It seems like a lifetime has passed since my band Nous Non Plus released its third album “Freudian Slip” in 2011.

One of the tracks that I co-wrote and produced, “Bunga Bunga,” can be heard this month in Darren Star’s new show “Emily in Paris” on Netflix.

For those who want to check it out, it’s in episode 2, around 4 min. 30 sec. before the end of the show. It’s a really funny scene and I don’t want to spoil it.

The track, as you can imagine, was inspired by Berlusconi’s “bunga bunga” parties.

I also drew inspiration from a sonnet by Medieval Italian poet Francis Petrarch (the subject of my doctoral thesis) where he strings the names of Europe’s most important rivers one after another across the hendecasyllables (11-syllable lines) in the first stanza of the poem.

In our song, we imagine that the “bunga bunga” is a dance being performed in cities across the world. Lovers of pop music will also recognize the classic Motown hit “Dancing in the Streets” as another inspiration.

Singer Céline Dijon belts out world capitals as the drums and keyboards drive the beat.

The idea is that sexual fulfillment is something that we all share, everywhere in the world, and not just in the cloistered palazzi of Milan and secluded villas of the Emerald Coast.

Milan ou Tripoli
Vilnius ou Benghazi
Paris, Moscou on fait le Bunga Bunga

Most of the song was recorded at our house in Austin, where we living at the time. The song’s pulsing sequenced drums were created by Julien Galner of Paris-based electronica band Château Marmount. And singer/songwriter David Garza also sings on the track. He shared a production credit on the album (check out his amazing guitar solo on “Neil,” which we wrote for a noted New York wine blogger). I did all the keyboards (my first keyboard credit on one of our albums).

As we face the dismal news of the day and hurricane Delta heading for the Gulf Coast, our oldest, Georgia, is playing guitar for online show-and-tell in our living room. She only knows a few chords but it’s enough to make her father remember the hope and joy of life lived before and the life to come.

She was born about nine months after we finished tracking the album. It seems like a lifetime ago…

Thanks for listening. It’s one of the songs I’m most proud of. Be well, stay safe, do good work, and have a restful weekend.