VERTIGE

"I did not do this business to be known but to be recognized".
Mylene Farmer 2001

Vertige is a song # 2 from the fourth studio album Anamorphosée released 17 October 1995.

Very Zen is this one. Living in the moment is such a core Buddhist concept: past is gone, future is not here, all you got is a generous and exciting (aka the sensation of the vertigo) present moment.

I really like this…

The words of Vertigo were written by Mylène Farmer. Music by Laurent Boutonnat (although it sounds very different, doesn’t it? Could it be Jeff’ Dahlgren’s influence?)

” “Vertigo” is a key word. I have inevitably changed. I grew up. I opened to life.” (Mylène Farmer – “L’Express” – 11/02/1995)

This song Is most likely a result of Mylene reading the Tibetan Book of Life and Death that she regularly mentioned in an interview during the release of the album Anamorphosée. It is not a secret that she turned to the Buddhism during the hard after-Giorgino times. And what a fortunate discovery not only for her spiritual evolution but also for all of us benefiting from such a leap of consciousness! Everything has changed:  the music style, her hair, her look, her stage presence and most of all HER, she’s stepped into her own Power and became truly glorious. What a change since her last live concert of 1989. Wow – you would not believe it’s the same person! But only 7 years passed by!

We find in the text in particular the notion of impermanence (“Impermanente existence”) described in the work of Sogyal Rinpoche: “New influences will have affected us, depending on the circumstances. We are impermanent. . Influences are impermanent. And there is nothing that can be called stable or enduring.”

“To say that I have encountered the light would be a little strong, but I have an encounter, at least with a book that has been important in my life, which is The Tibetan Book of Life and Death which speaks of the idea of ​​impermanence, which is living the present moment. And that was something extremely strong for me. This idea of ​​not apprehending death. ” (Mylène Farmer – Paris Première – 05/30/1996)

So what is it that inspired Mylene? What is Zen? It’s both something we are—our true nature expressing itself moment by moment—and something we do—a disciplined practice through which we can realize the joy of being. It is not a belief system to which one converts.

There is no dogma or doctrine. Zen is the direct experience of what we might call ultimate reality, or the absolute, yet it is not separate from the ordinary, the relative. This direct experience is our birthright. The practice of zazen—meditation—is a way of realizing the non-dualistic, vibrant, subtle, and interconnected nature of all life.

It was this path toward realization that was shown some 2,500 years ago by the Indian prince Siddhartha Gautama, who came to be known as Shakyamuni Buddha. “Buddha” simply means “awakened one.” His great teaching was that we can all awaken; that fundamentally, we are all buddhas— Jewish buddhas, Christian buddhas, Hindu buddhas, Islamic buddhas, Ashanti buddhas, Haudenasaunee buddhas, secular buddhas.

With this flexible and accommodating attitude toward the various cultures and beliefs it encountered, Buddhism was embraced throughout Asia. In China, it merged with Taoism and evolved into Ch’an, the Chinese word for meditation, which became “Zen” in Japan. Over the past few decades, it has become very much a part of Western culture. Indeed, the historian Arnold Toynbee said that one of the most significant events of the twentieth century was the movement of Buddhism from East to West.

Through a dedicated and consistent meditation practice, we can realize that self and other are One, that the conditioned and unconditioned are simultaneous, that absolute and relative are identical. Out of this realization flows a natural compassion and wisdom, a peaceful and intuitively appropriate response toward whatever circumstances may arise. We don’t make a big deal about it; we don’t even call it religion. When the Dalai Lama was asked about Buddhism, he simply said, “My religion is kindness.”

So, again, what is Zen? Stop now. Stop trying to get an intellectual lock on something that is vast and boundless, far more than the rational mind can grasp. Just breathe in with full awareness. Taste the breath. Appreciate it fully. Now breathe out, slowly, with equal appreciation. Give it all away; hold onto nothing. Breathe in with gratitude; breathe out with love. Receiving and offering—this is what we are doing each time we inhale and exhale. To do so with conscious awareness, on a regular basis, is the transformative practice we call Zen.

This simple yet profound practice can release us from the shackles of past and future, as well as from the self-imposed and imprisoning barriers we erect around what we erroneously consider our separate and unchanging identities.

Who do we think we are, anyway? When we really look deeply, it becomes the koan “Who am I?” We find that the conditioned views and compulsive traits we have come to call “self” have no fixed substance. We can, through consistent zazen, free ourselves from that imposter self and discover the true self—the being that is open, confident, and unhindered, flowing with all that exists in this very moment. Thus quite naturally we care for the environment, starting with our own actions: not wasting the earth’s precious resources, realizing that every act has consequences. And quite naturally we extend This Mind; we vow to live with attention, integrity, and authenticity; we vow to free all beings from suffering.

So let the life in…become lightheaded, become existed, have a vertigo! 😊

TOUR 1996

Mylène performed Vertige as a part of an Intro and First song of the show on all the dates of the 1996 Tour from May 25 to December 15, 1996. On 26 October 1996 Mylene found out that her big brother Jean-Loup Gautier died from the road accident.

I don’t know how she was able to keep going and not cancel her concert, but she did complete the tour. She, however, dedicated the DVD of the concert a Bercy to him. No doubts, this loss was very hard for her.

After the successful concerts tour of 1996, whose shows were spread out from 25 May to 15 December, a live album was recorded and produced by Thierry Suc, and sponsored by NRJ. It was remixed in studio to give it a better sound. The re-orchestrations, composed by Laurent Boutonnat, were very dynamic with very rock sonorities.

The photos illustrating the booklet were realized by Claude Gassian. The track listing contains songs from the four studio albums of Farmer, but Anamorphosée was sharply privileged, because all its songs were included on the album, except “Eaunanisme“. This live album was released on 21 May 1997

Two years later, in May 1999, the video was released as a DVD, which constituted moreover the first DVD of the singer. However, it doesn’t contain the bonuses available on the cassette.

Generally well received by media, the album was nevertheless criticized for having been too much remixed in studio. For example, the journalist Caroline Bee declared: “Everything is emphasized: Mylène’s voice, the shouts of the public, Abraham Laboriel’s powerful drum, the bass and both guitars, impeccable. All that gives a perfect whole, without dissonance, but which sounds more as an album studio than as a real transcription of concert”.

In France, the album debuted at number 3 on French Album Chart, on 24 May 1997. It then reached its peak position, #2, for two consecutive weeks, and for two other weeks two months later. Andrea Bocelli’s Romanza, then Era’s eponymous album made it unable to reach number one. It remained for 18 weeks in the top ten, and dropped until #36 on 8 November, but managed to re-entered the top 20 the week after and there stayed for nine weeks. It almost kept on dropping the months after and left the chart (Top 75) after its 44th week of attendance, on 28 March 1998. Three days before, the album achieved Double platinum status by the SNEP, the French certifier, for a minimum of 600,000 copies sold.

The video, both the VHS and the DVD, reached the first position on the French Videos Chart. They were both certified Diamond videos on 24 October 2001, for more than 100,000 sold copies.

In Belgium Wallonia, the album went straight to number 4 on 7 June 1997 and then peaked at #2 for 12 consecutive weeks (Era topped the chart then). After 18 weeks in the top ten, the album slowly dropped the four following months and disappeared from the chart (Top 50) on 31 March 1998, after 35 weeks of attendance.

VHS/DVD:
Act I
"Ouverture" (4:45)
"Vertige" (6:20)
"California" (7:30)
"Que mon cœur lâche" (4:35)
"Et Tournoie..." (4:30)

Act II
"Je t'aime mélancolie" (5:20)
"L'Autre..." (5:50)

Act III
"Libertine" (5:40)
"L'Instant X" (9:36)

Act IV
"Alice" (5:25)
"Comme j'ai mal" (4:35)

Act V
"Sans contrefaçon" (4:20)
"Mylène s'en fout" (4:45)
"Désenchantée" (8:15)

Act VI
"Rêver" (8:00)
"Laisse le vent emporter tout" (6:25)
"Tomber 7 fois..." (6:00)
"Ainsi soit je..." (5:00)
"La Poupée qui fait non" (duet with Khaled) (4:30)

Encore
"XXL" (7:00)

remixes: https://soundcloud.com/polyedre_remixes/vertige-living-remix

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lyrics with translation

Je vertige de vivre
Je vertige d'être vivant
Rain, nudité
Nuit sois plus lente
Délivrante
Rain, volupté
Impermanenet l'existence
Vois comme la vie est éphémère
Comme les nuages
Juste un passage
Une goutte d'eau nécessaire
Au voyage
Plus loin plus haut
J'atteins mon astre
Je vertige de vivre
Plus loin plus haut
L'esprit voyage
Je vertige de vivre
L'éveil d 'un sens
L'instinct d'une danse
Je vertige de vivre
Plus loin plus haut
L'extase et l'immensité
Je vertige d'être vivant
Rain, nudité
Nuit sois plus longue
L'homme gronde
Chaînes, pluie d'acier
Son ignorance est sa souffrance
Le temps n'appartient à personne
Ballet d'étoiles
Insaisissables
Instant présent tu es l'essence
Du voyage
Plus loin plus haut
J'atteins mon astre
Je vertige de vivre
Plus loin plus haut
L'esprit voyage
Je vertige de vivre
L'éveil d 'un sens
L'instinct d'une danse
Je vertige de vivre
Plus loin plus haut
L'extase et l'immensité
Je vertige d'être vivant
Plus loin plus haut
J'atteins mon astre
Je vertige de vivre
Plus loin plus haut
L'esprit voyage
Je vertige de vivre
L'éveil d 'un sens
L'instinct d'une danse
Je vertige de vivre
Plus loin plus haut
L'extase et l'immensité
Je vertige d'être vivant
Plus loin plus haut
J'atteins mon astre
Je vertige de vivre
Plus loin plus haut
L'esprit voyage
Je vertige de vivre
L'éveil d 'un sens
L'instinct d'une danse
Je vertige de vivre
Plus loin plus haut
L'extase et l'immensité
Je vertige d'être vivant