Chick Habit, performed by April March, accompanies the end credits of Death Proof. Its pop tone turns the close of the action into a mocking farewell to the aggressor.
From Laisse tomber les filles to April March
Chick Habit is an English-language adaptation of Laisse tomber les filles, a song written by Serge Gainsbourg and known through France Gall's performance. April March recorded her version in the 1990s and also performed the song in French. The relationship between these titles helps explain why the credits in different editions can bring back slightly different musical memories.
April March's song was not composed specifically for Death Proof. Tarantino uses a preexisting recording and places it after an action that changes how it is read. Listeners who know it may recognize an independent piece; those hearing it for the first time receive it linked to Mike's defeat. Both approaches are compatible because the film does not erase the song's musical history.
It is worth distinguishing between the English version, the French performance, and the France Gall recording. They share a source composition, but they are not the same recording or the same voice. The commercial album for Death Proof lists Chick Habit. The international version of the film also includes Laisse tomber les filles performed by April March during the credits.
A warning that comes after the action
The song's general content revolves around the consequences of treating women badly and the loss of a position of smugness. That idea fits a character who has based his power on choosing those he sees as vulnerable. There is no need to reproduce the lyrics to recognize the connection: the song turns the ending into a musical response to his behavior.
Placement is decisive. If the track appeared at the beginning, it could function as a warning or foreshadowing. Coming after the confrontation, it accompanies a result we have already seen. The comment becomes retrospective and celebratory, with an energy that extends the protagonists' gesture of victory. The film moves from highway tension to an exit marked by mockery.
The brightness of the arrangement and the apparent lightness of the performance do not erase the violence of the outcome. They create friction between the pop form and the harshness of what happened. That friction allows the viewer to feel relief and, at the same time, to notice how much the film organizes its pleasure around retaliation. The music guides emotion, but it does not force everyone to judge the action in the same way.
The ending of Death Proof reverses the relationship Mike had established with his victims. Chick Habit extends that reversal in another register. The character loses the ability to impose his own story of toughness; the last relevant comment comes from a female voice outside him. The musical choice even takes away his control over the tone with which we say goodbye to him.
The shift between the English and French performances makes another difference perceptible: a melody can preserve its identity while the verbal relationship with the listener changes. For one audience, English offers an immediately understandable warning; for another, French may first activate the memory of the pop tradition from which it comes. The film lets those associations coexist without requiring everyone to access the song through the same language.
The tone of the credits and the viewer's memory
The credits do not function here as a neutral emotional zone. The song preserves the momentum of the ending and turns it into a piece that can be heard outside the film. That autonomy explains part of its ability to fix the memory of the close: when hearing it again, the viewer can recover the feeling of triumph and sarcasm without having to reconstruct the entire chase.
The effect also does not depend on understanding every word in English or French. The rhythm, instrumentation, and voice convey a perceptible attitude. Knowledge of the lyrics adds a specific layer, but the shift from action to pop already establishes a change in register. Violence is left behind in the narrative, while its emotional payoff continues in the sound.
Placing Chick Habit withinthe Death Proof soundtrack makes it possible to distinguish its function from other songs. Down in Mexico sets up a meeting in the bar, and Hold Tight! accompanies a situation that is interrupted by the threat. April March's track arrives when that threat has been answered. Its role is to close the audience's relationship with Mike, not to describe a space the characters are still inhabiting.
Its French origin adds a musical link, but by itself it does not prove an explanation for the director's personal intentions. The relationship that can be analyzed with confidence lies in the combination of lyrics, tone, and placement within the edit. That combination turns a preexisting song into a particularly fitting farewell for the character.
More context in the Death Proof guide.