TU NE LE DIS PAS

Tu ne le dit pas (You Don’t Say It) is a # 4 song from Mylène Farmer’s ninth studio album, Monkey Me released on 3 December 2012. 

The lyrics for Tu ne le dis pas was written by Mylène Farmer. Music, arrangements, programming, keyboards and production: Laurent Boutonnat.

I love this upbeat dancing song – it has very happy tune all together. Here is an anecdote for you: When I have heard it the first time, I did something around the house and with all the noise around it sound it like “Tu ne lo-li-ta” 😊 😊 Imagine, my surprise!!! I thought that’s odd, why would Mylene re-sing it “Moi, Lolita” ? 😊

But seriously, the text of course is giving us a bone to chew on…I have no idea what “tu” didn’t say and why…I can only keep guessing and you know assuming is only making and an “ass” out of me and you and let it be so – how very Pourvu qu’elles soient douces of me!

I would interpret the text in a few possible ways:

1. The situation when you are with someone who would rather avoid talking about any serious and controversial matters and rather to keep it “light” and non-confrontational. Someone who ignores things hoping it will help to fix them…I never was that person…so I understand the frustration
2. “Tu” as a humanity in a broad sense not addressing serious global issues and rather keeping it quiet and not to raising a voice about the world problems. Similar to the “C’est dans l’air”, it makes Mylene angry.

3. or maybe she is talking about herself and her paralyzed abilities to really SPEAK UP. We know how much she really don’t say even in her lyrics….The words seem to be only the tip of of her unspoken limitless universe.

Monkey Me was recorded in France in 2012, at studio Guillaume Tell and at Calliphora Studio, Laurent Boutonnat’s personal studio located in his Château de l’Oise.

The mixing was carried out at Calliphora Studio by Jérôme Devoise who also provided the sound as for all of Mylène’s studio albums since Avant que l’ombre… in 2005.

The arrangements and programming are by Laurent Boutonnat.

All the music on the album was composed by Laurent Boutonnat. The comeback, since it was completely absent from Mylène’s previous studio album, Bleu Noir in 2010.

We find musicians who have already collaborated with Mylène in the past:  Loïc Pontieux drummer in 2005 on the album Avant que l’ombre. .., the guitarist Sébastien Chouard already present on the album Point de Suture in 2008 and the faithful Slim Pezin also on the guitar (who had not worked directly on Mylène songs since 2001).

Newcomer: Stéphane Chausse on saxophone.

We have to go back to Cendres de lune in 1986, Mylène’s first album, to find the saxophone among the instruments used on a studio album.

It is thanks to Loïc Pontieux that we learned the release of a new album by Mylène for 2012. The musician indeed posted on September 04, 2012 on his Facebook page the message: “Recorded in August Mylene Farmer’s latest album”. The information did not escape the fans and although Loïc Pontieux very quickly deleted it, it quickly spread on the net. Was it really done by accident…hmm…

For the choirs of certain songs, Mylène called on Esther Dobong Na’Essienne, chorister, in particular on all her tours since the 1996 Tour.

All the lyrics of the album are again written by Mylène with the exception of Winter Night which takes up some lyrics from the song Chloé written in 1985 by Laurent Boutonnat.

The influences seem less numerous than in the previous albums.

Reference to the wise monkeys and above all, the title of the album was inspired in Mylène by her little capuchin monkey E.T., and who shared her life for twenty-five years:

I first necessarily thought of my little one with whom I lived for over twenty five years, I believe. And, I was thinking about this facetious side, this playful side. Sometimes I feel like I’m in too ski mpy clothes and … I want to laugh sometimes, too.” (Mylène Farmer – News from 20h TF1 December 02, 2012)

The photo of the album cover is signed Hervé Lewis.

The album booklet does not contain any photo of Mylène (photos of various objects by Nathalie Delépine).

Photos for the promotion of Nathalie Delépine’s album (studio photos and photos with the monkey Betty)

Three photos of Natahalie Delépine offered in DR to the press. Nathalie Delépine was also the still photographer for the clips In the shade and I tell you everything. Bettina Rheims photographed Mylène for the first time in 2013. The photos will be featured in the 2013 Timeless tour program.

TF1 is the privileged partner for the promotion of the Monkey Me album, in particular when it is released.

The clip In the shade is broadcast exclusively on TF1 (long extract) and on the site of the channel myTF1 (in full) on December 01st.

Broadcast of advertising spots on TF1 from December 3 to 26, 2012 (note that there will then be no other TV advertising campaign for the album).

Mylène is a guest of Claire Chazal’s 8pm newspaper on December 02.

Mylène guest of the 2013 NRJ Music Awardson January 26th to sing exclusively the second single from the album, Je te dis tout.

An interview in Têtu

Why did you pose as a boy?
MYLENE:I find it rather sexy ... I love the tuxedo. A timeless and refined garment.

The cigar, the tuxedo, the pose, we irresistibly think of Marlene Dietrich ...
Or Julie Andrews in Victor Victoria. Courageous women who did not hesitate to stir up trouble at a time when women were confined to the home. Most disturbing, ultimately, is the erotic impact these women have on men. Subversion stirs the senses...

Would you have liked to live in those 1930s when sexual ambiguity was assumed, accepted and almost elevated to the rank of art of living?
Probably not. This ambiguity was reserved for an artistic elite. Women had no other rights than that of living in the shadows, without being able to express their voice and what is more, constrained by a morality guided by a macho and backward society. In such a narrow space, only the power of seduction remained a sure bet. It is important but not enough to flourish.

Could you or have you ever fallen in love with a woman?
Of a beautiful person, man or woman, yes without hesitation. Love at first sight, passion exists. He who thinks he has mastered the impulse of the heart would be very imprudent.

What is masculine in you?
Nothing. I feel deeply as a woman with the qualities and the faults of a woman.

What is fundamentally different between a man and a woman?
Intuition, no doubt... Besides, aren't we talking about feminine intuition? Men and women are different, and this difference is an asset. Anything that tends to smooth out this difference is unnatural. Uniformity is the antechamber of boredom. Each person should be respected for their personality and not for chromosomal difference.

Would you have liked to be a man?
[Smiles.] No, I don't think so ... Or maybe out of curiosity, for a moment. To understand what sometimes remains a mystery.

Do you think there is one music for men and another for women?
Certainly not. A melody can pick up all of us. And reveal in us unexpected emotions. The music touches on feelings that go far beyond the question of sex.

Jean-Paul Gaultier and, before him Yves Saint Laurent, erased the sartorial differences between men and women. Do you think they have done more for gender equality than a lot of noisy protest movements?
They gave a figure to a time that was ready to accept it. It is a tribute of two men to the women of their lives ... [Smile.] Yves Saint Laurent and Jean-Paul Gaultier understood women with elegance. Greta Garbo or Lauren Bacall were women of crazy elegance. They had a style, much more than a fashion that comes and goes. The style endures. Genius couturiers have changed the lines.

Do you behave exactly the same with your female friends and your male friends?
Yes of course. And I effortlessly switch from one sartorial mood to another. From stiletto heels to Chaplin boots. I was a tomboy. But I like chic underwear. Hey ... I've never tried chic underwear with boots ...

The question of marriage for all inflames French society. Are you in favor of it?
I have already spoken about this. It seems to me that it was in Têtu, by the way. I don't think this question should be looked at from a moral point of view. The Declaration of the Rights of Man begins with: "Men are born and remain free and equal in rights." Many people have paid the price of their lives for this principle to be applied. My point of view is unambiguous: I prefer a gay marriage to a sad one. [Smiles.]

What about adoption by same-sex couples?
If it is the right of orphans to have a warm home, it is progress. Love heals wounds when it is real and genuine.

How do you explain that you are so popular with gay people?
I am not sure I can measure this community popularity. And it goes beyond any sexual orientation. Every artist has an identity link with his audience. The reasons are many, complex and mysterious.

She told me - the first song on your new album - evokes a loving relationship between two women. Did you hesitate to write it or was it as natural as another text?
When I wrote this song, we were not at the heart of the debate that animates our society. It came to me spontaneously like everything I write. The last verse says, "She loves a girl, she feels on the edge of the ledge." From the edge of what? A rebound or a great leap into the void?

A great leap into the void. When your heart is in your throat, you have the feeling that you are no longer compatible with life. This is what being at the edge of the ledge, at the end of the road ...


Do you think that female homosexuality is less well accepted than that of men?
I fear that’s true. It seems there is an inequality between men and women.

Do you sometimes choose music or write texts specifically for this audience?
No. When I write, I express ideas mixed with words and sounds. I throw bottles into the sea without knowing where they will end up. Sometimes they don't get lost in the ocean!

Your record and your tour posters show you in platinum white. Is this the goal?
I'm curious to see yourself differently! But don't worry: at the end of this astral journey, I will return to my body!

🧡💚🧡💛💙💜

The album entered directly at the first place of the Top Albums and sold 147,530 copies in one week in France. It’s the best start of 2012 for an album. In just one month it will become the 9th best-selling album in 2012. It is certified triple platinum by Snep (300,000 copies) on December 31 and Polydor announces the diamond disc (500,000 copies) from January 3. 2013.

After one year of operation, Monkey Me has sold more than 380,000 copies in France.

Success also in French-speaking Belgium with a platinum disc (30,000 copies).

In 2015, the album was part of Snep’s export certifications with a Gold album for 50,100 sales since its release.

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lyrics with translation

Il nous faudra du courage
Mais
Tu ne le dis pas !
Inévitable naufrage
Mais
Tu ne le dis pas !
Et là
Voir le monde se défaire
Mais
Tu ne le dis pas !
Quoi
Qu'il n'y a plus rien à faire
Quand tout vole en éclats

Mais où va le monde
Mais où est ma tombe
Mais que devient le monde
Un tout qui s'effondre

L'aube a comme un goût de brume
Mais
Tu ne le dis pas !
L'espérance se dénude
Mais
Tu ne le dis pas !
Et là
Que n'ai-je un pinceau d'écume
Pour peindre un au-delà
Moi
Je sais bien pourquoi la lune n'a
Plus le même éclat

Epilogue
Il me faudra du courage
Mais tu ne le dis pas
Inévitable naufrage

We will need courage
But
You don't say!
Inevitable shipwreck
But
You don't say!
And there
To see the world unravel
But
You don't say!
What
That there's nothing left to do
When everything is falling apart

But where does the world go
But where is my grave
But what's the world coming to
A whole that collapses

The dawn has a taste of mist
But
You don't say!
Hope is stripped away
But
You don't say so!
And there
What I have a brush of foam
To paint a beyond
Me
I know well why the moon has
No longer the same brightness

Epilogue
I will need courage
But you don't say so
Inevitable shipwreck