EAUNANISME

Eaunanisme is a song # 5 from the fourth studio album by Mylène Farmer Anamorphosée, released on 17 October 1995.

Lyrics by Mylène Farmer. Music by Laurent Boutonnat. The name of this song is obviously hinting to the “onanism” (masturbation).

“I have always loved words, their sound and having fun with them.” (Mylène Farmer – “Télé 7 jours” – 10/30/1995) And sure we have noticed it, dearest Mylene! You juggle them as a skillful circus performer, the words seem to have the life of their own in the texts.

They flip, they shape shift, they undergo some serious metamorphosis to able to match up to the emotional state and even more so, her enigmatic state of mind… with my limited French, I am able to catch some of it (by far not all, which saddens me immensely) I am constantly amazed by the imagination and the creativity of Mylene to come up with such an impressive verbal equilibrium to go perfectly with the melodies.

Sometimes the theme and the music upbeat-ness might appear in some dissonance, but never with alliterations or onomatopoeia (mimicking the sounds it describes), assonance and consonance(repetition of vowels and consonants to amplify the effect) of the words. In fact, to me, the words themselves are the music, the melody and the rhythm. For that reason, I also love love love when she reads the poetry. My first experience was mesmerizing. It was her reading of Au Lecteur

Mylene’s style is just like that: It is simple yet so expressive and full of those linguistic technics I listed above (alliterations, onomatopoeia, assonance and consonance). Mylene is a pro when it comes to those. Her eloquence is risen to the level where it surpasses the words as we know them and they form instead blobs of energy, they burst as they come out and they bounce amongst us multiplying their effect. They make us cry, laugh, think and most of all – FEEL…

And speaking of the feeling…The song I am talking about today is all about the feeling…it is all just one expended feeling of someone and something…going beyond and far away taking us all with…

“More sensual than sex, I think. I wanted to have it. Water element. Now onanism is effectively the search for pleasure by oneself. When I wrote this song, I was thinking about writing, so I think there will be thousands of readings to this song. I tried to evoke writing. Writing is also a solitary pleasure. At least at first. And, I wanted to write like a little tale, evoking a character. ” (Mylène Farmer – NRJ – 09/05/1995)

And indeed she did – paint the verbal/emotional character study of the “Her”. What a beautiful image this is! The one with the “pale eyes” yet as deep as the oceans (here we go again with the water theme! Perhaps, the Life in California so close to the ocean has inspired her). I just mentioned it in my previous chapter

I love this invisible threads that lead me from a chapter to a chapter, from a song to a song, from a line to a line, a stroke after a stroke I intuitively (and only so!) revealing Mylene’s true nature somewhere between unspoken and unseen, untouchable and untouched…it is purifying and penetrating so easily to the hidden chambers of the soul… so perhaps it is my Mylenanism? 💕 the greatest pleasure for me for sure…

The following lines from the poem Other jockeys, alccoliques from the collection Poèmes en prose (1915) by Pierre Reverdy : “I call you otherwise and you don’t answer you don’t understand / Why are you walking / These are the legs of another who carry you / I only see the shadow on the window screen “probably inspired Mylène for the beginning of the song:” I know she walks / Without knowing who she is / That they are legs / Of another who carried it “.

But as accustomed, we will never know for sure, and we will have to accept it first and foremost if we want to truly be a part of her creation. And what a beautiful the song it is! It is as sensual as a touch of a gentle wave on the sunny day, it is a magical as a walk by the ocean at the starry night…it is romantic, it is calling to go inwards, to find the treasure of the rarest kind, to obtain the pleasure out of this world… It is a reminder song of why I love her the way I do and why she never ceases to touch me so deeply everywhere I never knew I am…

Interesting, indeed, the provocative choice for the title…Ultimately the happiness can be described as an act of onanism. Mylene of course is not ever so simple, and she plugs the “Eau” (“Water”) to remind us of her very mysterious (depth of the waters), changeable (remember, you can’t walk into the same river twice) and immensely emotional nature (I should know as I am born under the water ruling Astro sign). Guess, which one?

In Tarot reading, the suit of cups rules the fulfillment especially of emotional nature and is representative of the Water element. We are as humans would never be truly fulfilled if not allowed ourselves to step into the water like emotional element.

But let’s talk about an onanism for a bit since we’ve got the chance…As Woody Alan once said: “Don’t knock masturbation. It’s sex with someone I love.” 😊 and he might also said: “hey, the mental masturbation is my second favorite kind”…clearly we all have a lot to say about this act although it has been forbitten and even condemned by many religious institutions (maybe, that’s why I don’t belong to any of them per se? ha-ha) I personally think our bodies, our minds and our emotions are fully OURS and given to us for experiencing all that life can offer in fullest. You do what you please. Literally.

Of course, after the Covid situation and a huge tsunami of suicides, masturbation is now viewed differently and been somewhat promoted: https://www.verywellmind.com/does-masturbation-affect-mental-health-5076051

I am going to end this chapter with one more work of art we all know (most likely). Dali’s Great Masturbator. Enjoy! 😊 It’s all I got to say!

my poetry inspired by the song

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lyrics with translation

J'irai lui dire la pâleur de ses yeux
Qu'ils avaient la profondeur de nos cieux
Je sais qu'elle marche sans savoir qui elle est
Que c'est les jambes d'une autre qui la portaient
Je l'entends murmurer
Océan d'ambre mélange, mélange moi
À tes légendes mets l'ancre, l'ancre en moi
C'est si doux la brûlure là où ta main me touche, Eau
Et coule cette écume de ma bouche
J'irai lui dire que son coeur s'est fatigué
(De vous)
J'irai lui dire que de l'homme elle s'est lassée
(De tout)
Que sa vie rare est cachée dans le velours
(De l'immensité)
Qu'il est trop tard pour aimer elle s'est dissoute
Dans l'éternité, Eau
Océan d'ambre mélange, mélange moi
À tes légendes mets l'ancre, l'ancre en moi
C'est si doux la brûlure là où ta main me touche, Eau
Et coule cette écume de…



I'll tell her how pale her eyes are
That they had the depth of our skies
I know she walks without knowing who she is
That it was another's legs that carried her
I hear her whisper
Ocean of amber mix, mix me
To your legends, anchor, anchor in me
It's so sweet the burn where your hand touches me, Water
And run this scum out of my mouth
I'll tell her that her heart is tired
(From you)
I'll tell her that she got tired of man
(Of all)
That her rare life is hidden in the velvet
(From immensity)
That it's too late to love she's dissolved
In eternity, Water
Ocean of amber mix, mix me
To your legends, anchor, anchor in me
It's so sweet the burn where your hand touches me, Water
And flows this scum of ...