Mylène Farmer
 

hi everyone

I'd be curious to know if some of you discovered Mylène Farmer thanks to Alizée and became a big fan of her too :)

Yes. Although I should say I discovered both of them at same time.

No. I discovered Alizée first. And I still love Alizée. And I still despise Mylène. But I do love the song "Mylène Farmer", because it's so stupid and funny! (Or funny and stupid.) Which is what I thought this thread might have been about. But it isn't. So never mind. Signing off.....

Three months after I discovered Alizée, I also became a fan of Mylène thanks to Lilly. Now I love her as much as Alizée.

And I don't know how is it possible to despise Alizée or Mylène, but I also despise all the haters, so whatever.

weird
 

yep this Chuck has a strange reaction :) that is one thread out of hundreds lol

I had heard of Mylene before Alizee but i'd never actually heard anything she'd ever done (if you know what i mean?).
I've tried with her a few times but i'm sorry to say she doesn't really do much for me. I don't like the image she projects at all which puts me off her a lot.
She's not for me.

Thanks to Alizee I did discover Mylene Farmer, but was never impressed by her music or her person; however, through Alizee I discovered a whole world of European artist I never knew existed and that I treasure today: Lara Fabian, Johnny Haliday, Edith Piaf, Mirellie Mathieu, Garou, Jacques Brel, Louis Delort, Zaz, Gabriela Guncikova, Michel Sardou, Shy'm, Stromae. All of these treasures, I owe to Alizee.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zdqymnZoHc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86lcvRfdl3A

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcN6HOLSPhs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_xH7noaqTA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EF-JfYFaC7I

wow, indeed you discovered many singers and all different
from Piaf to Stromae, that's a long way

you should also try Patricia Kaas, Zazie, Pascal Obispo and well we have loads.

The French singer that is doing well abroad at the moment is Indila with her big hit Dernière danse

Concerning Mylène Farmer it's weird, some people I know abroad don't care about her, as you and some others were mesmerised from the very first note they heard :) :) :)... She has a special "universe", you're in it or you're not in it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5KAc5CoCuk

After Alizée, I first discovered Mylène (I have watched many of her concerts). Then I expanded into several others - mostly ones that are active with Les Enfoires.

There are several good singers, but none close to Alizée. :)

Thank you Philippe for the suggestions. I will definitely check them all out. I don't have any hostility for Mylene Farmer. I appreciate what she did for Alizee. Without Mylene, I might never have found Alizee.

I met Alizee in New York in 2003. I live in San Antonio, Texas, and went to the Big Apple to visit my sister, Rita, who was living there at that time. My sister took a few days off work so we could explore Manhattan. We were walking through Central Park, and on a lark decided to ride the merry-go-round. Rita, got on a horse to my left and just as the ride began a young woman jumped on the horse on my right. This took me by surprise because the marry-go-round was practically empty, perhaps 5 or 6 people on it. The girl could have sat any place. The young woman was very winsome, laughing and talking to me, but I couldn't understand a thing she said because, I don't speak French. The only French I knew was "bonjour," so I said "bonjour" and she laughed. She was with an older woman who didn't ride the merry-go-round. She stood off to the side and watched. I have no idea who this woman was. Rita had lived in Paris for a few years so I asked her to translate. She got off her horse and came around to talk to the young woman. They exchanged a few words, and then Rita said, "Oh, my God! This is Alizee." "Oh, I said," somewhat surprised that Rita would know her. "Is she a friend of yours?" "No, she's a famous pop star in France, like Madonna." I was somewhat flustered and had no idea what to say to a famous French pop star who didn't speak English, so I said, "bonjour." Alizee laughed. It was a little awkward, and Alizee dismounted her horse and jumped off the merry-go-round while it was still moving and she left. The whole event couldn't have taken more than 3 or 4 minutes. I marked it down as an interesting experience and quickly forgot about it because--frankly--Alizee meant nothing to me. Ten years later in 2013, I was cruising You Tube and stumbled upon the video of Alizee singing "J'en Ai Marre." She knocked me out of my chair. She looked familiar, but I wasn't sure it was the girl in the park. I called Rita who confirmed, "Yes, that was Alizee." I think Alizee got onto the merry-go-round next to me to see if a stranger in America would recognize her, and sure enough, I didn't. Now I'm a severely addicted fan.

Hi!

I discovered Alizée accidentally and it was wonderful. I soon learned who Mylène was and how she provided Alizée the opportunity to begin her singing career. But I've never listened to a single song or watched any video of her. I have nothing against her, I just have no interest in her.

A couple of videos:

How she opens a concert:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature..._NHka2BE#t=113
(this one you have to click on)



My favorite song of hers (I wish Alizée would do it - as a "tribute" could be her excuse):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0T2jN16KHWA

After finding out about Alizee, I was deeply interested in checking out MF's music. I thought that this is the woman who wrote the songs and LB was the guy who created the music for the woman who changed my life, so I very much wanted to hear her songs.

I enjoy her songs, but certainly not in the same way as I enjoy Alizee's. I think I would enjoy them a lot more if I understood what she was saying. Such is not the case with Alizee.

As I've said in the past, I have a huge amount of respect for her and LB. For me, without them, there never would have been an Alizee.

I've also said she uses sex to sell. She even designed her own sex toy. then wrote a song about it. But she certainly doesn't need sex to sell. One video that shows that is when I was first checking her out, was this one of the song Desenchantee.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8-8qqABgo4

A very good song and a very good video in my opinion.

Songs like Toc de mac, L'e-mail a des ailes, Tempete, Coeur deja pris (which I think is probably her most beautiful song) and so many more are great evidence that she does not need sex to sell.

She and LB are incredibly talented. A lot of that talent came from the college they both attended, but to achieve the level of success they have reached, a lot of that talent had to come naturally.

One thing that she is very good at that Alizee is incredibly lacking in is how to put on a good show. Now there are some big differences between the two when it comes to putting on a good show. Mylene certainly isn't a bad looking woman, but she doesn't have the beauty of Alizee, so a lot of what is entertaining on stage is what goes on with the other people on stage with her and in that regard, it's a good show. Now Alizee, and I have to be careful here, certainly was an incredibly beautiful woman. It didn't matter what was on stage. All you wanted to look at was her. Now she's certainly far different from what she looked like 10 years ago, but when packaged right, she is still all you want to look at on stage, but of late, she's never been packaged right and the show around her is very lacking.

Some question whether a return to MF and LB would meet with success. I have no doubt it would. With the album Blonde, we see good songs, good music, but we haven't seen one good performance because that one area she's lacking in, which MF excels in, is killing her.

I have been big fan of France music ,but that is Jean Michel Jarre and SPACE(Didier Marouani)that I have been fan of for 25 years now
I first started to listen to Alizée for two years now not with others france singers yet

hi

I don't think Mylène uses so much sex to sell. You know she never promotes her new albums, new tours, she doesn't need to. Everything is sold out extremely quickly.

She rarely gives interviews as well and is pretty shy.

Even if she sings about sex it is always poetic and you might not even understand what she is singing about :) even if you're French.

If you're a fan that's the place to talk about her and discover her world :)

https://www.facebook.com/groups/467490270019988/

I'm a big Mylene fan. Maybe it's just because I ran out of Alizee material so quickly, and Mylene has so many albums and concerts already. I also feel like she is a kindred spirit.

That's a vid I saw on MTV years before I ever discovered Alizée and I found it interesting and also found it interesting it was being played on an english
music channel.

Anyway here's another one that I think Lapinschous posted some time ago if I remember correctly.. I really like this one.

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

yes, Myléne has done so much and different stuff, I think anybody should like at least one of her hundred songs :)

I also became Mylene's fan thanks to Alizee for I did not get a crush on MF's music at the first listen or at the first few listens, to be fair. I'd been Alizee's fan for roughly a year when I gave a chance to the French pop's queen. Anyway, I'm a great adherer of them both and it's pretty easy to remark if you read my posts, I guess :P .

As for other musicians discovered thanks to Alizee, it's the case for me as well :) . Once, seeking the "Moi... Lolita" lyrics, aside of the sudetto, I paid attention to a certain song and that was "Gothic Lolita", and then I was stunned by a miss Emilie Autumn, and later on - truly enchanted :) . Then, prompted by Emilie's muffin*, I stepped into the dooming but poetically beautiful world of Lana Del Rey. And quite recently, I've been tangled into another musical infatuation, that is - Nicole Dollanganger, whom I divined on the EA forum... So this sorta "discovery chain" is advancing and I'd lie if I denied liking it! I'm really indebted to Lilly!

Mine too! In fact, I do realize that the lyrics are not the VERY best of hers, like "Moi... Lolita" or "L'ame-stram-gram" are - but I bear a sentiment for this song, as embarassing as it sounds; well, my shrink would chew me fucking up for listening to tracks about suicide... et pourtant, I cannot get "je vais me coucher" outta my jazzy head.

*meaning a "fan" in our crooked fandom lingo ;) , a "plague rat" works as its synonym

Well, I don't think this song is actually about suicide. It is about being unhappy with life on earth and wishing for something better (to put it generally), but it is a in a positive way. It is a very different meaning from suicide, even if there seems to be some similarity on the surface.

Mylène considered using a reference to suicide as a way to express her level of discontent with the world, but decided against it. Still even if there was one reference to suicide it does not automatically make the entire song about suicide. You could just as well say the song is about angels, because the song mentions them, and it would actually be a lot more accurate than to say the song is about suicide.

If you want to see a song that actually does deal with suicide, try Jardin de Vienne.

As for me, it is not visible in this particular song that she should decide against it (Moi, j’ai le souffle court... in the music video the character attempts to take her life as well, vide the gentle balloon metaphor).

Of course, I get it that a simple use of some element does not make the element the main theme of the song. But in this song suicide does recurr. The disappointment works as a preludium to it, then the beauty and goodness of this world are mentioned to remark the paradox (constant conjuction "mais") they do not make the ego stay.

BTW, Mylene herself meant CUBJ as a song about suicide and the orginal lyrics were a bit more literal...
Source: http://mylene.net/mylene/mylene-farm...8-janvier-2006

By no means am I demanding your interpratation be exactly like the songwriter's and pardon me if I'm sounding this way ^^' . I just think it's the most relevant, you know.

And I do know "Jardin de Vienne" - it deals with the discussed topic too but in different mood and from different point of view (in CUBJ the ego herself intends to do it; in JDV the ego copes with grief triggered by the tragic action of her friend). As for Mylene's album songs, I'm familiar with every single one of them and can assertain you there's nothing to be discovered by me on that realm. I can be perhaps astonished by uncommon, rare works of hers; it was few months ago that I came across "Bad Girl" (English version of noble "Libertine").

you know many French singers, you should enjoy this Facebook group

https://www.facebook.com/groups/548403275265699/

I discovered Mylene Farmer after I discovered Alizee and learned the story of her success. Farmer's music gives me a synth pop vibe similar to Gourmandises and MCE, but I've only listened to a couple of songs, no full albums. I can certainly enjoy some of her songs in a similar fashion that I enjoy Alizee's early work but I'm not a fan of Farmer's overtly sexual style. As a person, Alizee is more appealing.

Awesome story. Now, just tell us was it just a dream of yours, or was it for real? :) :p

No, it was real. While she was on the horse next to me, I kept staring at her because she was, on the one hand, very attractive and on the other the "girl next door." I was wondering why a young woman would jump up next to a perfect stranger who was much older, bald headed with a pot belly. She couldn't be flirting and she had to pay to get on the merry-go-round, so what was the reason? I think my staring made her uncomfortable, and we couldn't really talk, so she left. I have never taken an intense interest in any pop star before, and now wonder if that incident is why I have become so fixated on Alizee. It kills me that I didn't know her, and it amazes me what an impact those few minutes have made on my life.

I had a similar experience when I was driving a taxi in Chicago. As a rule drivers didn't like passengers sitting in the front seat because there were so many robberies. In the back seat we were separated by a shield. The doormen at the big hotels understood this and would put customers' luggage on the front seat and the passengers in the back. One day at the Palmer House the doorman opened the front door and a man jumped in. He leaned forward and stuck his face in mine, and said, "Hi, hows things going." It was Eddie Fisher. This was shortly after he had broken up with Liz Taylor. I think he just wanted a fan to go crazy over meeting him, and I think Alizee wanted something similar on the merry-go-round.

On the day we met Alizee in New York, my son was making movies of our trip, but he didn't tape the merry-go-round. The incident happened so fast we didn't think to take photos, and I've been kicking myself ever after. I was so close and yet so far away.

I've been trying to figure out who the older woman was with Alizee. It definitely was not MF, and I didn't think it was Alizee's mother because the woman was a little heavier set than photos I have seen of her mother when Alizee won the airplane contest. Now, I'm not so sure. Maybe it was her mother. This was a few years after the airplane contest and she could have put
on weight.

Perhaps it was Bilitis :13:

You didn't really describe the other people who were on the ride. I'm guessing they were younger than you. I'll bet Alizée might have been looking at the ride, wanting to get on, but maybe being a little reluctant because of the older person with her. Then she probably saw you and your sister who were older and thought well if they can ride, I certainly can ride and again you two being a little older, she probably felt safer getting on, near the two of you.

I like this one by Mylène, it's Ainsi-soit je from her En Concert 1989: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bmAkH-pd6M&t=3867s

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bmAkH-pd6M&t=3867s

I don't know if you realize it, but the video and the link you posted were for the whole concert. If it's in the concert, can you post the time for the beginning of the song?

The merry-go-round was practically empty, perhaps as few as seven or eight people. Alizee had to pay to get on, and then ran off after 2 or 3 minutes. It was a very brief moment in my life, but it was pivotal. I know it's hard to believe this story, and I wish I had at least one photo as proof, but it really did happen. I was staring at her so hard, without saying anything, I'm sure it made her uncomfortable. She was, on the one hand, very attractive and on the other the girl next door. I think of all the things I could have done, but without speaking French and really not knowing her at all, I was at a total loss. To be so close and yet so far away, what a frustration.

It's in the comments. 1:04:27.

Yeah, like Not Now has said the beginning of the Ainsi-soit je song is at 1:04:27.

The same song she sang in 2010 on TV. It starts at 3:16 here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FyzYNvEdkwo

I like this MF music video from 2011...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jg8c9EH9OHA