"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!"
Mylène Farmer (born Mylène Jeanne Gautier, 12 September 1961) is a French singer.
Born in Pierrefonds, Quebec, 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).
Des tropes de Mylène Farmer:
- Animated Music Video: "C'est une belle journée" and "Peut-être toi".
- Animesque: The video for "Peut-être toi".
- Anime Hair: 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".
- Axe-Crazy: 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".
- Bifauxnen: As seen in the cover picture for her single "Sans contrefaçon". She herself was one prior to her career (see Gender Confusion below).
- Bittersweet Ending: In many of her songs and videos, if it isn't a Downer Ending.
- Body Horror: 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 Cadaver Tomb of René de Chalon
◊, which appeared in the video for "Redonne-moi" as well.
- The stage for her 2009 tour was flanked by two seven-metres tall reproductions of the Cadaver Tomb of René de Chalon
- Boyish Short Hair: In the early Nineties, she sported this.
- Break-Up Song: "Puisque".
- Cat Fight: Notoriously averted 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 libertines are). Same goes for "Pourvu Quelles Soient Douces", sequel to "Libertine" (despite even featuring some mud).
- Cerebus Rollercoaster: Not only does her music over the years constantly switch between Darker and Edgier and Lighter and Softer, but songs in a single album can be this. Nothing like singing about your deep admiration of Greta Garbo and and the next track being about a child getting raped.
- Charity Motivation Song: "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.
- The Cover Changes the Meaning: 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.
- Cluster F-Bomb: "Fuck Them All" and "Peut-être toi".
- Concept Album: 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.
- Driven to Suicide: "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.
- Epic Rocking: The entire album concept of Anamorphosée.
- Ethical Slut: The primary message in "Libertine", "Pourvu Quelles Soient Douces", "Porno-Graphique" and "Sextonik".
- Fiery Redhead: She's specifically stated it helped her stick out compared to other pop stars.
- Genre Shift: 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.
- Girl on Girl Is Hot: She has participated in photoshoots involving kissing other women.
- Gratuitous English: Appears here and there in many of her works, but most common in Anamorphosée, as it was inspired by her stay in America.
- Heartbeat Soundtrack: "Dernier sourire" and her cover of "Ave Maria".
- Heroic Mime: Usually plays as one in her videos.
- Hotter and Sexier: Began as more of a tomboy to eventually adopting a more "mature women" look.
- Iconic Outfit: Her boyish sense of fashion in The '80s.
- Intercourse with You: "L'Amour n'est Rien" has that vibe.
- Ironic Nursery Tune: "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.
- "I Want" Song
- I Will Wait for You
- La Résistance: "Desenchantee". The video portrays Mylène as a rebelling prisoner in an all-male concentration camp, with scenes reminiscent to the painting 'Liberty Leading the People by Eugène Delacroix.
- Last Note Nightmare
- Laughing Mad: Back up singer Carole Fredricks in the live 1989 version of "Maman a tort".
- One in "C'est dans l'air".
- Lighter and Softer: 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 Denser and Wackier than the previous ones. The fact it was directed by Luc Besson, who went on to direct the Arthur and the Invisibles film trilogy over her normal director, Laurent Boutonnat, is probably one of the main reasons why.
- Lonely Piano Piece: Most of the live versions of her ballads. They are generally all performed in one act as one long medley.
- Lyrical Dissonance: Has made a career out of danceable songs with dark lyrics.
- Mood Whiplash: Albums can go from a light, cherry tune to something very dark by one track. Very common in her concerts too.
- Moral Guardians: Several of her videos were banned from airing on MTV because of the recurring themes of sex, nudity, violence and alleged religious blasphemy.
- Mrs. Robinson: Let's just say her dancers look quite...young.
- Ms. Fanservice: The video for "L'Amour n'est Rien" is a perfect example. Surprisingly, it was not banned from airplay.
- New Sound Album:
- 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 Moby.
- Monkey Me has elements from all of her albums:
- The synth pop and Lyrical Dissonance 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.
- Nightmare Fetishist: For someone who was once terrified by the idea of death, she sure seems to sing a lot about it.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: An Expy of Michael Jackson appears in "Que mon coeur lâche".
- Non-Appearing Title
- Nothing Is Scarier
- Not Quite Dead
- Of Corsets Sexy
- Older Than They Look: She's in her fifties!
- Ominous Latin Chanting: "Agnus dei" and the live 2009 version of "Nous souviendrons nous".
- Ominous Music Box Tune: The intro and outro of the music video for "Sans contrefaçon".
- One-Mario Limit
- Parental Incest: Implied in "Optimistique Moi".
- Platonic Life-Partners: With Laurent Boutonnat.
- Precision F-Strike: See Cluster F-Bomb.
- Protest Song: Many, including her signature song, "Desenchantée."
- "Psycho" Strings
- Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil: Zig-Zagged 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
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.
- 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
- Record Producer: Owns Stuffed Monkey Inc.
- Religion Rant Song: 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.
- The Rival:
- 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 Snow White. 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. Céline Dion, too.
- Self-Deprecation: "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".
- Singer Namedrop: "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.
- Take That!: "Je t'aime melancholie" to her critics, who felt her musical style was too depressing.
- There Are No Therapists: Averted in "Maman a tort" and "L'âme stram-gram".
- Urban Legends: Due to her private lifestyle and her childhood often unspoken about, these tended to pop up often in the '80s and early '90s.
- Vocal Evolution: Has gotten deeper over the years. Doesn't sing high notes as often anymore.
