PARDONNE-MOI

Pardonne-moi is a song # 15 (side B) from the best of Les mots (2001) album. It is the third and last single extracted.

Les Mots is the first compilation by French singer Mylène Farmer, released on 26 November 2001. It contains most of the singer’s hits and three new songs. It was certified Diamond in France.

The lyrics to Pardonne-moi were written by Mylène Farmer, music was composed by Laurent Boutonnat.

Its an enigmatic song and gives us again our beloved Mylene in her best. She looks amazing in the clip, she sounds incredible, the music is gorgeous, the text again sexy and mysterious, unbelievably romantic declaring her love so openly and honestly even if the love is unrequited (but c’mon who can believe that? Can you imagine such a human on the planet who is possibly not crazy about her in return?) But for the sake of the deep romanticism which suite her like Jean-Paul Gaultier outfit, the song is once again a total hit. I am in love with it, in love with her once again (I know! Never gets old for me!) Every song is like discovering her all over again and yet being with someone who I know intimately for years and for decades. Life-long romance for me indeed.

I didn’t manage to find any confirmed references as far as what inspired her lyrics for the song. I am a bit lost in my guesses. I know it might be totally off but Angelique comes to mind once more as there was a film Angelique et le sultan where there was a Hungarian Prince who saved her from the Arabian prince…But it’s just a wild guess so don’t hold it against me. 🙂 Maybe I just liked Angelique too much – I see it everywhere…

In the beginning of the clip as well as occasionally throughout we see Mylene as if praying and asking someone above for a forgiveness. The Catholic quilt seems to still have a strong grip of her state of mind. She both poeticize and martyrizes it. Well, and that’s Mylene with deeply seeded internal conflict or paradox that she is trying to integrate though her entire life. And don’t we all?..

Besides the instrumental classic, we discover two remixes: Laurent Boutonnat‘s mix, “Dark Side of The Mix” very close to the original version and an electro remix, the “Forgiveness Club Remix” for clubs, created by Blue Planet Corporation and present only on vinyl backing.

Mylène’s first best of is a real hit and the first two single extracts, Les mots and C’est une belle journee, two unpublished songs, have been added to the long list of the hits.

During the summer of 2002, rumors began to arise around the next single extracted. Some think it will be the last unpublished, Pardonne-moi, others finding this title too intimate evoke the release of an old hit from Mylène.

And finally, the choice falls on the unpublished Pardonne-moi.

The promos (a classic single-title CD but also a Luxury CD called “Glass” very popular because limited to less than one hundred copies) were sent on September 3, 2002. The trade supports are available on October 21, 2002 (with one week delay compared to the date initially announced).

Three media: a classic 3-track CD, a 3-track CD in limited edition (called “easel) and a maxi 45 rpm which was initially announced in limited edition which ultimately will not be the case.

The single starts off strong and enters the scene. 6th place in the top French singles but will drop quickly thereafter. It will sell about 90 000 copies. the success of the title in radio and TV clip is also lower than for the previous two singles.

The Pardonne-moi clip was directed by Laurent Boutonnat and broadcast from mid-September 2002. No television commercial for the single Pardonne-moi but a new advertising campaign for the album Les mots broadcast from November 06, 2002 including extracts from the clip Pardonne-moi.

Mylène has never performed this title neither on television nor live.

In 2001, rumors were launched that Farmer was doing her first compilation. However, while some people thought that it would be a remixes compilation as Dance Remixes, for others it would be an acoustic compilation and for others, it would be a best of containing all Farmer’s hits. Eventually, it was a best of, preceded by the release of the new single “Les Mots”, the first international duet of Farmer. The best of was also entitled Les Mots and was released throughout Europe on 28 November 2001.

This album includes all Farmer’s tracks released as singles since “Maman a tort” until “L’Histoire d’une fée, c’est…“, except “On est tous des imbéciles” (due to problems of copyright) and “My Mum Is Wrong”. It also contains several B-sides (two of them for the general public, the other ones in the long box; “L’Annonciation” and “Dernier Sourire” don’t feature on the album due to problems of copyrighting as well) and three new songs. The live singles are not included in the track listing. In total, there are 30 tracks for the general public and 33 titles for the limited edition. A long box was made with four CD instead of two, including a DVD of the new Farmer’s video.

The booklet is composed of very sexy and provocative photographs of Mylene wearing pearly stockings, a pink pants and a silk négligée. These photos were taken by Ellen Von Unwerth, with a budget of 67,000 euros. However, unlike previous albums, the singer is smiling in these photos. And the entire shoot is super mega sexy with the German flair (no questions about it)

There were four singles from this best of: “L’Histoire d’une fée, c’est…” (27 February 2001), “Les Mots” (13 November 2001), “C’est une belle journée” (16 April 2002) and “Pardonne-moi” (21 October 2002). The two first ones were released before the best of, and the two others after this one.”

Les Mots was generally well received by contemporary musical critics and media.

• According to La Libre Belgique, the Farmer’s work is “synthesized in a superb way” in this album. This compilation also “gives an idea of the real musical evolution” of the artist.
• The Swiss newspaper Le Matin described this album as “a superb compilation” and “a ‘must’ in the matter”, containing “many hits”, with “provocative” images.
• The French magazine Flèches Cool said that this album is an “imposing best of with 27 tracks, all very well-known and appreciated by a wide public”.
• Télé Star praised the first CD, saying it contains hits with “unstoppable melody”, “flights of strings”, and “tortured or sexy words”, while it criticized the second CD, that “testifies the frayed inspiration of the singer”.
• As for Voici, “this double album stands out”.

The best of reached the highest position in France and Belgium since its release. According to France Soir and La Lanterne, 670,000 copies of this album were sold in the first month in France, and 700,000 in the two first months, according to Jukebox.

In France, the best of debuted at #1 on Top Compilations on 1 December 2001 and remained there for 6 consecutive weeks. It appeared in the Top 10 for 39 weeks. It was ranked on this chart over one year, thanks to the release of the two new songs “C’est une belle journée” and “Pardonne-moi”. It was the best-selling compilation in 2000 and 2002.

In Belgium, the album went straight to #2 on 12 December 2001, and then became number 1 for four weeks. It remained in the Top 10 for 15 weeks and in the Top 40 for 43 weeks. The album featured at #28 and #14 on the 2001 and 2002 end of year chart.

In Switzerland, the album got its highest position when it entered at # 6, on 12 December 2001, and remained on the chart (Top 100) for 38 weeks.

The best of won the World Platinum Award. It was certified Diamond in France, 2×Platinum in Belgium, and Gold in Switzerland.  Overall, not bad at all! 😊

The music for the three new songs on this best of – Les Mots, C’est une belle journee and Pardonne-moi – was composed by Laurent Boutonnat who also provides programming, arrangements and keyboards.

Among the musicians, we find Karim Ziad and Abraham Laboriel Jr. on drums, Slim Pezin on guitar, Michel Alibo on bass, Jean-Jacques Charles for the arrangement of the strings.

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lyrics with translation

Pardonne-moi
Si la douleur remue tout
Qu'elle me broie
De t'aimer comme un fou
Que tu n'es pas
Pardonne-moi
Pardonne-moi
La profondeur de mon amour
Pour toi
Si c'est du sang qui coule
Au fond de moi
Pardonne-la
Prince hongrois
Nos chaque jour:
... Il était une fois
Des vux d'amour
Quand il montait chez moi
La première fois...
Prince hindou
Je l'imagine encore
Au creux de moi
Je veux plonger dans son cur,
Et sa voix
Me dit tout bas...
Prince arabe
Tes silences effleuraient
Du bout des doigts
Tous mes sens, aurons-nous
Un autrefois?
Reste chez moi
Prince Aurore
Où en est-tu
De ces pulsions de mort?
Qu'avons nous fait de bien
Après l'effort
Deux corps, un sort
Prince hongrois
L'on descend de l'autre
Coté du monde
Parcourir l'étoile
A chaque seconde
Partager l'ombre
Prince noir
Délivre-moi de mon sang,
D'un espoir
Car en moi guette un silence
Sans fard
Un nulle part

Forgive me
If the pain stirs everything
That it crushes me
To love you like a madman
That you are not
Forgive me
Forgive me
The depth of my love
For you
If it's blood flowing
Deep inside forgive me
Hungarian Prince
Nos every day:
... Once upon a time
Wishes for love
When he came up to my house
The first time ...
Hindu prince
I still imagine him
In the hollow of me
I want to dive into his heart,
And his voice
whispered to Me ...
Arab prince
Your silences touched
With your fingertips
All my senses, will we have
One in the past?
Stay with me
Prince Aurore
Where are you With
these death drives?
What did we do well
After the effort
Two bodies, one spell
Hungarian prince
We descend from the other side
of the world
Browse the star
Every second
Share the shadow
Black prince
Deliver me from my blood,
From a hope
For in me lies a silence
Without make-up
A nowhere