[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mylnefarmer.png]]

->''"The first time that I heard her, I was shocked. I bear her great admiration. I love her voice, her pain, her way of moving. She's so French!"''
-->-- Music/EltonJohn

Mylène [[StageNames Farmer]] (born Mylène Jeanne Gautier, 12 September 1961) is a French singer.

Born in Pierrefonds, UsefulNotes/{{Quebec}}, UsefulNotes/{{Canada}} to French parents, she is best known for her singles "Désenchantée", "XXL", "California" and more in addition to her art film-style music videos (with several being controversial).

She has remained quite a fixture in France, being the artist with the most number-ones on the charts there (21 to this day).
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!!Des tropes de Mylène Farmer:
* AnimatedMusicVideo: "C'est une belle journée" and "Peut-être toi".
* {{Animesque}}: The video for "Peut-être toi".
* AnimeHair: During her tours in 1996 she at one point wore her hair up in a very spiked bun which would later be illustrated in the video "Peut-être toi".
%%* AnyoneCanDie: A very common theme in her music.
%%* AuthorAvatar: The character Lonely Lisa.
* AxeCrazy: Her rival, played by dancer Sofie Teller, often featured in her various videos in the 80s is usually this.
** Mylène herself in "Fuck them all".
%%* BadGirlSong: Literally has a song titled that.
%%* BadassNormal: The character she usually plays in her early videos.
* {{Bifauxnen}}: As seen in the cover picture for her single "Sans contrefaçon". She herself was one prior to her career (see Gender Confusion below).
* BittersweetEnding: In many of her songs and videos, if it isn't a DownerEnding.
* BodyHorror: She has some... graphic videos, to put it bluntly. "Beyond my Control" is a perfect example.
** The stage for her 2009 tour was flanked by two seven-metres tall reproductions of the [[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e2/Bar-le-Duc_-_Eglise_Saint-Etienne_-_Le_Transi_-191.jpg Cadaver Tomb of René de Chalon]], which appeared in the video for "Redonne-moi" as well.
* BoyishShortHair: In the early Nineties, she sported this.
* BreakupSong: "Puisque".
* CatFight: Notoriously averted [[http://youtu.be/oGFr_NcKyfo?t=6m10s in the music video]] "Libertine": the fight features hitting a head with a bottle, swinging a firepoker and blood flying around. Bonus points for the video actually being highly erotically charged (unsurprisingly, if you know who [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libertine libertines]] are). [[http://youtu.be/L0DwIefImuA?t=10m15s Same goes for]] "Pourvu Quelles Soient Douces", sequel to "Libertine" ([[MudWrestling despite even featuring some mud]]).
* CerebusRollercoaster: Not only does her music over the years constantly switch between DarkerAndEdgier and LighterAndSofter, but songs in a single album can be this. Nothing like singing about your deep admiration of Creator/GretaGarbo and and the next track being about a child getting raped.
* CharityMotivationSong: "Dernier Sourire", which is about the death of a loved one due to AIDS.
** "Que mon coeur lâche" was originally supposed to be the single, but the ambiguous lyrics that seemed too insensitive and made light of sexuality changed plans.
* TheCoverChangesTheMeaning: Kate Ryan covered Mylene's signature song, "Desenchantée", but the cover seems to be more about being dissatisfied with a relationship rather than with society and the government.
* ClusterFBomb: "Fuck Them All" and "Peut-être toi".
* ConceptAlbum: Most are generally about sex and death.
** ''L'Autre'' has a recurring theme regarding the human mind, psychology and sociology.
** ''Anamorphosée'' seems to be about her life in America during the 1990s, as well as common references to one's reflection, mirrors, the distortion of an image and transformation.
** The main message in ''Innamoramento'' is love and the heart, but also incorporates themes and beliefs of various cultures and religions around the world.
** Religion, specifically Christianity, is a major theme in ''Avant Que L'Ombre''.
** Medical terms, stitches, scars, dolls and the human body for ''Point de Suture''.
%%* ConceptVideo
%%* CreepyChild: "Chloe".
%%* DenserAndWackier: See LighterAndSofter.
%%* DoubleStandard
%%* DownerEnding: In many of her videos and songs.
* DrivenToSuicide: "Au bout de la nuit". A women is contemplating suicide while sleeping with a man she finished having intercourse with due to her feeling used and wanted only for sex.
* EpicRocking: The entire album concept of ''Anamorphosée''.
* EthicalSlut: The primary message in "Libertine", "Pourvu Quelles Soient Douces", "Porno-Graphique" and "Sextonik".
%%* EverythingsSexierInFrench
%%* FadingIntoTheNextSong
* FieryRedhead: She's specifically stated it helped her stick out compared to other pop stars.
* GenreShift: From the synth pop in the her earlier albums to alternative rock starting with ''Anamorphosée''.
** And again in ''Innamoramento'' towards an Asian and electronic sound.
* GirlOnGirlIsHot: She has participated in photoshoots involving kissing other women.
* GratuitousEnglish: Appears here and there in many of her works, but most common in ''Anamorphosée'', as it was inspired by her stay in America.
%%* GriefSong: Half of her musical library.
%%* GrowingUpSucks: "Plus grandir".
* HeartbeatSoundtrack: "Dernier sourire" and her cover of "Ave Maria".
* HeroicMime: Usually plays as one in her videos.
* HotterAndSexier: Began as more of a tomboy to eventually adopting a more "mature women" look.
* IconicOutfit: Her boyish sense of fashion in TheEighties.
* IntercourseWithYou: "L'Amour n'est Rien" has that vibe.
* IronicNurseryTune: "Chloe". It's about a little girl drowning in a river while her sister watches, doing nothing.
** "Maman à tort" has elements of this with Mylène numbering each line of the verses.
* IWantSong
* IWillWaitForYou
* LaResistance: "Desenchantee". The video portrays Mylène as a rebelling prisoner in an all-male concentration camp, with scenes reminiscent to the painting '''Art/LibertyLeadingThePeople'' by Eugène Delacroix.
* LastNoteNightmare
* LaughingMad: Back up singer Carole Fredricks in the live 1989 version of "Maman a tort".
** One in "C'est dans l'air".
%%* LeFilmArtistique
* LighterAndSofter: The video for "Que mon coeur lâche". After an era of dark and morbid pop songs, this video has a much more comedic tone to it, with it being much DenserAndWackier than the previous ones. The fact it was directed by Creator/LucBesson, who went on to direct the ''Film/ArthurAndTheInvisibles'' film trilogy over her normal director, Laurent Boutonnat, is probably one of the main reasons why.
* LonelyPianoPiece: Most of the live versions of her ballads. They are generally all performed in one act as one long medley.
* LyricalDissonance: Has made a career out of danceable songs with dark lyrics.
%%* LyricsVideoMismatch
* MoodWhiplash: Albums can go from a light, cherry tune to something very dark by one track. Very common in her concerts too.
* MoralGuardians: Several of her videos were banned from airing on MTV because of the recurring themes of sex, nudity, violence and alleged religious blasphemy.
* MrsRobinson: Let's just say her dancers look quite...young.
* MsFanservice: The video for "L'Amour n'est Rien" is a perfect example. Surprisingly, it was not banned from airplay.
* NewSoundAlbum:
** ''Anamorphosée'' had a strong alternative and rock base, which polarized her fanbase when it first was released.
** ''Innamoramento'' had a lot of Asain and African sonorities.
** ''Point de Suture'' was very electronic and had a much more danceable tracks, which gave it mixed reviews, especially among fans. 6 of the 11 tracks where singles, but 5 of them became number ones, something never before achieved by a French artist.
** ''Bleu Noir'' had a much more relaxed electronic sound to it, partly due to most of the album being composed and written by Music/{{Moby}}.
** ''Monkey Me'' has elements from all of her albums:
*** The synth pop and LyricalDissonance from ''Cendres du Lune'', ''Ainsi Soit Je'' and ''L'Autre''.
*** The aggressive rock sounds from ''Anamorphosée''.
*** Occasional Asain sonorities from ''Innamoramento''.
*** The electronic sound of ''Point de Suture'' and ''Bleu Noir''.
* NightmareFetishist: For someone who was once terrified by the idea of death, she sure seems to sing a lot about it.
* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: An Expy of Music/MichaelJackson appears in "Que mon coeur lâche".
* NonAppearingTitle
* NothingIsScarier
* NotQuiteDead
* OfCorsetsSexy
* OlderThanTheyLook: She's in her fifties!
* OminousLatinChanting: "Agnus dei" and the live 2009 version of "Nous souviendrons nous".
* OminousMusicBoxTune: The intro and outro of the music video for "Sans contrefaçon".
* JustForFun/OneMarioLimit
* ParentalIncest: Implied in "Optimistique Moi".
* PlatonicLifePartners: With Laurent Boutonnat.
* PrecisionFStrike: See ClusterFBomb.
* ProtestSong: Many, including her signature song, "Desenchantée."
* PsychoStrings
* RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil: ZigZagged to an extent in the video for "Plus Grandir". At one point in the video the singer is raped by a man who comes into her room. She resists at first but then consents and the two have sex. We are then shown being chased and eventually beaten by two little nuns which arguably is portrayed as more wrong than the rape earlier.
** The video for "Je te Rends ton Amour" which features a blind woman going into a church only for the devil to come in and rape her as well as [[FauxSymbolism show her visions of herself being crucified and covering her in blood]]. In the end she leaves the church completely cured of her blindness. How evil these actions are is really up to the viewer.
* RecordProducer: Owns Stuffed Monkey Inc.
%%* RearrangeTheSong: Many of her classic songs become this in her concerts.
%%* RefugeInAudacity
* ReligionRantSong: Many, though not always direct. "Plus Grandir" has the singer praying to a statue of the Virgin,only to be raped the next scene. "Vieux Bouc" is about a Satanic baptism.
** Her song "Sans Logique" described the life of a person with an unamed mental illness (stating at one minute they are angelic and others satanic) but of course the song as goes to blame God for the protagonist's behavior/condition.
%%* RereleaseTheSong
* TheRival:
** In-universe to her videos, Sofie Teller, who plays as a rich woman in red in "Libertine", a leader of a gang of prostitutes in the sequel "Pourvu Qu'elles Soient Douces", and The Evil Queen in "Tristana", a retelling of the fairy tale ''Literature/SnowWhite''. In real life Sofie and Mylene are good friends and she was once one of her backup dancers.
** In real life, fellow French singer Jeanne Mas. Music/CelineDion, too.
%%* RoomFullOfCrazy: A literal line in "Tristana."
%%* {{Sampling}}
%%* ScareChord
* SelfDeprecation: "Je t'aime melancholie".
** Also "Alice" in which she describes herself as the "depressive artist".
* {{Sexophone}}: In the English version of "Que mon coeur lâche".
%%* ShoutOut
* SingerNamedrop: "Mylène s'en fout". "Mylene is Calling" and "Mylenium" have the singer's name in the title, but her name isn't said in the song itself.
%%* SnowMeansLove: is this and also suffering and sadness in "Ainsi soi je"
%%* SplitPersonality: What "Monkey Me" seems to be about.
%%* SpokenWordInMusic
%%* StairwayToHeaven: The finale of the 2006 concert.
%%* StuffyOldSongsAboutTheButtocks: Inversion: "Pourvu qu'elles soient douces".
%%* SurrealMusicVideo
* TakeThat: "Je t'aime melancholie" to her critics, who felt her musical style was too depressing.
* ThereAreNoTherapists: Averted in "Maman a tort" and "L'âme stram-gram".
%%* ThisIsForEmphasisBitch: Several times in "Fuck Them All"
%%* TickTockTune: The opening and closing of her 1989 tour.
* UrbanLegends: Due to her private lifestyle and her childhood often unspoken about, these tended to pop up often in the '80s and early '90s.
* VocalEvolution: Has gotten deeper over the years. Doesn't sing high notes as often anymore.
%%* VoicesAreMental
%%* WorldOfSymbolism
%%* WouldHurtAChild: The British captain, Swift and the French Army in "Pourvu Que'elles Soient Douces".
%%* {{Wutai}}: "L'âme stram-gram".
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