À FORCE DE…

À force de … (can be loosely translated as “by means of…”) is a number 11 song from Mylène Farmer’s ninth studio album, Monkey Me released December 2012.

The lyrics of the song À force de … were written by Mylène Farmer. Music, arrangements, programming, keyboards and production by Laurent Boutonnat.

À force de… was sung on all the dates of the 2013 Timeless tour from September 7 to December 6, 2013. Arrangements for the stage: Laurent Boutonnat.

And what a spectacle it was! The opening intro? Simply mesmerizing. I had the pleasure of watching it on video, but I can only daydream about its impact in person – if you’ve seen it live, drop your thoughts in the comments! This grandiose intro heightened the suspense, painting the air with anticipation, all before Mylène appeared from the eye of the particle accelerator machine (dive deeper for the design inspirations).

“À force de…” was the chosen song to kick off the concert. A haunting note, reminiscent of the one in “XXL”, echoes at the very start of the song. It’s raw, it’s wild, a sound that sends shivers down the spine… It crafts the ambience for the entire concert opener. Just like with her other recent masterpieces, it’s about the delicate dance between cutting-edge tech and raw human emotion. It captures the essence of our time – yet it’s Timeless (!!) – weaving tales of love, pain, longing, loss, and the ever-resonant call of the soul. Mylène’s genius shines, and every time, it leaves me wanting more. Bravo!

Vocally, it’s no walk in the park, but Mylène navigates its intricacies with both might and tenderness. The vocal training from Karen Nimereala. It unlocked new layers in Mylène’s already remarkable voice.

Karen Nimereala deserves a few sentences in this chapter. She is not only an exceptional opera singer who has performed in the best opera houses across Europe but also a talented and dedicated vocal coach. She has assisted many pop stars in their quest for vocal excellence – Nyna Shanti, Audry Silver, and Sting, to name a few. Perhaps it was Sting himself who recommended Karen Nimereala to Mylène? While we don’t have concrete evidence, we do know that Mylène began working with Karen around the 2009 Tour, and her vocals have improved drastically with each performance since then. The magic of the human voice lies as much in its mastery as in the mastery of one’s inner energy (aka life force).

You’re surely aware that Mylène and Sting are friends. Well, if you didn’t know, stick around, and I’ll enlighten you on many facets of Mylène. Sting has always been an idol to Mylène. She even dedicated an entire exhibit of her work to him, or more precisely, to one of his songs. Do you know which song that is? Comment if you do! I’m curious to see how well you know Mylène. As you might guess, I need to pace myself and reveal what I know bit by bit because there’s so much to share.

The song’s lyrics brim with dilemmas and contradictions – classic Mylène, indeed! The song delves into finding inspiration and the will to live despite recognizing one’s mortality. With the reality that nothing endures forever under the moon, it’s love that ultimately gives life a meaning.

The phrase “force de…” offers a concrete foundation for the wordplay Mylène employs, and she’s undoubtedly a master of the craft. Oh, how I adore it!

The concerts in Lyon were captured for both a concert film and a live album. The live album, titled Timeless 2013, was released on December 9, 2013. Meanwhile, Timeless 2013: Le Film was screened in over a hundred cinemas across France, Belgium, and Switzerland on March 27, 2014.

Merely three days before the Timeless Tour began, Francois Hanss confirmed on Twitter that the Lyon, France shows would be filmed for an upcoming concert movie. Soon after, whispers about a potential release date for a live album started circulating. French record stores began receiving pre-order forms for this album, solidifying the release date as December 9, 2013. Later, on October 30, 2013, Polydor Records made an official announcement regarding the title and track listing of Timeless 2013.

À force de… was sung on all dates of the 2013 Timeless tour from September 7 to December 6, 2013 .

For this tour, Mylène will change part of the lyrics of the first verse of the song: “À l’envers / Cette terre / Il pleut sur Vienne / La vie est belle” changed to: “À l’envers / Cette terre / La vie est belle / Quand on s’aime”

Timeless (stylized as Timel3ss) was the sixth concert tour by Mylène Farmer. The tour supported the singer’s ninth studio album, Monkey Me (2012). The tour began on 7 September 2013 and ended on 3 December 2013. It performed 39 shows in five countries, performing for over 500,000 people.

Design Influences: CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, is one of the largest and most prestigious scientific laboratories in the world. Its vocation is fundamental physics, the discovery of the constituents and laws of the Universe. uses very complex scientific instruments to probe the ultimate constituents of matter: fundamental particles by studying what happens when these particles collide, physicists understand the laws of Nature.

Founded in 1954, CERN is located on both sides of the Franco-Swiss border, near Geneva. It was one of the first organizations at the European level and today has twenty-one member states.

As you are probably aware, it is a very promising research field where we learn more about the connection between the physical property of the elementary particles and the energy they create. It is a challenge to the Newtonian understanding of the universe we are living in. The more we learn how E= MC2 (Einstein famous formula) really works the more astonishing Universal laws open up themselves to us. Bravo to Mylene for considering it an inspiration for her stage design. Bright lady she is – really bright!

Influence confirmed by Koen Peeters who works for the company WIcreations, a company responsible for certain elements of the decor.

“The panels, which form what is called a ‘tunnel’ at the start of the concert, are actually a replica of a particle accelerator, an instrument that uses electric or magnetic fields to drive electrically charged particles to high speeds. ” (Styx Special Magazine Timeless 2013 – 2014)

Another possible influence is Barbarella: a comic book heroine created in 1962 by Jean-Claude Forest.

Barbarella disrupted the world of comics and scandalized its publication. The spearhead of adult and genre comics, it is censored. At the time of sexual liberation, the sensual features and the eroticism that emanates from the eponymous heroine leave no reader indifferent

A film adapted from the comics was directed by Roger Vadim in 1968 with Jane Fonda in the lead role. https://wwwdb.com/title/tt0062711/

Some even mention Joan of Arc as a potential inspiration for the stage image and costumes.

Jean Paul Gaultier confirmed certain influences for  the stage production for the costume design. The superhero theme is definitely much more evolved in the 2019 concerts design where the epic characters are recognizable in Mylene’s costume as well as in her dancers. Please comment which ones did you recognize?

When mentioning ” a force of..” , although wasn’t meant directly I am sure – my first association is with the Life Force (Prana) in the Human body called Kundalini.

Kundalini is a Sanskrit term from ancient India that identifies the arising of an energy and consciousness which has been coiled at the base of the spine since birth, and is the source of the life force: pranic energy, chi, bio-energy that everybody knows.  Yogic science suggests that this energy triggered the formation of the child in the womb, and then coils 3 ½ times at the base of the spine to hold the energy field in stasis until we die, when it uncoils and returns to its source.

Kundalini may unravel and arise from the base of the spine (or sometimes from the feet) due to spiritual practices, or in response to life events, and when this happens it may move gradually, uncoiling like a snake, or quickly and explosively, into the gut, the heart or the head.  This event can be startling and chaotic, frightening or blissful, and it usually triggers months and years of new sensations and changes in the person who awakens it.  It may feel like the body’s wiring has moved from 110 to 220, and it takes time to adapt to it.  It is understood in the eastern tradition to be a significant adjunct to spiritual realization, but it is rarely recognized as such in western traditions.

It is possible to find acknowledgement of this spiritual movement in many yogic and tantric traditions, Tantric Buddhism, Taoism, gnostic mystical tradition and some Native American teachings, and indigenous societies.  An image of a rising snake in the body signifies its existence in the esoteric art of many cultures. The capacity to intensify and raise energy in the body has been explored for thousands of years.  It is a natural human potential.

Kundalini awakening can trigger a wide range of phenomena. It can cause significant changes in the physical, emotional, sensate and psychic capacities, cause stress in vulnerable areas of the body, open the heart and mind to major shifts in perspective, and cause many unique and unfamiliar sensations including shaking, vibrating, spontaneous movement, visions, and many other phenomena.

Like any energy of creation (prana, electricity, atoms) this energy can be activated and misused by those who are not spiritually motivated or have not completed this process and are therefore not free of personal patterns.  It is very helpful to understand the process and the intention of your own life force as it awakens you so that you may discover wisdom, love and authentic direction in your own life.  Simplicity, contentment, unconditional acceptance and presence are hallmarks of an awakened life.

Did you know Barabara has also recorded a song called “A force de”?

The dancing robots in the Timeless were inspired by The Trio in E flat Major for piano and strings No. 2, D. 929 (op. 100) is a chamber music work composed by Franz Schubert, one of his last compositions, dated November 1827.

https://soundcloud.com/search?q=a%20force%20de%20mylene%20farmer

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lyrics with translation

À l'envers
Cette terre
Il pleut sur Vienne
La vie est belle

À force de mourir
Je n'ai pas su te dire
Que j'ai envie de vivre
Donner l'envie de vivre

À force de courir
De perdre l'équilibre
Moi j'ai envie de vivre
Donner l'envie de vivre

La force des rapides
Des vents qui se déchirent
Me donnent l'envie de vivre
Donner l'envie de vivre

À force d'étincelles
Que la nature est belle
Moi j'ai envie de vivre
Et de mourir sans chaînes

Impalpable
Cette flamme
La vie est belle
Quand on aime

Everything is upside down
on this Earth
It's raining in Vienna
life is beautiful

by inevitably dying
how can I tell you
I want to live
as long as there is a will to live

by running nonstop
just not to lose the balance
I want to live
as long as there is the will to live

by never stopping rapids of
the winds that tear us apart 
make me want to live
give me the will to live

being grateful for 
how beautiful nature is
I want to live
and die without shackles

impalpable
this flame
life is beautiful
as long as we love each other