Les Mots (song)
"Les Mots" | ||||
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Polydor | ||||
Songwriter(s) | Lyrics: Mylène Farmer Music: Laurent Boutonnat | |||
Producer(s) | Laurent Boutonnat | |||
Mylène Farmer singles chronology | ||||
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Seal singles chronology | ||||
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"Les Mots" (English: "The Words") is a 2001 song recorded as a duet by the French singer-songwriter Mylène Farmer and the English soul singer Seal. It was the first single from her best of album, Les Mots, and was released on 13 November 2001. It was Farmer's third duet, after those with Jean-Louis Murat in 1991 and Khaled in 1997, and her first international duet. "Les Mots" is a bilingual song, containing verses in French (sung by Farmer) and in English (by Seal). In terms of sales, "Les Mots" is Farmer's fourth biggest success in France, behind "Désenchantée", "Pourvu qu'elles soient douces" and "Sans contrefaçon".
Background and writing
In October 2001, the release of the second single from the live album
Music and lyrics
This melancholy song has fairly simple lyrics. The journalist Benoît Cachin said that in this song, "Farmer pays tribute to the words which have enabled her to write her songs, which are also used to express her love".
Music video
Production and plot
The music video was filmed on 8 and 9 October[6] and was directed by Laurent Boutonnat, Farmer's songwriting partner. It was a return by Boutonnat as Farmer's film director as her last video, "Beyond My Control", was directed by him in 1992. The screenplay was written by Boutonnat and Farmer, and it was a Requiem Publishing and Stuffed Monkey production. Shot over two days, it cost about 100,000 euros[11] and it was the first time that Boutonnat used special effects in a Farmer video.
The two singers did not meet to shoot the video. According to some sources, because of the 11 September 2001, terrorist attacks, Seal refused to take a plane to France.
The video shows the two singers in the middle of an ocean. Farmer, dressed in a short black skirt, and Seal, stripped to the waist, are on a wooden raft with a small sail and start to row. While Farmer stretches out on the raft, a storm begins to arrive, the wind picks up, the rain falls and lightning illuminates the sky. Seal, standing on the raft, loses his balance and falls into the water. Farmer tries to save, him giving him her hand, but without success. The night starts to fall and Farmer, now alone on the raft, lights a match and puts it out immediately.[14]
Inspiration and analysis
The video contains some references to
According to Instant-Mag, "the video "Les Mots" – without real screenplay, but rather playing on the aesthetics of colors and the sensual bodies filmed – can be appreciated on two levels: the first, metaphorical (...), refers to the flow of life, its turmoil, its despair, its choices. The lovers are (...) in the "same boat", they "row". When Seal fell in the water, Mylène Farmer doesn't help or can't help him, all interpretations are free. The end of the video may also symbolize the grief, the loss and its ambivalence: Farmer lights a flame, then blows it out, master of her own destiny and emotions."[18] The journalist Caroline Bee considers the video deals with "the world of dream, with the ocean as a metaphor for life: the turmoil and the fullness, the danger and the calm."[12]
Critical reception
- Reviews
"Les Mots" was generally very well received by the public, but was moderately appreciated by Farmer's fans because of its lack of innovation. For example, the biographer Bernard Violet says that "Les Mots" appears to be a typical Farmer's ballad, with a dark romanticism.
- Chart performances
The song entered the French
On the
In March 2002, "Les Mots" was the most aired Francophone song in the world.[28]
Live performances and cover versions
There was only one television performance, during the 2002
The song was performed on the Timeless tour in 2013 as a duet with Gary Jules.[31]
In 2003, the song was covered by the
Formats and track listings
These are the formats and track listings of single releases of "Les Mots":[32]
- CD single, 7" maxi
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Les Mots" (single version) | 4:47 |
2. | "Les Mots" (strings for soul's mix) | 4:44 |
- CD maxi – Europe, Israel, Canada
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Les Mots" (single version) | 4:47 |
2. | "Les Mots" (strings for soul's mix) | 4:44 |
3. | "L'Histoire d'une fée, c'est..." | 5:00 |
- Digital download
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Les Mots" (album version) | 4:44 |
2. | "Les Mots" (2006 live version) | 5:06 |
- CD single – Promo / CD single – Promo – Luxurious edition
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Les Mots" (single version) | 4:35 |
- VHS – Promo
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Les Mots" (video) | 4:45 |
Release history
Date[32] | Label | Region | Format | Catalog |
---|---|---|---|---|
10 October 2001 | Polydor | France, Belgium | CD single – Promo | 9826 |
VHS – Promo | — | |||
13 November 2001 | CD single | 570 486-2 | ||
20 November 2001 | 7" maxi | 570 486-1 | ||
2002 | Europe, Canada, Israel | CD maxi | 570 702-2 |
Official versions
Version[33] | Length | Album | Remixed by | Year | Comment[13] | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Album version | 4:45 | Les Mots
|
— | 2001 | See the previous sections | |
Single version | 4:47 | — | — | 2001 | See the previous sections | |
Promotional version | 4:40 | — | — | 2001 | The noise of the match at the end is removed. | |
Strings for soul's mix | 4:44 | — | Laurent Boutonnat | 2001 | This version is almost sung a cappella, the music being played only by the violins. The noise of the match at the end is removed. | |
Music video | 4:45 | Music Videos IV | — | 2001 | ||
Live version (recorded in 2006) |
5:06 | Avant que l'ombre... à Bercy | — | 2006 | See Avant que l'ombre... à Bercy (tour) | |
Live version (recorded in 2013) |
5:13 | Timeless 2013 | — | 2013 | See Timeless (tour). Performed as duet with Gary Jules. |
Credits and personnel
These are the credits and the personnel as they appear on the back of the single:[32][34]
- Mylène Farmer – lyrics
- Laurent Boutonnat – music
- Requiem Publishing – editions
- Polydor– recording company
- Isabel Snyder / aRT miX the agency – photo
- Henry Neu / Com'N.B – design
- Made in the E.U.
Charts and sales
Peak positions
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Year-end charts
|
Certifications and sales
Country | Certification | Date | Sales certified | Physical sales |
---|---|---|---|---|
Belgium[37] | Gold | 7 January 2002 | 25,000 | |
France[21] | Gold | 19 December 2001 | 250,000 | 600,000[38] – 500,000-[39] |
References
- Bee, Caroline; Bioy, Antoine; Thiry, Benjamin (January 2006). Mylène Farmer, la part d'ombre (in French). L'Archipel. ISBN 2-84187-790-6.
- Cachin, Benoît (2006). Le Dictionnaire des Chansons de Mylène Farmer (in French). Tournon. ISBN 2-35144-000-5.
- Cachin, Benoît (2006). Mylène Farmer Influences (in French). Mascara. ISBN 978-2-35144-026-1.
- Chuberre, Erwan (2007). L'Intégrale Mylène Farmer (in French). City. ISBN 978-2-35288-108-7.
- Chuberre, Erwan (2008). Mylène Farmer, phénoménale (in French). City. ISBN 978-2-35288-176-6.
- Chuberre, Erwan (18 June 2009). Mylène Farmer : Des mots sur nos désirs (in French). Alphée. ISBN 978-2-7538-0477-7.
- Khairallah, Sophie (2007). Mylène Farmer, le culte - L'envers du décor (in French). Why Not. ISBN 978-2-916611-25-9.
- Rajon, Florence (2005). Mylène Farmer de A à Z (in French). MusicBook. ISBN 2-84343-319-3.
- Royer, Hugues (2008). Mylène, biographie (in French). Spain: Flammarion. ISBN 978-2-35287-139-2.
- Violet, Bernard (2004). Mylène Farmer, biographie (in French). J'ai lu. ISBN 2-290-34916-X.
Notes
- ^ Bee, Caroline; Brunet, Océane; Thiry, Benjamin; Parpette, Jennifer (2001). "Il y a (encore) une pince à linge dans les gâteaux apéritifs". Instant-Mag (in French). 7. Pantin: Tear Prod: 8.
- ^ a b c ""Les Mots", duo avec Seal" (in French). Sans-logique. Archived from the original on 31 October 2012. Retrieved 22 December 2007.
- ^ "Mylène Farmer et Seal – "Les Mots" – Histoire du single". Mylene.net (in French). Retrieved 17 March 2010.
- ^ a b c Bee, Caroline; Brunet, Océane; Bioy, Antoine; Delayre, Frédéric (2004). "Au lit avec Seal". Instant-Mag (in French). 16. Pantin: Tear Prod: 26.
- ^ "Les Mots". Closer (in French). 134: 22.
- ^ a b "Les Mots". Jukebox (in French). 179. Devant-soi. June 2002. Retrieved 22 March 2008.[permanent dead link]
- ^ Cachin, 2006 (2), pp. 62–65.
- ^ Bee, Caroline; Anton, Sonia; Thiry, Benjamin (2002). "Et Mylène ramait, ramait...". Instant-Mag (in French). 8. Pantin: Tear Prod: 5.
- ISBN 2-9518832-0-X.
- ^ Royer, 2008, pp. 165-66.
- ^ Khairallah, 2007, p. 44.
- ^ a b Bee, Caroline (24–30 November 2001). "Le nouveau clip de Mylène Farmer – Méduse en son radeau". Télé Magazine (in French). 2403.
- ^ a b c Cachin, 2006, pp. 167–70.
- ^ ""Les Mots", music video" (in French). Sans-logique. Archived from the original on 16 February 2013. Retrieved 27 December 2007.
- ^ a b Violet, 2004, pp. 221–22.
- ^ Collombier, Stéphane (2001). "L'univers a ses mystères, les mots sont nos vies". Gala (in French). Mylenorama. Archived from the original on 27 February 2012. Retrieved 5 September 2008.
- Chuberre, 2007, pp. 156,277. - ^ Bee, Caroline; Anton, Sonia; Thiry, Benjamin (2002). "Et Mylène ramait, ramait...". Instant-Mag (in French). 8. Pantin: Tear Prod: 8.
- ^ Bee, Caroline; Anton, Sonia; Thiry, Benjamin (2002). "Et Mylène ramait, ramait...". Instant-Mag (in French). 8. Pantin: Tear Prod: 6.
- ^ Chuberre, 2008, pp. 236–37.
- ^ a b ""Les Mots", French Singles Chart" (in French). Lescharts. Retrieved 22 December 2007.
- ^ Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Archived from the originalon 23 February 2012. Retrieved 22 December 2007.
- ^ Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Archived from the originalon 4 April 2012. Retrieved 22 December 2007.
- ^ Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Archived from the originalon 4 April 2012. Retrieved 22 December 2007.
- ^ "Top 100 des singles les plus vendus du millénaire en France, épisode 4 (70–61)". Chartsinfrance. 2 August 2014. Retrieved 27 August 2014.
- ^ a b ""Les Mots", Belgian (Wallonia) Singles Chart" (in French). Ultratop. Retrieved 3 January 2007.
- ^ a b "2001 Belgian (Wallonia) Singles Chart" (in French). Ultratop. Archived from the original on 19 October 2012. Retrieved 7 March 2010.
- ^ a b "2002 Belgian (Wallonia) Singles Chart" (in French). Ultratop. Archived from the original on 17 April 2008. Retrieved 7 March 2010.
- ^ a b "Mylène Farmer et Seal – "Les Mots" – Classements". Mylene.net (in French). Retrieved 20 July 2010.
- ^ "Mylène Farmer et Seal – "Les Mots" – TV". Mylene.net (in French). Retrieved 20 July 2010.
- ^ Chuberre, 2009, pp. 175–76.
- ^ "Mylène Farmer - Infos sur le premier concert Timeless 2013 à Bercy". Mylene.net. Retrieved 25 May 2023.
- ^ a b c "Mylène Farmer et Seal – "Les Mots" – Supports". Mylene.net (in French). Retrieved 7 March 2010.
- ^ "Mylène Farmer et Seal – "Les Mots" – Versions". Mylene.net (in French). Retrieved 20 July 2010.
- ^ "Mylène Farmer – "Les Mots" – Crédits". Mylene.net (in French). Retrieved 3 April 2010.
- ^ "Canadian Digital Song Sales". Billboard. 25 January 2003. Retrieved 11 December 2018.
- ^ "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. 9 February 2002. Retrieved 29 November 2019.
- ^ "2002 certifications in Belgium". Ultratop.be (in French). Retrieved 7 March 2010.
- ^ Royer, 2008, pp. 364–65.
- ^ Cachin, 2006, p. 168.
External links
- (in French) Mylène Farmer & Seal — "Les Mots" All about the song, on Mylene.net