The poems, many of which deal with tragedy and death, were written in 1951-51, when Vian was undergoing marital, financial, and creative difficulties.

Serge Reggiani, one of the most influential French chansonniers of the 1960s, sang Boris Vian songs and also recorded Je voudrais pas crever.

[3] In 2001, for instance, Libération published a full-length article on the French band Eiffel, whose leader, Romain Humeau, claims Vian's book was the inspiration for their 2000 album Abricotine.

[4] In 2009, fifty years after Vian's death, a wave of books about him and his work as well as re-issues of his books (including no fewer than thirty-three Le Livre de Poche editions) proved that Vian is more popular than ever, as the French magazine Le Point stated; one of the new books is a reissue of Je voudrais pas crever, illustrated by Jacques de Loustal and others.

[5] The book is dedicated to the French illustrator Martin Matje,[6] and was accompanied by an exhibition in Quebec.