"Je te rends ton amour" (English: "I'm Giving You Your Love Back") is a 1999 song recorded by the French artist
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 second
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 fifth studio album ''
Innamoramento
''Innamoramento'' is the fifth studio album by Mylène Farmer, released on 7 April 1999. With sales of 1.5 million, the album is one the singer's most successful ones. It reached Diamond status in France and landed Farmer a number of awards, inclu ...
'', it was released on 8 June 1999. The song became another top 10 hit in France for Farmer, and its controversial music video gained considerable attention at the time, being censored by several television channels.
Background and writing
After the release of "
L'Âme-stram-gram
"L'Âme-stram-gram" is a 1999 song recorded by French singer-songwriter Mylène Farmer. It was the lead single from her fifth studio album ''Innamoramento'' and was released on 9 March 1999. The lyrics were written by Farmer and the music was com ...
", rumours announced "
Dessine-moi un mouton
"Dessine-moi un mouton" (English: "Draw Me a Sheep") is a 1999 song recorded by French singer-songwriter Mylène Farmer, first in a studio version, then in a live version during her 1999 concert Mylenium Tour. The song was the only single from ...
" as second single from ''
Innamoramento
''Innamoramento'' is the fifth studio album by Mylène Farmer, released on 7 April 1999. With sales of 1.5 million, the album is one the singer's most successful ones. It reached Diamond status in France and landed Farmer a number of awards, inclu ...
'', with a video inspired by
Antoine de Saint Exupéry
Antoine is a French given name (from the Latin ''Antonius'' meaning 'highly praise-worthy') that is a variant of Danton, Titouan, D'Anton and Antonin.
The name is used in France, Switzerland, Belgium, Canada, West Greenland, Haiti, French Guiana ...
's ''
Le Petit Prince
''The Little Prince'' (french: Le Petit Prince, ) is a novella by French aristocrat, writer, and military pilot Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. It was first published in English and French in the United States by Reynal & Hitchcock in April 1943 and ...
'', featuring the crash of an airplane. However, Farmer decided to release her favorite song of the album, "Je te rends ton amour", instead. This song, whose music was composed 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 ...
primarily for
Nathalie Cardone
Nathalie Cardone (born 29 March 1967 in Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques) is a French actress and singer.
Biography
Cardone was born in Pau, in South-West France. Her father was Sicilian and her mother Spanish. She appeared for the first time on ...
, enabled the album to remain in the top of the charts during the 1999 summer.
The single was released in various formats providing a new song, "Effets secondaires", as well as two remixes produced by Perky Park. The image used for various covers, made by Marino Parisotto Vay, shows Farmer being crucified.
[ Chuberre, 2008, p. 208.] The designer Henry Neu said to be particularly proud of having made the velvet envelope containing a promotional cross-shaped CD.
Lyrics and music
The lyrics contain several references about painting, including
Egon Schiele
Egon Leo Adolf Ludwig Schiele (; 12 June 1890 – 31 October 1918) was an Austrian Expressionist painter. His work is noted for its intensity and its raw sexuality, and for the many self-portraits the artist produced, including nude self-portr ...
(referenced by name in 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 ...
), an
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 ...
n
painter
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 ai ...
born in 1890 and died at 28, who painted many thin red-headed women, and who was much appreciated by Farmer.
His painting ''Femme nue debout'' is even mentioned in the chorus. French painter
Paul Gauguin
Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin (, ; ; 7 June 1848 – 8 May 1903) was a French Post-Impressionist artist. Unappreciated until after his death, Gauguin is now recognized for his experimental use of colour and Synthetist style that were distinct fr ...
is also cited in the lyrics, as well as the lexical field of
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 ...
. In the song, Farmer evokes a Schiele's painting, ''La Femme nue debout'', and personifies the model painted. She also uses the typography of Schiele's signature to write the song's title on the cover of the CD and vinyl.
[ Cachin, 2006, pp. 141-45.] According to the author Erwan Chuberre, the song deals with "a too heavy love to hold or with a weight of an artist on his work".
Music video
Production and plot
For the first time in Farmer's career, the video was directed by François Hanss. Shot for two days in the Notre-Dame-du-Val
abbey
An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christian monks and nuns.
The conce ...
of
Mériel
Mériel () is a commune in the Val-d'Oise department and Île-de-France region of France. Mériel station has rail connections to Persan, Saint-Leu-la-Forêt and Paris.
Population
Notable residents
* Jean Gabin, actor (1904–1976). Gabin spe ...
(
Val-d'Oise
Val-d'Oise (, "Vale of the Oise") is a department in the Île-de-France region, Northern France. It was created in 1968 following the split of the Seine-et-Oise department. In 2019, Val-d'Oise had a population of 1,249,674. , France), this Requiem Publishing and Stuffed Monkey production cost about 100,000 euros. The screenplay was written by Mylène Farmer.
At the beginning of the video, we see a blind woman, Farmer, wearing a pink dress, with a
Bible
The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...
in her hand. She goes out of a tunnel and walks in a forest, touching trees to locate. She comes to a church, and then enters the
confessional
A confessional is a box, cabinet, booth, or stall in which the priest in some Christian churches sits to hear the confessions of penitents. It is the usual venue for the sacrament in the Roman Catholic Church and the Lutheran Churches, but sim ...
, followed by the Devil, in the form of a man dressed in a black robe. She opens her Bible written in
Braille
Braille (Pronounced: ) is a tactile writing system used by people who are visually impaired, including people who are Blindness, blind, Deafblindness, deafblind or who have low vision. It can be read either on Paper embossing, embossed paper ...
and starts to read it with her fingers; then she removes her
alliance ring and places it on the Bible. The Devil, meanwhile, plunges his fingers with long nails into the
holy water font
A holy water font or stoup is a vessel containing holy water which is generally placed near the entrance of a church. It is often placed at the base of a crucifix or religious representation. It is used in the Catholic Church, Anglican Churches ...
, extinguishes the candles and knocks down chairs, then moves to the other side of the confessional. His eyes are similar to those of a snake.
Gargoyle
In architecture, and specifically Gothic architecture, a gargoyle () is a carved or formed grotesque with a spout designed to convey water from a roof and away from the side of a building, thereby preventing it from running down masonry walls ...
s and statues of Christ are shown on several occasions. Blood starts to flow along the woman's hands and legs. The Devil then knocks over the Bible and grabs the woman by the neck. She tries first to resist, but soon she is caught hold of by the Devil who smears blood all over her naked body. Gagged and tied, she is then shown in a crucifixion position on the beams of the
nave
The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...
. The video then shows the woman crouching on a pool of blood in manner of a still-unborn
fetus
A fetus or foetus (; plural fetuses, feti, foetuses, or foeti) is the unborn offspring that develops from an animal embryo. Following embryonic development the fetal stage of development takes place. In human prenatal development, fetal deve ...
in the womb. Having had a bath in it, she leaves her alliance ring suggestively in the same pool of blood, and finally she exits the church in a black dress and with her vision restored.
[ Royer, 2008, pp. 201-02.]
Critical reception
The video caused considerable controversy in France, due to its scenes of nudity and blood, and of its apparent criticism of Christianity and the Church. It was considered as being "too daring". The
Conseil supérieur de l'audiovisuel
The (, ''lit.'' ''Superior Audiovisual Council''), abbreviated CSA, was a French institution created in 1989 whose role was to regulate the various electronic media in France, such as radio and television. The creation of the was a measure foun ...
gave a negative opinion, but it did not forbid the television channels to broadcast it.
[ Royer, 2008, pp. 107-08.] A committee, mainly composed of housewives, decided to broadcast a shortened version of the video during the day so as to not shock children. Therefore,
M6 aired a short two-minute version that stopped when the demon wildly caught Farmer, at the second chorus. In response to this censorship, Farmer asked Hanss to cut the shocking scenes for the airing on television and decided to release the video in its full version as a
VHS with a booklet of unpublished photos by Claude Gassian. All funds collected from the 70,000 sales of the tape were returned to
Sidaction
Sidaction is a major French public event that started in 1994 in France for raising awareness and collecting charitable funds for AIDS. It donates important sums to various AIDS charities, HIV/AIDS research, institutions specializing in medical ca ...
, an association fighting against
AIDS
Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...
.
[ Chuberre, 2008, p. 210.] In 2000, in an interview on
MCM, the singer said about this censorship:
"Ça n'a aucun intérêt de vouloir choquer à tout prix pour qu'on s'interesse à vous. Il se trouve que j'aborde des sujets qui sont peut être un peu épineux voire tabous. Ç'est un risque... Maintenant, la censure, spécialement en France est un peu sévère et s'attaque à tout et n'importe quel sujet ce que je trouve vraiment regrettable."
(''English translation:'' "It's not interesting to want to be shocking at all costs in order to be relevant/interesting. I deal with subjects that are maybe a little tricky, taboo. It's a risk... right now the censorship, especially in France, is a bit harsh and it attacks everything and any subject... I find this truly regrettable.")
According to some, "Je te rends ton amour" is one of Farmer's music videos which uses a lot of symbolisms, "bringing together aestheticism, shock images and deep themes". Several interpretations are possible.
One contextual interpretation of the music video can be given keeping in mind that the song appears in the album ''Innamoramento'' which in Italian means "The Birth of Love". The smearing of the woman's body in blood perhaps symbolizes that she is being baptized in blood by the Devil, so in a way she is 'reborn' (in Christian concept, to be baptized symbolically means to be reborn). This view is also reinforced by the woman's 'fetus' pose in the video, and also that after the experience she goes out of the church completely renewed, gifted with sight, and possibly liberated from religious strictures. The fact that the woman in the video initially wanted to place her ring on the Bible, but ended up placing it in the blood pool suggests that Farmer is 'married' to her liberator (the Devil) and wishes to live her new life without any religious inhibitions. She "refuses any dogmatic system" (the Church and/or the Bible), preferring a "freer world".
In the magazine ''
Voici
''Voici'' is a French language weekly celebrity and gossip magazine published in Paris, France.
History and profile
''Voici'' was founded in 1987. The magazine is published on a weekly basis and is based in Paris. The weekly is owned by the Germ ...
'', Joseph Messinger, a French
psychoanalyst
PsychoanalysisFrom Greek language, Greek: + . is a set of Theory, theories and Therapy, therapeutic techniques"What is psychoanalysis? Of course, one is supposed to answer that it is many things — a theory, a research method, a therapy, a bo ...
, did a surprising analysis of this video. The blood represents successively holiness, the loss of virginity, the defilement. Little by little in the video, Farmer loses her original purity. The
stigmata
Stigmata ( grc, στίγματα, plural of , 'mark, spot, brand'), in Roman Catholicism, are bodily wounds, scars and pain which appear in locations corresponding to the crucifixion wounds of Jesus Christ: the hands, wrists, and feet.
Stigm ...
refer to the idea of pain ensuing from the human condition. The Bible, a symbol of dogmatic thinking, evokes the notion of forbidden. When Farmer wants to decrypt it with her fingers, she is punished for trying to accede to a knowledge reserved for an elite (this image refers to
Eve
Eve (; ; ar, حَوَّاء, Ḥawwāʾ; el, Εὕα, Heúa; la, Eva, Heva; Syriac: romanized: ) is a figure in the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible. According to the origin story, "Creation myths are symbolic stories describing how the ...
and the
serpent
Serpent or The Serpent may refer to:
* Snake, a carnivorous reptile of the suborder Serpentes
Mythology and religion
* Sea serpent, a monstrous ocean creature
* Serpent (symbolism), the snake in religious rites and mythological contexts
* Serp ...
).
The psychologist Hugues Royer also believes that the video addresses the theme of the loss of virginity, and "the blood that flows from the breaking of the
hymen
The hymen is a thin piece of mucosal tissue that surrounds or partially covers the external vaginal opening. It forms part of the vulva, or external genitalia, and is similar in structure to the vagina.
In children, a common appearance of the h ...
becomes a torrent of hemoglobin".
He also said that it reminded the world of
Roman Polanski
Raymond Roman Thierry Polański , group=lower-alpha, name=note_a (né Liebling; 18 August 1933) is a French-Polish film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. He is the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, two ...
's film, ''
Rosemary's Baby'', and was inspired by the writings of the author
Georges Bataille
Georges Albert Maurice Victor Bataille (; ; 10 September 1897 – 9 July 1962) was a French philosopher and intellectual working in philosophy, literature, sociology, anthropology, and history of art. His writing, which included essays, novels, ...
, who described "the religious sentiment as the root of evil".
This last influence was also established by author Sophie Khairallah who cites the
novel
A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...
, ''
Story of the Eye
''Story of the Eye'' (french: L'histoire de l'œil) is a 1928 novella written by Georges Bataille that details the increasingly bizarre sexual perversions of a pair of teenage lovers, including an early depiction of omorashi fetishism in Weste ...
''.
Promotion and live performances
Mylène Farmer sang "Je te rends ton amour" in two television shows:
First, in ''La Fureur du parc'' (in playback) on 19 June. The show was broadcast in the
Parc des Princes
Parc des Princes () is an all-seater stadium, all-seater Association football, football stadium in Paris, France, in the south-west of the French capital, inside the 16th arrondissement of Paris, 16th arrondissement, near the Stade Jean-Bouin ...
, in Paris. Farmer accepted to perform her song provided to sing at the lead of the program. She appeared suddenly from the ground, standing on a platform that rose in the airs. Then, in ''50 Ans de tubes'' on 30 July, in which the singer performed the song in a works gallery of the French sculptor Caesar, in
Provence
Provence (, , , , ; oc, Provença or ''Prouvènço'' , ) is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which extends from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the Italian border to the east; it is bor ...
. At these occasions, Farmer wore the same dress as for the video. This dress was made by the British
fashion designer
Fashion is a form of self-expression and autonomy at a particular period and place and in a specific context, of clothing, footwear, lifestyle, accessories, makeup, hairstyle, and body posture. The term implies a look defined by the fashion in ...
John Galliano
John Charles Galliano (born 28 November 1960) is a British fashion designer from Gibraltar. He was the creative director of his eponymous label John Galliano and French fashion houses Givenchy and Dior. Since 2014, Galliano has been the creat ...
. As Farmer was not allowed to wear it again for her 2000 tour, she did make a similar dress.
Regarding the tours, "Je te rends ton amour" was first performed during the
1999
File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...
, in which Farmer wore a red dress with a very long trainand and performed on a platform, while the stage turns red; in February and March, Farmer added a repetition a cappella with the audience and a new musical direction. Second, the song was performed during the
2009 tours: Farmer wore an asymmetrical business suit composed of a white tutu underneath, and the stage was covered with red light. The song was also selected for inclusion in the track listing of 2006 concerts ''
Avant que l'ombre... à Bercy''; it had even been sung during the
rehearsal
A rehearsal is an activity in the performing arts that occurs as preparation for a performance in music, theatre, dance and related arts, such as opera, musical theatre and film production. It is undertaken as a form of practising, to ensure t ...
s, but was finally rejected.
B-side: "Effets secondaires"
The
CD single
A CD single (sometimes abbreviated to CDS) is a music single in the form of a compact disc. The standard in the Red Book for the term ''CD single'' is an 8 cm (3-inch) CD (or Mini CD). It now refers to any single recorded onto a CD of any si ...
and
CD maxi
A maxi single or maxi-single (sometimes abbreviated to MCD or CDM) is a music single release with more than the usual two tracks of an A-side song and a B-side song.
The first maxi singles
Mungo Jerry's first single, "In the Summertime" was the ...
contain that was a new song at the time, "Effets secondaires" (English: "Side Effects").
The song depicts Farmer as suffering from
insomnia
Insomnia, also known as sleeplessness, is a sleep disorder in which people have trouble sleeping. They may have difficulty falling asleep, or staying asleep as long as desired. Insomnia is typically followed by daytime sleepiness, low energy, ...
due to the taking of a drug which has side effects. Farmer counts the hours as they go by and seems to read though sounds delirious. She mentions
Krueger Krüger, Krueger or Kruger (without the umlaut Ü) are German surnames originating from ''Krüger'', meaning tavern-keeper in Low German and potter in Central German and Upper German.
The last name Krüger with umlaut dots is widespread in Germa ...
, a reference to the main antagonist from the ''
Nightmare on Elm Street
''A Nightmare on Elm Street'' is a 1984 American supernatural slasher film written and directed by Wes Craven and produced by Robert Shaye. It is the first installment in the ''A Nightmare on Elm Street'' franchise and stars Heather Langenkamp ...
'' horror film series which has sleep deprivation as a central theme. . In terms of structure, only refrains are sung, while the verses are spoken in low tones. The song ends with a long ringing alarm clock.
This song is included on Farmer's greatest hits album ''
Les Mots'' in 2001. It has never been performed on stage or on television.
Critical reception
Chuberre praised the song, saying ""Je te rends ton amour" shows how the writing of the singer is progressing. It is a superb text dealing with a too heavy love to hold or with a weight of an artist on his work". He describes the melody as being "insistent and bewitching", the image for the formats as "fascinating", but the remixes as being of lower quality than those of "
L'Âme-stram-gram
"L'Âme-stram-gram" is a 1999 song recorded by French singer-songwriter Mylène Farmer. It was the lead single from her fifth studio album ''Innamoramento'' and was released on 9 March 1999. The lyrics were written by Farmer and the music was com ...
".
Sales of the single were lukewarm. In France, it debuted at a peak of number ten on 12 June, which was at the time the 17th top ten of Farmer. However, the single fell sharply the following week and then stayed in lower positions. It stayed for 12 weeks in the Top 50 and 20 weeks in the top 100.
It was the 78th best-selling single of 1999 in France, but the second least-selling single from ''Innamoramento''.
In Belgium (
Wallonia
Wallonia (; french: Wallonie ), or ; nl, Wallonië ; wa, Waloneye or officially the Walloon Region (french: link=no, Région wallonne),; nl, link=no, Waals gewest; wa, link=no, Redjon walone is one of the three regions of Belgium—alo ...
), the single entered the Ultratop 40 at number 30 on 19 June and reached a peak of number 18 the next week. Then it dropped on the chart and totalled ten weeks in the top 40.
It was ranked at number 92 in Belgian Annual Chart.
Cover versions
In 2005, the song was covered by the band Lo-Fi.
Formats and track listings
These are the formats and track listings of single releases of "Je te rends ton amour":
* CD single
* CD maxi - Digipack
* 12" maxi / 12" maxi - Picture disc - Limited edition (3,000)
* Digital download
* CD single - Promo / CD single - Promo - Luxurious crucifix
* VHS / VHS - Promo
Release history
Official versions
Credits and personnel
These are the credits and the personnel as they appear on the back of the single:
* Mylène Farmer – lyrics
* Laurent Boutonnat – music
* Requiem Publishing – editions
*
Polydor
Polydor Records Ltd. is a German-British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in the United States. ...
– recording company
* Marino Parisotto Vay – photo
* Henry Neu / Com'N.B – design
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
References
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
Notes
{{authority control
1999 singles
Mylène Farmer songs
Songs with lyrics by Mylène Farmer
Songs with music by Laurent Boutonnat
1999 songs
Polydor Records singles