"Désenchantée" (; feminine of ''désenchanté'', which is French for "Disenchanted" or "Disappointed") is a 1991 song recorded by French singer-songwriter

Mylène Farmer Mylène Jeanne Gautier (; born 12 September 1961), known professionally as Mylène Farmer (), is a Canadian-born French singer, songwriter, occasional actress, writer, and entrepreneur. Having sold more than 30 million records in France, she is ...

. The first

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

from her third studio album '' L'Autre...'', it was released on 18 March 1991 and achieved great success in France, topping the charts for more than two months. It was Farmer's most successful song and is generally considered her

signature song A signature (; from la, signare, "to sign") is a Handwriting, handwritten (and often Stylization, stylized) depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" or other mark that a person writes on documents as a proof of identity and ...

. In 2002, the song was covered by Belgian singer

Kate Ryan Kate Ryan (born Katrien Verbeeck, 22 July 1980) is a Belgian singer and songwriter, and the winner of a World Music Award. She began her singing career in 2001 and later found fame with a string of dance hits. These included covers, mostly of M ...

, whose version reached number one in Belgium and became a top-20 hit across Europe.

Mylène Farmer version

Background and writing

After a two-year absence from the media, Farmer launched this new single "Désenchantée" on 18 March 1991, three weeks before the release of the album '' L'Autre...''. At the time, many

demonstrations Demonstration may refer to: * Demonstration (acting), part of the Brechtian approach to acting * Demonstration (military), an attack or show of force on a front where a decision is not sought * Demonstration (political), a political rally or prote ...

were organized by students throughout

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

to protest against their status and conditions for learning, and the

Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: ...

was raging. The pessimistic lyrics of the song strongly echoed the feelings toward worldwide events and thus certainly contributed to its success. According to the sound engineer, Thierry Rogen, "Désenchantée" was recorded four times. Boutonnat originally wanted a jerky song with techno influences, but Rogen convinced him to add

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

and a more

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...

sound. The text was inspired by the 1934 book ''On the Heights of Despair'' by the

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

philosopher A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...

Emil Cioran Emil Mihai Cioran (, ; 8 April 1911 – 20 June 1995) was a Romanian philosopher, aphorist and essayist, who published works in both Romanian and French. His work has been noted for its pervasive philosophical pessimism, style, and aphorisms. H ...

. Very quickly, the song achieved great success in France, becoming Farmer's biggest hit. As a result, the song was also released in other countries including

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, UK,

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

and

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. There were many formats for this song.

Lyrics and music

"Désenchantée" has a melodious tune, and its lyrics have "unexpected hyphenate which dissect the phrases in small sections". This song also has "a very dancing rhythmic color" thanks to the chords played on the

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

in the introduction, the bright and chiseled

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

or vocals (performed by Debbie Davis and

Carole Fredericks Carole Denise Fredericks (June 5, 1952 – June 7, 2001) was an American singer best known for her work in French music. She was the younger sister of Taj Mahal. Between 1990 and 1996 she was in the trio Fredericks Goldman Jones alongside s ...

) which bring out the

refrain A refrain (from Vulgar Latin ''refringere'', "to repeat", and later from Old French ''refraindre'') is the line or lines that are repeated in music or in poetry — the "chorus" of a song. Poetic fixed forms that feature refrains include the vi ...

. In the lyrics, the singer expresses her great lucidity on the absurdity of the world and discusses topics related to the

existentialism Existentialism ( ) is a form of philosophical inquiry that explores the problem of human existence and centers on human thinking, feeling, and acting. Existentialist thinkers frequently explore issues related to the meaning, purpose, and valu ...

Music video

The music video was produced by Requiem Publishing and Heathcliff SA and directed by

Laurent Boutonnat Laurent Boutonnat (born 14 June 1961) is a French composer and film and music video director, best known as the songwriting partner of Mylène Farmer and the director of several groundbreaking music videos. Career Born in Paris, Laurent Bouton ...

, who also wrote the script. Shot for five days (from 18 to 23 February 1991) in

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

, with a budget of about 240,000 euros, this video was one of the longest at the time (10:12) and used many extras: 119 children and many Hungarian actors such as Erika Francz Jánofné. There is another version shortened to four minutes. The video for the single features a riot in what appears to be a

concentration camp Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simply ...

gulag The Gulag, an acronym for , , "chief administration of the camps". The original name given to the system of camps controlled by the GPU was the Main Administration of Corrective Labor Camps (, )., name=, group= was the government agency in ...

facility where adults and children are subjected to forced labor and being treated abysmally by armed guards. The riot scenes are quite realistically shot and contain much violence. The anthem-like song goes well with the visual background. According to French magazine ''Instant-Mag'', this music video has a fairly similar structure to that of "

Tristana Tristana may refer to: * ''Tristana'' (novel), a novel published in 1892 by Benito Pérez Galdós ** ''Tristana'' (film), a 1970 Spanish film directed by Luis Buñuel based on the eponymous novel * ''Tristana'' (song), a 1987 song recorded by the ...

". It has a gloomy story, an ambiguous ending, allows various interpretations, and deals with the theme of

messianism Messianism is the belief in the advent of a messiah who acts as the savior of a group of people. Messianism originated as a Zoroastrianism religious belief and followed to Abrahamic religions, but other religions have messianism-related concepts ...

. Farmer "symbolically embodies the spirit of freedom". The final scene is inspired by the 1830

painting Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ...

'' La Liberté guidant le peuple'' by

Eugène Delacroix Ferdinand Victor Eugène Delacroix ( , ; 26 April 1798 – 13 August 1863) was a French Romantic artist regarded from the outset of his career as the leader of the French Romantic school.Noon, Patrick, et al., ''Crossing the Channel: Britis ...

. The music video is included on the videos albums '' L'Autre'' and ''

Music Videos I ''Music Videos'', also referred to as ''Music Videos I'', is a compilation of music videos by the French singer Mylène Farmer, containing all of her videos from 1984 to 1992. It was originally released on VHS in April 1997, then on DVD in 2000. ...

''.

Promotion and performances on tours

During the shooting of the music video, Farmer also gave a lengthy interview to French television host

Laurent Boyer Laurent Boyer (born on 23 January 1958 in Paris, France) is a French radio and television host. He is the companion of singer Alice Dona. He worked on M6 since its creation and presented programs such as ''Graines de star'', ''Nos meilleurs Mom ...

, in

. The interview was later aired on M6, on 7 April 1991. Farmer also performed the song live on ''Studio 22'', broadcast on the radio RTL on 15 May 1991. In 1991, Farmer appeared on five television shows to promote the songs: ''Sacrée soirée'' (17 April, TF1), ''La Une est à vous'' (20 April, TF1), ''Stars 90'' (13 May, TF1; Farmer also sang "L'Autre"), ''Tous à la une'' (31 May, TF1) and Vela d'Oro at ''Riva del Garda'' (

Rai Uno Rai 1 () is an Italian free-to-air television channel owned and operated by state-owned public broadcaster RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana. It is the company's flagship television channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream and general ...

, 4 October). On these occasions, Farmer had short hair (as in the music video) and wore white clothes. The performances were accompanied by a choreographed collective dance. The song was performed on the 1996 tour, the

Mylenium Tour ''Mylènium Tour'' is the third live album by Mylène Farmer, released on 5 December 2000. Background After having ending her third successful tour whose last shows were held in Russia on 7 March 2000, Farmer rested, and then decided to relea ...

, the 2006 tour à Bercy, 2009 tour, the Timeless tour, as well as the

Mylène Farmer 2019 ''Mylène Farmer 2019'' is a concert residency by French recording artist Mylène Farmer, launched in support of her tenth and eleventh studio albums, ''Interstellaires'' and ''Désobéissance''. It began on 7 June 2019 and concluded on 22 June ...

residency at the Paris La Défense Arena.

Chart performance

"Désenchantée" was the most aired song on radio in 1991 and was also the highest grossing song in 1991, 1992, and 2006, according to the SACEM. The single debuted on the French Single Chart at number 12 on 13 April 1991, climbing to number one two weeks later, where it stayed for nine consecutive weeks. Then it fell slowly back down the chart, remaining in the top ten for eighteen weeks and in the chart for 25 weeks in total. In the 2010s, the song re-entered the chart many times : on 1 October 2016, it was number four due to downloads, and number 26 on 16 December 2017 when a maxi vinyl was released. It was the best-selling single by a female artist in France and was certified

Gold disc Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

by the SNEP. The song had some success in

where it reached number 18 and in the Netherlands (number three). In the other countries where it was released, "Désenchantée" achieved moderate success. In

, the single peaked at number 23 on 9 February 1992. In

, the single charted for eleven weeks, from 11 August to 20 October 1991, reaching a peak of number 16 on 29 September. In

, the song only ranked at number 46.

Cover versions

The song was covered by many artists, including : * In 1996,

Lio Vanda Maria Ribeiro Furtado Tavares de Vasconcelos (born 17 June 1962), known professionally as Lio, is a Portuguese-Belgian singer and actress who was a pop icon in France and Belgium during the 1980s. Life and career Vanda Maria Ribeiro Furt ...

recorded her own version for the compilation album ''1991 - Les Plus Belles Chansons françaises''. * In 1998, the French band Alliage covered the song on ''Hit Machine'', but this version was not released as a single. * In 1999, the French singer Allan Théo performed the song on stage. * The

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...

dance-music singer

in 2002. This version is perhaps the best known cover, because it was released as a single and achieved a great success in many countries. * In 2002, Liloo covered the song which was remixed by Mad' House. * In 2005, the song was recorded by Pascal Obispo and Zazie and is available on Les Enfoirés' album ''2005 : Le Train des Enfoirés''. * The song was covered by the Swedish artist

Christer Björkman Christer Samuel Björkman (; born 25 August 1957) is a Swedish singer and television producer. He represented Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest 1992 with the song "I morgon är en annan dag". From 2002 to 2021, he served as a producer of Me ...

. * In 2006, Cynthia Brown,

Cyril Cinélu Cyril Cinélu, born 23 January 1987 in Lagny-sur-Marne, is a Francophone singer originally from Martinique who won the sixth season of ''Star Academy France, Star Academy'' on 22 December 2006. Biography Cyril grew up in Dillon, Martinique, D ...

, Domy Fidanza and Elfy Ka covered the song in a rock version for an album of the Star Academy. * In 2008, German Dance Band

Siria The music duo Siria is composed of singer Natalie Horler, better known as Cascada, and DJ Manian, known both for his solo work as well as his work within Cascada. The Siria project has had two singles released into the German and Canadian marke ...

(An offshoot project of

Cascada Cascada (, Spanish for "Waterfall", stylized as CASCADA, CASC''A''DA and cascada) is a German dance music act founded in 2004 by singer Natalie Horler and DJs/producers DJ Manian and DJ Yanou. They are best known for their hit singles " Everyti ...

) Covered the song in a "Handz Up/

Euro-Trance A list of trance music Trance is a genre of electronic dance music that emerged from the British new-age music scene and the early 1990s German techno and hardcore scenes. Trance music is characterized by a tempo generally lying between ...

Format. * In 2018, French duo

Madame Monsieur Madame Monsieur is a French duo consisting of vocalist Émilie Satt and producer Jean-Karl Lucas. They represented France at the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 in Lisbon, Portugal with the song "Mercy", finishing in 13th place in the grand final. ...

covered the song in an electro-pop version * The lyrics of

Electronic Electronic may refer to: *Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductor * ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal *Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device *Electronic co ...

's 1992 single " Disappointed" were partly inspired by "Désenchantée".

Formats and track listings

These are the formats and track listings of single releases of "Désenchantée": * 7" single - France, Germany * 12" maxi - France * CD single - Japan * CD maxi - France, Germany, Canada¹, Australia * Cassette, double length - France, Canada (promo) * 12" maxi, double length - Promo - France * 12" maxi - Germany, Canada² * 12" maxi - Promo - English version - Canada * 7" single - Promo - United Kingdom * 7" single - Promo - Italy ¹ French promo and English promo versions
² Mainstream and promo versions

Official versions

Credits and personnel

* Mylène Farmer – lyrics * Laurent Boutonnat – music * Requiem Publishing – editions * Polydor – recording company * Marianne Rosenstiehl (Sygma) – photo * Com'N.B – design

Charts, certifications and sales

Peak positions

Year-end charts

Certifications

Kate Ryan cover version

In 2002, Belgian singer

released her

dance-pop Dance-pop is a popular music subgenre that originated in the late 1970s to early 1980s. It is generally uptempo music intended for nightclubs with the intention of being danceable but also suitable for contemporary hit radio. Developing from a ...

style version of "Désenchantée" as the third single from her debut album '' Different'', released in the same year. This version was successful in several European countries. In 2009, the song was remastered and remixed by Paris Avenue, with dance/electronic style. The remix was included in Ryan's greatest hits album ''

French Connection The French Connection was a scheme through which heroin was smuggled from Indochina through Turkey to France and then to the United States and Canada, sometimes through Cuba. The operation started in the 1930s, reached its peak in the 1960s, and ...

''. In 2020 French hardtrance DJ Trym released a re-work.

Track listings

CD single CD maxi

Chart performances

In the

Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, ...

region of Belgium, the single went directly into the top ten, then reached number one on the third week and stayed there for six weeks. It spent ten weeks in the top three and twenty weeks in the top ten. After 27 weeks on the chart, it fell off the top 50. The single also reached number one in the Belgian dance chart. The single was also very successful in other European countries, such as Austria, Germany, Hungary, and Norway, where it reached the top three of the singles chart and stayed for several weeks in the top ten.

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

External links

*
Mylène Farmer — "Désenchantée"
All about the song, on ''Mylene.net'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Desenchantee 1991 singles 2002 singles Mylène Farmer songs Kate Ryan songs Songs with lyrics by Mylène Farmer Songs with music by Laurent Boutonnat Music videos directed by Laurent Boutonnat Ultratop 50 Singles (Wallonia) number-one singles SNEP Top Singles number-one singles 1991 songs Polydor Records singles