧𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙜𝙤?🔹
"It really impressed me to see him in the studio. I had seen him on stage, had listened to the records, but I think this was the first time I had seen someone so precise in the studio. In two or three hours it was complete. He had pointed out the problems of substance and form. He immediately knows what he wants and what he doesn't want. It is very simple."

🔹𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙙𝙤 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙤𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙨 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩?🔹
"For me, it talks about a lot of things, human relationships. I love the refrain "protect me from what I want". For me it is a reflection on the couple. Someone who asks a higher authority to protect them from whatever they want - it can be screwed up, to leave them, to deceive the other, to destroy history. And I find that reflection on the difficulties of staying as a couple resonates particularly today. Couples have a very limited lifespan, like everything.
It suits me to ask the other to protect me from a part of myself. The freest or most destructive part. And then the chorus imperative amused me. There was a funny continuity, 𝙋𝙧𝙤𝙩𝙚𝙘𝙩 𝙢𝙚 and then 𝙁𝙪𝙘𝙠 𝙢𝙚…"
𝘐𝘯𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘴, 𝘦́𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘱𝘦́𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘦 (𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘤 𝘎𝘦́𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘚𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘢)
And then, came the idea to ask to shoot a video by director 𝙂𝙖𝙨𝙥𝙖𝙧 𝙉𝙤𝙚́, whose work Placebo admired.

🔹𝘿𝙤 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡 𝙘𝙡𝙤𝙨𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙂𝙖𝙨𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙙 𝙉𝙤𝙚́'𝙨 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙠?🔹
Virginie says:
„Yes, I admire him immensely. He gave us great support and advice for Baise-moi.“ (Baise-moi is a 2000 French crime thriller film written and directed by Virginie Despentes and Coralie Trinh Thi based on the novel by Despentes, first published in 1993).
„It decompartmentalizes the genders at the level of sex and at the level of what is intellectually stimulating, because it does not have a classic, coded culture. He is very instinctive./---/
I also find that he looks a lot like Brian Molko in the way he works: they are both in full possession of their respective instruments and they work very quickly without procrastinating. In Placebo, there is also a compartmentalization of genres. I think the three of us make a nice triangle. A great gift for the summer!“
𝘐𝘯𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘴, 𝘦́𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘱𝘦́𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘦 (𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘤 𝘎𝘦́𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘚𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘢)

Stefan Olsdal at Gurten festival 2004

And Brian Molko in an interview for magazine 𝐿𝑒𝑠 𝐼𝑛𝑟𝑜𝑐𝑘𝑢𝑝𝑡𝑖𝑏𝑙𝑒𝑠
in November 2004 said:
🔹𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒎𝒆𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒅𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒄𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝑽𝒊𝒓𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒆 𝑫𝒆𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑮𝒂𝒔𝒑𝒂𝒓 𝑵𝒐𝒆́ 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒅𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒗𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒐 𝒐𝒇 𝑷𝒓𝒐𝒕𝒆̀𝒈𝒆-𝒎𝒐𝒊, 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒉 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒃𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒊𝒓?🔹
„Excellent! I already knew Virginie, we had friends in common. As soon as we needed to translate something into French, we thought of her. She's a huge fan of music, a fantastic writer… She and Gaspar are people who constantly push the boundaries of their art, who don't compromise. In Placebo, you can't always do it like that, so our collaboration has given us a little relief… It was important to be able to be free in this work. I'm shocked by all this censorship around the videos, it's Hélène and the boys! ( Hélène et les garçons - French sitcom from 1992-1994) Even more in England than in France.“

I hesitated which performance of the song 𝙋𝙧𝙤𝙩𝙚̀𝙜𝙚-𝙢𝙤𝙞 would be the best. The decision was difficult, because I really like the version where Brian plays the harmonica, this is a top for me. But the second video from Paris with Brian's very emotional performance is also amazing.

https://1url.cz/vzh53

Post by Marti