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Ainsi soit je...

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Untitled

Ainsi Soit Je... (a play on ainsi soit-il, which can mean either "so be it" or "amen") is the second album by Mylène Farmer, released in April 1988.[1][2] It contains the hit singles "Sans contrefaçon", "Pourvu qu'elles soient douces" and "Sans logique". Generally well received by critics, it was very successful and remains to date the second best-selling album of the singer.

Background

After the success of the album Cendres de Lune and the hits "Sans contrefaçon" and "Ainsi soit je...", Farmer had no problem releasing a second album that would be well received by the public, enabling her to consolidate her growing popularity, thus preventing her from slipping back into anonymity. The album took from five to six months to be finished.[3] It was recorded at studio Mega, Avenue Maréchal-Maunoury, in Paris (XVIe arrondissement) under the leadership of Thierry Rogen, a renowned sound engineer who had already worked in particular with Michel Sardou.[4]

The cover of the album shows Farmer turned sideways, accompanied by the puppet used in the music video for "Sans contrefaçon". The photographs of the booklet were made by Elsa Trillat.

The album was released in April 1988 and met great success, both critically and commercially.

Lyrics and music

The texts, which contain many literary references to famous authors (such as Baudelaire, Poe, etc.), were written by Mylène Farmer, except "L'Horloge" (a poem by Charles Baudelaire), "Déshabillez-moi" (originally sung in 1966 by Juliette Gréco) and "The Farmer's Conclusion" (which is an instrumental song). The album has a melancholy and sad tone, and deals with death, suicide, madness with gloomy and desperate texts. Sexual ambiguity, sodomy and provocation are also tackled.[5][6]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[7]

The album was generally well received in the media and remains sometimes considered as "one of the most successful",[8] even the singer's "best album".[6] When the album was released, the press said: "Mylène shows an imagination and a new maturity in these charming libertine poems and her synthetic hits containing literary references" (20 Ans).[9] This "great" (Gaipied)[10] and "successful" (Les Dernières Nouvelles d'Alsace)[11] album has "an intellectual and musical universe always so creative" (Gaipied).[12] Its songs were described as "powerful, sometimes catchy and often spellbinding compositions" (Paris Nuit),[13] whose texts are "chiseled but perfectly licentious" (France Soir).[14] The "poetic quality of the texts" and "the sense of the melody" (Le Télégramme)[15] were also mentioned. Rock and Folk said this Laurent Boutonnat's production is "impeccable", demonstrating his "undoubted talent".[16] According to Télé Poche, "the time of success has come for Mylène Farmer" with this album.[17] The journalist Caroline Bee said this album is "an ambiguous, bright, romantic and beautifully produced gem".[8]

Some criticisms were also made against Ainsi soit je... For example, according to L'Humanité, this album uses an "old-fashioned stylistic mannerism to reinvent poetry" (L'Humanité).[18] Rock Land qualified this album as a "second collection of bad thoughts with a spectacular flippantly", whose "B-side is flat".[19]

Chart performances

In France, the album debuted at number 8 on April 1988, but it dropped to number 26 five months later. However, thanks to the successful single "Pourvu qu'elles soient douces" (number-one hit on December 1988), the album reached number one for two weeks on December 1988. The album managed to stay for eleven months in the top ten and about one year on the chart.[20] On 29 June 1988, the album was certified Gold disc by the SNEP for 100,000 copies sold, then Platinum disc for 300,000 sales, then Double platinum disc on 17 February 1989 for 600,000 sales, and eventually Diamond disc on 14 November 1989 for a minimum of 1,000,000 copies sold.[21][22] According to the French show Les Hits de Diamant, broadcast on M6 on October 20, 2007, Ainsi soit je... is the 46th best-selling album of all time in France.[23]

The album was also released in Germany, where it reached number 47.

On March 20, 2005, the album, then reissued in a digipack version, entered the French Top Mid' Price for four weeks, peaking at number 2.[20]

Singles

Year Title Date of release Physical sales
(France) 		Certification Peak position
FR FR GER
1987 "Sans contrefaçon" 7 October 1987 500,000[24] - 700,000[25][26][27] — 2 46
1988 "Ainsi soit je..." March 1988 150,000 - 180,000[28][29] — 12 —
"Pourvu qu'elles soient douces" 12 September 1988 700,000[30] - 900,000[31][32] - 1,000,000[33] Gold 1 87
1989 "Sans logique" February 1989 250,000[30] — 10 —

Release history

Date Label Region Format Catalog
1988 Polydor France CD 835654-2
Picture CD
12" 835564-1
Cassette 835465-4
Collector edition ?
Allemagne CD 835564-1
12" 835564-2
Canada 12" 835564-1
Promo 12"
Cassette 835564-4
Italy Cassette 835564-4
Japan CD POCP1001
Promo CD
Korea 12" RG2039
Netherlands Cassette 835564-4
Spain 12" 835564-1
1994 Polygram France CD 8355642
1998 Polygram France 835564
2005 Polydor Digital —
2006 Universal CD - Digipack 9828262

Formats

Track listing

# Title Length Writer(s) Composer(s) Comment, performances on tours and TV
1 "L'Horloge" 5:03 Charles Baudelaire Boutonnat
  • The song is the adaptation of the poem of the same name by Charles Baudelaire in Les Fleurs du mal. Very throbbing and gloomy, the music begins and ends with the sound of a clock pendulum, as well as cries of a baby. The words evoke the passage of time which leads to death. A male voice says repeatedly : "Souviens-toi!" (the French for "Remember", itself spoken in the song as well).[34]
  • It was performed during the 1989 tour and never on television.
2 "Sans contrefaçon" 4:07 Farmer Boutonnat It was performed during the 1989, 1996 tours, 1999, 2006 and 2009 and 2013 and 16 times on television.
3 "Allan" 4:46 Farmer Boutonnat It was performed during the 1989 tour and one time on television.
4 "Pourvu qu'elles soient douces" 4:52 Farmer Boutonnat It was performed during the 1989, 1999 and 2009 tours and 12 times on television.
5 "La Ronde triste" 4:13 Farmer Boutonnat
  • Although the title is in French, the lyrics are in English. The music is throbbing and lyrics evoke suicide and death. A male voice repeatedly says "Don't cry" (strangely listed in the lyrics as "Don't quite"). The song is the vinyl's B-side of "Sans contrefaçon".[35]
  • It was never performed on stage, but one time on television (Domicile A2, December 15, 1987, Antenne 2).
6 "Ainsi soit je..." 6:18 Farmer Boutonnat It was performed during the 1989, 1996 and 2009 tours and 12 times on television.
7 "Sans logique" 4:30 Farmer Boutonnat It was performed during the 1989 tour and five times on television.
8 "Jardin de Vienne" 5:17 Farmer Boutonnat
  • This melancholy song begins with a few notes of Richard Wagner's opera Tannhäuser. The text is both poetic and naive. In it, Farmer discovers a little boy who hanged himself in a garden of Vienna. In the refrain, the death is seen as a release.[36]
  • It was performed during the 1989 tour, but never on television.
9 "Déshabillez-moi" 3:45 Robert Nyel Gaby Verlor It was performed during the 1989 and 2006 tours and two times on television.
10 "The Farmer's Conclusion" 2:15 — Boutonnat
  • This instrumental song contains many cries of animals mixed with sighs of Farmer. The title refers to the pseudonym chosen by the singer ("Farmer" means "fermière" in French language) and is a humorous reply to journalists who sometimes give her that name in a literal way.[37]
  • It was never performed on stage, nor on television.

Personnel

  • Mylène Farmer – lead vocals
  • Laurent Boutonnat – keyboards, synthesizer, producer
  • Thierry Rogen – sound, mixing, programming
  • Slim Pezin – guitar
  • Bernard Paganotti – bass
  • Pol Ramirez del Più  (a pseudonym for Farmer and Boutonnat) – pan flute, shakuhachi
  • Les Moines Fous du Tibet  (a pseudonym for Farmer and Boutonnat) – background vocals
  • Frédéric Rousseau – programming
  • Bertrand Le Page / Polygram Music – editions (tracks 1-8, 10), Intersong Paris editions (track 9)
  • André Perriat (Top Master) – mastering, engraving
  • Elsa Trillat – photo
  • Jean-Paul Théodule – model
  • Benoît Lestang – puppet
  • Bertrand Le Page – management
  • Recorded and mixed at Studio Mega

Charts, certifications and sales

References

  • Bee, Caroline; Bioy, Antoine; Thiry, Benjamin (January 2006). Mylène Farmer, la part d'ombre (in French). L'Archipel. ISBN 2-84187-790-6.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: year (link)
  • Cachin, Benoît (2006). Le Dictionnaire des Chansons de Mylène Farmer (in French). Tournon. ISBN 2-35144-000-5.
  • 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 2-7538-0477-X.
  • 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

  1. ^ "Ainsi soit je...". Le Progrès (in French). 18 April 1988. Retrieved 27 March 2008.
  2. ^ "Ainsi soit je...". Madame Figaro (in French). 3 June 1988. Retrieved 27 March 2008.
  3. ^ Pulsion (in French). May 1988.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: untitled periodical (link)
  4. ^ Violet, 2004, p. 93.
  5. ^ Chuberre, 2007, p. 26.
  6. ^ a b Cachin, 2006, pp. 28-29.
  7. ^ Allmusic review
  8. ^ a b Bee, 2006, p. 362.
  9. ^ "Ainsi soit je...". 20 Ans (in French). June 1988. Retrieved 27 March 2008.
  10. ^ "Skeuds de Noël". Gaipied (in French). 12 December 1988. Retrieved 27 March 2008.
  11. ^ "Ainsi soit je...". Les Dernières Nouvelles d'Alsace (in French). 14 May 1988. Retrieved 27 March 2008.
  12. ^ "Ainsi soit-elle". Gaipied (in French). 17 May 1988. Retrieved 27 March 2008.
  13. ^ "Ainsi soit je...". Paris Nuit (in French). April 1988. Retrieved 27 March 2008.
  14. ^ G., R. (19 November 1988). "Mylène Farmer: "Vivre avec trois amants"". France Soir (in French). Retrieved 27 March 2008.
  15. ^ "Ainsi soit je...". Le Télégramme (in French). 20 April 1988. Retrieved 27 March 2008.
  16. ^
    * "Ainsi soit je... (1)". Rock and Folk (in French). 1988. Retrieved 27 March 2008.
    * "Ainsi soit je... (2)". Rock and Folk (in French). 1988. Retrieved 27 March 2008.
  17. ^ "Cherchez 'la' Farmer". Télé Poche (in French). 30 April 1988. Retrieved 27 March 2008.
  18. ^ "Ainsi soit je...". L'Humanité (in French). 2 June 1988. Retrieved 27 March 2008.
  19. ^ "Ainsi soit je...". Rock Land (in French). May 1988. Retrieved 27 March 2008.
  20. ^ a b c d "Albums chart trajectories in France, database" (in French). Infodisc. Archived from the original on 20 August 2008. Retrieved 9 September 2008. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  21. ^ a b "Albums certifications in France, database". Infodisc. Archived from the original on 21 June 2010. Retrieved 1 August 2010. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  22. ^ "Du diamant pour Mylène Farmer". Var Matin (in French). 3 March 1989. Retrieved 30 March 2008.
  23. ^ "Les Hits de Diamant, M6" (in French). Dailymotion. 20 October 2007. Retrieved 27 March 2008. [dead link‍]
  24. ^ Royer, 2008, p. 350.
  25. ^ Goudeau, Mathias (2003). Le Mystère (in French). L'Express. p. 197. ISBN 2-84343-158-1.
  26. ^ Violet, 2004, p. 88.
  27. ^ Nouveau, Béatrice (2003). L'Ange Rouge (in French). Michel Lafon. p. 150. ISBN 2-84098-989-1.
  28. ^ Royer, 2008, pp. 350-51.
  29. ^ a b Mathias Goudeau, Le Mystère, p.21, 2003, Ed. L'express, ISBN 2-84343-158-1
  30. ^ a b Royer, 2008, p. 351.
  31. ^ Bernard Violet, Mylène Farmer, p.106, 2004, Ed. Fayard, ISBN 2-213-62034-2
  32. ^ Jukebox 130, July 1998, p.58
  33. ^ Mathias Goudeau, Le Mystère, p.179, 2003, Ed. L'express, ISBN 2-84343-158-1
  34. ^ Cachin, 2006, p. 120.
  35. ^ Cachin, 2006, p. 234.
  36. ^ Cachin, 2006, p. 135.
  37. ^ Cachin, 2006, p. 105.
  38. ^ "Belgium certifications". Fanofmusic. Retrieved 19 November 2008. [dead link‍]
  39. ^ Royer, 2008, p. 349.
  40. ^ Violet, 2004, p. 94.
  41. ^ Le Parisien, 11 September 2009, p.34
  42. ^ "Switzerland certifications". Swisscharts. Retrieved 2010-07-06. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
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