Youpidou

[mzracing76]

just curious, i am still learning. What does the song YOUPIDOU represent, and what is the definitiion of YOUPIDOU ?

I love the song.

MZ

[Scruffydog777]

I could be wrong, but I don't think the word existed before this song. As far as the meaning of it for the song, I would say it means the same as yippee or hooray. She is breaking up with her boyfriend. A guy who's a real hooligan.

In the song she sings "Mais la je m'intoxe...........et lui que son maque", which if I'm correct means if I poisoned myself............he would just mock me, which shows you what a moron he is and why she's so happy to be rid of him.

I found another translation of the song where it says this line stands for that she is intoxicated and he makes fun of her but whichever one is right, it's conveying the same message, she's in a bad state and he's making fun of her.

You really have to look at the French version of the song to get the better meaning of what the word youpidou is trying to convey because it's one of the songs that when Mylene Farmer rewrote the French version into the English version, the song didn't make a whole lot of sense. It certainly didn't convey the same story the French version did.

Maybe one of our French speaking members like Bigdan can help out with a better translation of this song.

Here's a translation I have on file, but it's far from perfect. Problem being people interpret things different ways.

http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/2400/youpidoofrenchversionly.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/215/youpidoofrenchversionly.jpg/)

Take a look at the line J'ai le moral au grand zero, which they translate a I am feeling really down which is close but a more literal translation is my moral is a big zero. I usually try and find a translation of a song, then I'll look up the words individually in a French to English dictionary and then I can pretty much figure out for myself exactly what message the song is trying to convey.

I myself would like to have a better understanding of what the line g'noux cailloux means.

[SlipshodDread]

I could be wrong, but I don't think the word existed before this song. As far as the meaning of it for the song, I would say it means the same as yippee or hooray. She is breaking up with her boyfriend. A guy who's a real hooligan.

In the song she sings "Mais la je m'intoxe...........et lui que son maque", which if I'm correct means if I poisoned myself............he would just mock me, which shows you what a moron he is and why she's so happy to be rid of him.

You really have to look at the French version of the song to get the better meaning of what the word youpidou is trying to convey because it's one of the songs that when Mylene Farmer rewrote the French version into the English version, the song didn't make a whole lot of sense. It certainly didn't convey the same story the French version did.

"Mais la, Je m'intoxe, Youpidou, Et lui qui s'en moque"

"But there, I poison myself, Youpidou, And he who does not care"

I added this before you added the picture, so yeah >.>

[Bigdan]

http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/2400/youpidoofrenchversionly.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/215/youpidoofrenchversionly.jpg/)

.


une grande personne = a grown up

je suis sur la route = I'm on the road

que je fais le vide = that I make peace in myself

Genoux, cailloux = that's a hard one ! A few word, in french language, ends in "X" in place of the usual "S" when on plural mode.
To remember it, pupils learn a list " Hiboux, genoux, cailloux...."

and that's it.

[JoeNY]

I'm actually glad that I don't know the English lyrics to any of Alizee's songs. I know I would find them juvenile and horrid, and Alizee's songs would lose their mystique for me. Ignorance is bliss. I like the catchy tunes and I love Alizee's voice. That's good enough for me.

[Scruffydog777]

Thanks for the help Bigdan.

I have to correct myself on one point. Where I said "
Take a look at the line J'ai le moral au grand zero, which they translate a I am feeling really down which is close but a more literal translation is my moral is a big zero.", I should have used morale in stead of moral near the end of that sentence.

JoeNY, I have to disagree with you about not trying to know the lyrics to her French songs. I had 2 years of French way back in junior high school. That was over 30 years ago. It's been a long time, but still it was a tremendous help in me trying to learn some of her French songs, but then again it's been a slow long process with some of her songs.

I've learned 12 of her songs and I am working on Tempete right now and will work on Coeur deja pris after that.

With Youpidou, at first I thought the title sounded so juvenile, I never really listened to it. Then a couple of my co-workers that I had given dvds to in which I put Youpidou on as just kind of a filler at the time, told me it was a beautiful song, so I gave it a good listen and it is one of my favorites. It's kind of a simple story but at least it's understandable which some of her English versions aren't.

I know the all the words to the French version of Youpidou, but not so the English version and that's mainly because I find the most important part of remembering the words to a song whether it be in English or French is I have to be able to remember the story it is telling. The Englis version does not tell a smooth, easy to follow story.

The French version of the song tells a simple story, but it's easy to remember and so it was easy for me to learn the French lyrics.

Gourmandises, J'ai pas vingt ans, moi lolita and some others tell relatively simple stories but stories that are relatively easy to remember which makes them relatively easy to learn.

Songs like Lou ou toi and L'Alize are a little more involved especially the latter. Took considerably longer to learn L'Alize but it was well worth it. It is an awesome song to sing along with as is ACC.

I tried to learn PLP but found it was written in such poetic terms I'd guess you'd call it, that I had a very difficult time remembering the stoy and therefore a tough time learning the song. I gave up on it, but may revisit it at a later date.

[mzracing76]

Thanks, this puts the song into perspective for me.

although, now it raises a new question. your guys' english lyrics dont match the lyrics on her 2nd ALBUM that has the English version. could that just be a translation thing or do the words come out different depending on who (myself, you all, etc) translate the message.

but.....I do agree. The English Versions of her songs are "NOT" as great as the French Version and yes, they do lose their context when sung in English.

MZ

[Azhiri]

Anybody feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but I imagine that rather than literally translating songs from french into english on the official english singles, the basic gist of the song is considered, and then new words are written to the music using the author's best understanding of which english words would best illustrate the concept. You might notice that the english singles Alizee has sung are kind of strange (or, to be blunt, even poorly written). I think that's why. :)

[Scruffydog777]

Anybody feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but I imagine that rather than literally translating songs from french into english on the official english singles, the basic gist of the song is considered, and then new words are written to the music using the author's best understanding of which english words would best illustrate the concept. You might notice that the english singles Alizee has sung are kind of strange (or, to be blunt, even poorly written). I think that's why. :)

Yes unfortunately 3 of her 4 early songs that were re-written from French into English were poorly done.

Well you can just look at the direct English translation of the song Youpidou above. It certainly would have not sounded good if she used a direct translation and it would have probably have been a real problem to try and come up with words to match if not exactly, at least something pretty close to the original meaning of the French song.

So the English versions may have kept the general gist of the French version as you said, but that about all it kept. So instead of interpreting her songs, she chose to re-write them instead and she really didn't do a good job of it. Look at some of the lines of the English version.
Fried days of something that I lost
Got some something under
I see you talking to the bees
Three days of something much too fake.
Sure they are lines that we can probably come up with what we think she's trying to say, but they are the type of lines that if you asked 10 different people, you'd get 10 different definitions of what she's saying. They just plain aren't easy to follow. Which is a dam shame because if she had done a better job, I think these songs would have kicked butt in this country.

This is also true of the songs J'en ai marre and J'ai pas vingt ans. Mylene just did a poor job or re-writing these songs. But they were Farmer's songs so she had the right to do with them what ever she wanted to.

But Amelie M'a dit was a different story. It was a song about a character in a movie and I think she had to stay true to that character and though the song was almost totally re-writtena as the others, with some weak spots, the fact that she kept true to the character, made it a beautiful song, making it in my mind the best of those 4 English songs.

[Aragorn97]

Hi, I've a doubt about Youpidou: I've always wondered what this word means but I've never found nothing about it. But I just remembered where I heard this word before: a song of Adriano Celentano, a famous Italian singer, and I'm referring to the song "Yuppi du", which is also the soundtrack of the movie of the same name (1974). The pronunciation of "Yuppi du" and "Youpidou" is the same.

So, the movie Yuppi du is about a very difficult love, I'll try to briefly sum up the plot. The protagonist's a poor man, Felice. His wife apparently committed suicide, but some years later she decided to come back because of her love towards him. But then she realized that she didn't want to leave her new husband and her new luxurious life, so she left again Felice.

Now, I read Alizée's song lyrics and probably there is nothing in common between this two songs, apart from the end of the protagonists' love. But anyway that's still something! At least for a word that, from what I know, has been used only in this two works.

About what yuppi du means, Celentano said: "Tutto e niente. E’ un grido d’amore, di gioia e di dolore. In tutte le lingue. E’ un grido universale”.
In english it should be: it means everything and nothing. It's a shout of love, happiness and heartache. In every language. It is a universal shout.
I put the original phrase, because I don't trust much my translation.

So what do you think? Is it possible that Mylene Farmer was inspired by Yuppi du? This movie was also nominated at Cannes and Venice film festivals, so she could know it

[Mr Coucou]

The chorus part of Youpdidoo kind of reminds me of Chopin's Funeral March:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZY5DBmgC_A&feature=youtu.be&t=10

[Aragorn97]

This song reminds all of us something "a bit" sad :nervous:

[Scruffydog777]

Youpidou is one of her English songs that suffered due to some of the English lyrics. Now I've always considered her other songs such as L'Alize, J'en ai marre, ML, ACC better songs but I find when I'm listening to her music and only have time for a few songs, this will always be in the few I listen to. I love her pronunciation of several of the English words and I love the music of Laurant Boutannat, especially the part about 2/3 through the song where it builds up to a crescendo that leads to Alizee singing again.

http://youtu.be/MHJXsio4IqE?t=162

As far as the En Concert, as with every other performance, I love the way she dances.


http://youtu.be/s0BCpFi0ynE?t=214

This is probably true of several songs on those first two albums but I think Youpidou in English especially is one I could listen to all day long.

[Bamagirl]

This is probably true of several songs on those first two albums but I think Youpidou in English especially is one I could listen to all day long.

I agree. I think there are other songs I would say are equally good or even in some ways better, perhaps, but I really enjoy listening to Youpidou so much--it never gets tiring at all.

[CleverCowboy]

I have always enjoyed watching the practice session of Youpidou in the first couple of minutes of this video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOnF7KFmOck

[kulli]

I have always enjoyed watching the practice session of Youpidou in the first couple of minutes of this video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOnF7KFmOck



I think it a very catchy song.
I just can't figure out. What sound/instrument is that at 0:34 min. https://youtu.be/AeycewNFrtE?t=34

[Scruffydog777]

I think it a very catchy song.
I just can't figure out. What sound/instrument is that at 0:34 min. https://youtu.be/AeycewNFrtE?t=34

I'll post this question on our FB page in case anyone here can't figure it out.

Edit:

What luck!!!!
I happened to find a fan video of the band member playing the instrument during another Alizee song. I still don't know the name of the instrument though.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/12Om5N0tdfmyo_LKHOPNOtKBuRHcM0FGz/view?usp=sharing

[CleverCowboy]

What luck!!!!
I happened to find a fan video of the band member playing the instrument during another Alizee song. I still don't know the name of the instrument though.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/12Om5N0tdfmyo_LKHOPNOtKBuRHcM0FGz/view?usp=sharing

We need to be sure that Jon Snow doesn't see this video. He won't tolerate it! :D

Edit:

I think it a very catchy song.
I just can't figure out. What sound/instrument is that at 0:34 min. https://youtu.be/AeycewNFrtE?t=34

Sounds like a flute... but who writes music for a flute in the modern day? Laurent isn't that old. Probably just a keyboard synthesizing a sound.

[Scruffydog777]

Though music was probably my worst subject in school, I think I figured this out....for real this time. I think it is a GLOCKENSPIEL XYLOPHONE. A regular xylophone has wooden bars. A GLOCKENSPIEL XYLOPHONE has metal bars and a higher pitch.

Here is a Youtube video of one in action....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4-3PgwUMko

of course it could have been a Glockenspiel synthesizer too...

and if it was a synthesizer, I think this could be the smoking gun

https://youtu.be/BO1xvAVxL0c?t=75

and if it was a synthesizer, I think this could be the smoking gun.....

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I also found one of the tones available for the Roland XP10 is 'Glockenspiel' The XP50 is a more expensive model so I'm sure it too was capable of 'Glockenspiel' .

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Edit:

There appears to have been at least 2 other synthesizers there. One was a Yamaha Motif which appears to be a higher end unit compared to the Roland and I think what we are seeing at the beginning of L'Alizee is actually 2 synthesizers set up one above the other, both Yamahas. I'm sure set up for different songs.

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[kulli]

That's some good research.:thumb:

In elementary school we had to play something with the xylophone :)) but writing musical notes was even worse.

[Mr Coucou]

I'm not a musician, but its definitely a synthesizer.

It could be a built-in sound, but it might not be. I think custom sounds can be downloaded into most digital synthesizers.

In this clip from En Concert, watch the keyboardist's left hand. His left hand is stationary, and then he shifts it over to the left. About the time he moves his hand to the left, you hear the little kid say "youpidou". Apparently, he is pressing a key that plays the "youpidoo" sound. The "youpidoo" sound isn't a built-in sound-- the synthesizer is fully programmable.

https://youtu.be/kb_eyNgT8as?t=16

[Scruffydog777]

I'm not a musician, but its definitely a synthesizer.

It could be a built-in sound, but it might not be. I think custom sounds can be downloaded into most digital synthesizers.

In this clip from En Concert, watch the keyboardist's left hand. His left hand is stationary, and then he shifts it over to the left. About the time he moves his hand to the left, you hear the little kid say "youpidou". Apparently, he is pressing a key that plays the "youpidoo" sound. The "youpidoo" sound isn't a built-in sound-- the synthesizer is fully programmable.

https://youtu.be/kb_eyNgT8as?t=16

Good find and your exactly right. I slowed it down and the "Youpidou" does start as soon as he touches that key on the left. For years I always thought this was a woman on the keyboard. I think because I never really paid much attention to anyone else on stage except for one of the back up singers. I have to look up her name again. I think it was Brenda from what Alizee said on stage.

I'm glad kulli brought up this subject about that sound at the :34 mark. It makes me appreciate the nuances of much of the music that was written for her and I'm guessing the music for this song was also written by LB.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1m9UpjxQpfFSyNXIXrW9GwcLCrYE4ADtE/view?usp=sharing

Edit:

Her full name is Brenda Della Valle and according to IMDb, some of her bigger claims to fame are 'Brenda Della Valle is an actress, known for Promise at Dawn (2017), Joséphine, ange gardien (1997) and Alizée en concert (2004)." They list her as an actress, but it looks like she's done singing as well.

[Mr Coucou]

I'm glad kulli brought up this subject about that sound at the :34 mark. It makes me appreciate the nuances of much of the music that was written for her and I'm guessing the music for this song was also written by LB.


L'Alize has "seagull"-like sounds in it.

And then there is the "scream" in A contre-courant:

https://youtu.be/H3Ioxh3OTSU?t=194

[Scruffydog777]

L'Alize has "seagull"-like sounds in it.

And then there is the "scream" in A contre-courant:

https://youtu.be/H3Ioxh3OTSU?t=194

It's hard to believe as many times as I've listened to ACC, I never really recognized that sound as a scream, but now that you've mentioned it, it stands out like a sore thumb.

[Shepherd]

Good find and your exactly right. I slowed it down and the "Youpidou" does start as soon as he touches that key on the left. For years I always thought this was a woman on the keyboard. I think because I never really paid much attention to anyone else on stage except for one of the back up singers. I have to look up her name again. I think it was Brenda from what Alizee said on stage.

I'm glad kulli brought up this subject about that sound at the :34 mark. It makes me appreciate the nuances of much of the music that was written for her and I'm guessing the music for this song was also written by LB.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1m9UpjxQpfFSyNXIXrW9GwcLCrYE4ADtE/view?usp=sharing

Edit:

Her full name is Brenda Della Valle and according to IMDb, some of her bigger claims to fame are 'Brenda Della Valle is an actress, known for Promise at Dawn (2017), Joséphine, ange gardien (1997) and Alizée en concert (2004)." They list her as an actress, but it looks like she's done singing as well.



A Doctoral Degree on Alizee should be awarded to Scruffydog, Coucou, CleverCowboy, and kulli. With Alizee all but AWOL, you folks are delving into the minutest archaeology excavations of her life. I think this stuff goes beyond expert to another degree that hasn't yet been named.

[Scruffydog777]

Some of our newer members might not realize that in the ACC video, her hair blowing in the wind wasn't due to a wind machine but due to a storm that came along late in the filming. Most of the windows had been broken in that abandoned building many years ago. I had the pleasure of being in that building about 7 years ago I think it was.

https://youtu.be/H3Ioxh3OTSU?t=173

[Bamagirl]

A Doctoral Degree on Alizee should be awarded to Scruffydog, Coucou, CleverCowboy, and kulli. With Alizee all but AWOL, you folks are delving into the minutest archaeology excavations of her life. I think this stuff goes beyond expert to another degree that hasn't yet been named.

You said it! Though I have practically nothing of value to add to this discussion, I have been fascinated by it.Thank you to Scruffydog, CleverCowboy and kulli. Wow!

[CleverCowboy]

YThank you to Scruffydog, CleverCowboy and kulli. Wow!

Alizee is of course gorgeous and her personality is magnetic, but on top of that she is a very interesting person. She is very feminine but at the same time tomboyish. She is shy yet courageous. She has had plenty of failures, but yet she is a winner. She is trendy and fashionable, but yet she is "geeky". She likes the comforts of home, but is not afraid to get outdoors and have fun.

Maybe the most important thing is that she is very principled, and her life has reflected that. She has solid core values, and yes she has had her screw ups, but who hasn't? Her heart is definitely in the right places.

I am attracted to people like Alizee for the reasons stated and more. Yes, I love her eyes and smile, but when I watch her perform or participate in an interview, I see the person she is and it makes it all the more enjoyable. :)

[Shepherd]

Some of our newer members might not realize that in the ACC video, her hair blowing in the wind wasn't due to a wind machine but due to a storm that came along late in the filming. Most of the windows had been broken in that abandoned building many years ago. I had the pleasure of being in that building about 7 years ago I think it was.

https://youtu.be/H3Ioxh3OTSU?t=173



Where is that building located? Could you give us a Google coordinate? How did you ever find it?

[Scruffydog777]

It's about 120 miles north, northeast of Paris, about 10 miles over the Belgium border. It was built under the Marshal plan which was a U.S. plan to help rebuild Europe after WW2. It was a coal washing plant. Coal, after it is mined, needs to be washed to make it usable in homes and industry.

To handle such material, it was built like a brick outhouse with large amounts of concrete. I think about 10 years after it was built, the local coal mines shut down, maybe because of the increased use of oil and so this building went out of business. People stripped it of it's all it usable equipment, but it was too massive to demolish. So it stood for years as an eyesore, with most of its windows broken out.

I guess MF and LB wanted to make a video for A Contre Courant, but I believe LB was too busy at the time, so LB asked I believe it was a Dutch director to film the video and I guess it was he who chose this location.

A few years after the video was made, plans were made to renovate the building to make it usable for small businesses and maybe some residential use. They did a lot of work on the outside and some on the inside, but not enough to destroy the history of this shrine. I believe the project ran out of money.

So I decided to stop there on one of my trips, not really knowing whether I'd find it occupied or what. To my surprise, I found it uninhabited with no work going on. I walked around the building and everything on the ground floor as far as access was locked up. But I saw, if there was some way to get up to the second level, I could get in. I looked around and saw a part of a fence here, part of a pallet here and Voila!... I had a way to reach the second floor.
I thought this isn't breaking and entering, but it certainly is entering, a crime in itself. I get arrested here, I could lose my job. But I had to try.

I dragged that fence and the pallet over to the building and I was in!!! Before I knew it, I found the staircase where Alizée had climbed those stairs. Then when I was up at the next level, I was at the outer wall of a large room. This wall had windows in it and on a window sill, I saw fingerprints where somebody had obviously placed their fingers on a very dusty surface. Why would someone put their fingers on such a dusty surface, unless maybe they were doing something work-related, such as filming a video? And Alizée had indeed placed her hands on this window sill, in a different area than the video, but there may have been a few takes where she might have placed her hands there in a different take.

Then I made my way to the upper level where that big round tank was for I guess part of the coal washing process. I was in the very place where she climbed those stairs and it looked exactly the same. Again I had missed her by just several years! If only I had gone there sooner!

So this has all been discussed here before. Maybe it's been archived. I'll look to see if all the pictures and videos of the building are still available, but in the meantime, here is a video of when I was approaching the Triage-Lavoire building

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMJLgjkUhRA

Edit:

I did find the thread. Luckily, it hasn't been archived yet.

http://alizeeamerica.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5334

I got a kick from this post by a member in reference to my finding a 'fingerprint'!

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[Bamagirl]

I just love this story, Scruffydog! I can almost see the scene as you describe it. What a cool adventure...and I’m very glad you didn’t get caught! I wonder if they ever re-started the renovation work on that building?
Thanks for posting this.

[Scruffydog777]

I just love this story, Scruffydog! I can almost see the scene as you describe it. What a cool adventure...and I’m very glad you didn’t get caught! I wonder if they ever re-started the renovation work on that building?
Thanks for posting this.

I have a feeling they didn't, but at least they fixed it up on the outside so it wasn't so much of an eyesore to the area. I don't know how long that will last as there were already several broken windows in it when I was there.

I'll take a peek in Google Earth to see if they might have a recent picture.

Edit:

I just looked on Google Earth for a recent picture of the Triage-Lavoire building where A Contre Courant was filmed and what I found out was amazing! The people of Belgium hold this shrine to Alizée in such high esteem, that they've posted military guards around it 24/7. They don't want anyone messing with those fingerprints. Rumour has it they are going to put a bulletproof glass frame in front of those fingerprints on the dusty window sill.

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Edit:

...................
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[Bamagirl]

I just looked on Google Earth for a recent picture of the Triage-Lavoire building where A Contre Courant was filmed and what I found out was amazing! The people of Belgium hold this shrine to Alizée in such high esteem, that they've posted military guards around it 24/7. They don't want anyone messing with those fingerprints. Rumour has it they are going to put a bulletproof glass frame in front of those fingerprints on the dusty window sill.


VERY cool!

[Scruffydog777]

This aerial picture is from 2017. The picture with the military personnel is from about a year later. It's interesting to look at the fence that surrounds this place just a little further down the road. It's only about 4' high and easily scale-able, but no military personnel along it, so they are clearly expecting something dangerous or maybe be very valuable to show up at that gate. Judging from recent events in Europe, I'm guessing it's something dangerous of the human kind, but who knows? I imagine a little Google searching will tell us what this building is being used for.

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[CleverCowboy]

It looks like Google updates their maps every 4 years, at least in this part of the world. I was able to go back in time 10 years and get three shots taken from the same vantage point.

This is a view of the building in 2009.

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/2644/0XlLoK.png

Same place in 2013.

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/2780/gZ2oam.png

The most recent shot was in 2017 and is what you see on the maps now.

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/6023/ulig1r.png