JE M’ENNUIE

Je m’ennuie is a song # 3 from Point de suture album released in August 2008.

Boredom was an important theme for Mylène at the time of the Point de suture album. She evokes it in an interview, quoting the philosopher Pascal:

“I’m bored! I need to reinvent my life … Pascal said:” Nothing is so unbearable for man than to be in full rest, without entertainment, without passions, without business… “My reason for living is my job, the spectacle, the sharing. “(Mylène Farmer – “Paris Match” – 03/20/2008)

At that time, Mylène put the lonelylisa.com site online, “the community site for boredom” on which, hidden behind the little character of Lisa, she would share for a few months with her audience mainly drawings of her creation.

Sadly, the site is no longer functional and Mylene has moved on to the greener pastures of her future projects. One of those have become a real cure for boredom – her such a successful Tournee of 2009! What an amazing spectacle. If I’d had a time machine – I would jump on it just to witness this one live for sure… It is just sooooo goooood! 😊

But as far as boredom, I think it can be very productive, in fact, it can push you to the whole new level where you can achieve the new heights and horizons you have never dreamed of. Take me, for example, I think, I have started this Birthday Project for Mylene out of my enormous love and admiration but partly (I admit!) out of boredom. It’s a state of non-inspiration rather boredom per se. I can always find something to do, something to read, something to compose or redecorate, or cook or bake, but still not quite the same as that state of being inspired. That reason to get up in the morning and look forward to a new day, new thought, new impulse, new a-ha!  moment…unexpected new feeling of CREATING something…So I get it – I get what she is saying… you?

Mylène may have read this sentence from Cioran: “I have never read a sermon from Buddha or a page from Schopenhauer without crushing roses“.

In any case, Schopenhauer seems to have inspired her.

We find in an extract from the book “The World as Will and as Representation” the following words: “life therefore oscillates, like a pendulum, from right to left, from suffering to boredom.”

Another sentence from the song for which Mylène seems to have been influenced by one of her readings. Antoine Houdar de la Motte wrote in his “Fables”: “Boredom was born one day from uniformity.”

One cannot also, when reading Mylène’s text, not think of Martin Heidegger for whom there is no creation without a boredom from which one seeks to distract oneself or a melancholy, of Baudelaire and his poems “Spleen” in “Les Fleurs du mal” or to Pascal that Mylène quoted in her interview with “Paris Match” in 2008 when we asked her why she had chosen to go back on stage.

“Little nausea / Time diluted / To infinity” obviously evokes “La Nausée” by Jean-Paul Sartre. It is also interesting to know that the title initially chosen by Jean-Paul Sartre was “Mélancholia”, a title which leads us to the chorus of All these fights: “All these fights / Who break carelessness / Bite existence / I have melancholia / Who makes the soul bare / Who constitutes me”

“Madame Bovary” is an essential reference for a text on boredom, feminine boredom being a very present theme in 19th century literature. Perhaps, Mylène recognizes herself in the character of Emma Bovary who was trying to escape her boredom and create a new universe for herself, in particular thanks to numerous readings.

Words from Flaubert which could not evoke certain aspects of Mylène’s work: “But her life was as cold as an attic whose skylight is to the north, and boredom, a silent spider, spun its web in the shadows. , to every corner of his heart. “

The beginning of the song: “Life oscillates endlessly / Like a rusty pendulum / Swinging me / From turmoil to boredom” could have been inspired by these lines of Schopenhauer in The World as Will and as Representation (1819): “life therefore oscillates, like a pendulum, from right to left, from suffering to boredom”.

Music, Arrangements, programming, keyboards and production: by Laurent Boutonnat. Guitars: Sébastien Chouard. Backing vocals: Mylène Farmer, Alexia Waku, Desta Hailé, Mamido Bomboko

album reviews

“Point de Suture is finally effective when it accelerates the rhythm, turns up the sound, lets itself be invaded by the electro pulsations without asking any questions. She even manages to make us swallow her spleen on Je m’ennuie , little techno bomb on a record more to dance than to think about.. ” (Le Parisien – 08/21/2008)

“On electro rhythms, I get bored quickly “. (Le Matin – 08/24/2008)

“Degeneration, first single, also opens the album. It sets the electro-pop tone of part of the record with the slogan “must move”. In rather minimalist arrangements, in a dryness of tone to which you have to acclimatize. Same climate in Je m’ennuie , Sextonik (ode to the “ivory or jade” dildo) or C’EST DANS L’AIR . So many titles developed by the duo Mylène Farmer-Laurent Boutonnat in a dancing rhythmic efficiency but which lacks a touch of formal ambition. “” (Le Monde – 08/27/2008)

“We cannot deny all the same to Laurent Boutonnat a talent for the ritornello which will mark the spirits. At this level, APPELLE MON NUMERO and Je m’ennuie at least, have every reason to seduce the radio public.” (La Meuse – 08/27/2008)

“The heady one still has to be saved. APPELLE MON NUMERO whose frigidity makes you almost forget the refrain (“Call my number, give me the hallali, call my number, give me the lalala”). ” (Télé Moustique – 08/27/2008)

“The official press release announced “more electronic” accents and “melancholy ballads of which she alone holds the secret”. The official statement does not lie. Except that the even like sub-Kate Ryan Je m’ennuie. ” (Télé Moustique – 08/27/2009)

“With Sextonik, Je m’ennuie, APPELLE MON NUMERO and Point de suture , she holds between her vocal cords four hits that will be on everyone’s lips by the time he toured the stadiums in autumn 2009. ” (Paris Match – 08/28/2008)

“Third title, Je m’ennuie summarizes our feeling. ” (Le Matin – 30 / 08/2008)

“The rest is decidedly more electro with Je m’ennuie and its chorus which reminds us of Comme j’ai mal .”( 20 MinutesSwitzerland – 09/02/2018)

“Let’s move on to Degeneration for dance floors, and Je m’ennuie that … boring quickly.” (Ciné Télé Revue – 09/04/2008)

“The content is however more spleen and sweet than macabre, drawing on the red thread of a malaise that we will not hesitate to qualify as adolescent, so the themes always come from a bad scholar dissertation on Baudelairian ideas ( Je m’ennuie and Paradis Inanimé rehash the worst clichés). Poor Charles who suffers there a new crisis of “bovarysm”. ” (Ciné Télé Revue – 09/04/2008)

” Sextonik , C’EST DANS L’AIR  are disarmingly flat. Baudelaire can sleep peacefully. ” (L’Echo Républicain – 09/05/2008)

“Three or four titles like APPELLE MON NUMERO, Je m’ennuie or Sextonik really stand out, unlike the terrible Degeneration, the first single from the disc which could have been serve as the soundtrack for a reverse erotic film (like those broadcast by M6 on Sunday evenings a few years ago). A modern atmosphere with electro sounds … for an average result. ” (Purepeople.com – 08/21/2008)

“Je m’ennuie bears its name very well and could even bear the subtitle J’insupporte. (I can’t stand) ” (citegay.fr – 08/21/2008)

“Je m’ennuie, third track, is pure Farmer juice. Whether you like the character or not, for once you have to leave him the effectiveness of a hyper dance melody, which joins hits like Sans contrefaçon , for example. ” (Dh.be – 08/21/2008)

“Je m’ennuie: return to electronic sounds for an effective, clear, and dance hit whose arrangements completely disregard the paroxysmal disenchantment of the lyrics (as often with the artist). Ode to idleness, to disillusion. musical well operated through this modern and catchy track, imbued with doubt and deep loneliness, sending us back to bovarysm. A future single without a doubt. ” (discordance.fr – 08/24/2008)

“Carried away by the spectacular alliterations of the refrain of Degeneration, the album offers the usual count of collective mantras (C’est dans l’air) and confessions to share with his fans (Je m’ennuie, Si j’avais au moins…). “- 08/25/2008)

“The choice of this first single (Degeneration) surprised the fans who will perhaps prefer the more romantic song APPELLE MON NUMERO or the melancholy and melodic ballad Point de suture .Finally, they will certainly be convinced by the nonconformist, sensual and provocative texts of songs like SEXTONIKwhere it is question or even Je m’ennuie evoking one of his favorite themes: loneliness.” (nouvelleobs.com – 08/28/2008)

Je m’ennuie was sung on all the dates of the 2009 Tour (indoor concerts then stadium concerts).

Arrangements for the stage: Laurent Boutonnat. Choreography: Mylène Farmer herself.

For the stage images of Je m’ennuie , Alain Escalle creates flayed pieces (like the costumes of Jean Paul Gaultier) which perform a choreography synchronous with that proposed by the dancers on stage.

To create these animated characters, Mylène had to equip herself with electronic sensors and be filmed in order to reproduce her movements and then be able to adapt them to 3D characters.

“I am bored, it is Mylène who created this choreography which was perfectly adapted to the spirit of the costume. In fact, she had created something quite static but very precise in the arms, a very, very particular gesture that I found very interesting on stage because it was a visual painting where everything integrated, it is to say the choreography, the costume, the music where everything was very present. Mylène recorded the choreography with sensors on her body. I also did it on other small passages. But, I didn’t have the overall vision and the scenic power that it had on arrival. I am always very admiring to see that Mylène can create things upstream while knowing, finally, what it will give. She visualizes things very well,”(Christophe Danchaud – Stade de France Bonus – 2010)

For the concerts in stadiums in September, a moment is offered to the dancers: the Outro Haka which immediately follows Je m’ennuie. The choreography was created by Christophe Danchaud and it is Yvan Cassar who composes the music:

“Laurent asked me to create a moment of choreography. I found it interesting that we use the dancers alone, which is always a bit risky because people are used to seeing Mylène dance with the dancers and, that’s Also rare that we give like that a gift to the dancers to be alone on stage, and, she gave it to us. I found that it integrated well in the show.. . ” (Christophe Danchaud – Bonus Stade de France – 2010)

“The idea came up for the stadiums to have a choreographed moment with a lot of extremely cut up meetings, with a lot of stop, a lot of progression. I decided to do something a little bit oriental. Very discreetly, it’s a kind of mist and all of a sudden, this powerful, organic world is there, which jumps out at you. That it inspires something to dance and that it inspires lots of contracts and lots of ideas. ” (Yvan Cassar – Stade de France Bonus – 2010)

Mylene Farmer talks about Tour 2009 with Ouest France

I came across an exclusive interview for Ouest France that took place on Monday, May 4, 2009 – the day after her second concert in Nice, in the hotel where she was staying, in Saint-Paul-de-Vence, near Nice. I found the interview very interesting as it is very rare to see Mylene talking for openly (perhaps, it was unusually friendly occasion for her to be able to open up)

How do you feel after these first two concerts in Nice?

Tired and relieved. The hardest part is the first show. Before, fear inhabits me. It is a big machinery which imposes that things are, at the start, restricted. Then you have to go from repetition to lightness, going beyond the robotic side. There is a lot of work on the image, on each painting, always with the objective of offering dreams.

Is it a significant physical challenge?

Six months of training, with a coach, my coach. Mostly endurance. It is fundamental with such energy. Singing and dancing at the same time is not easy.

Halfway through the show, we enter an intimate phase, with ballads. A moment that seems to give you emotion, to cloud your eyes…

Those who don’t like me are bound to find it forced. But even in rehearsal, it takes me. Because we are in a moment of stripping, in the fragility of the soul. A moment of sharing with the public (who sings a lot at that time, Editor’s note). I believe that the emotion passes through the piano of Yvan Cassar, who is a great pianist, and in the words. We tell our own story and everyone can invent their own through words.

The audience is, in a way, immersed in an almost hypnotic sound and visual whirlwind. Did you want it that way?

I hope I haven’t done too much. The idea, without wanting to be pretentious, is to titillate the imagination, the unconscious.

What is the starting point for this show?

You know, we are receptive to what marks us deeply, in literature, cinema, art. In addition to pictorial desires, I wanted to achieve something contemporary, with strong symbols. Afterwards, it is built like a pearl necklace.

What dominates in the decor are two large skeletons …

The skeletons are my skinned ones, inspired by a 15th century sculpture, which exists in a church in France. After listening to us, Laurent (Boutonnat) and I, Mark Fisher (decor designer) presented this work, called “Le transit”. We told him, we need it, in huge … The flayed is the passage between man and the skeleton, it is death in a certain lightness.

There is also an animated painting, which appears at the end of “Thus I am”, impressive and lugubrious…

It was proposed to us by Alain Escalle (set designer). A wandering of characters on a beach. An image very reworked by Alain so as to make it, how to say, ghostly.

We will again reproach you for drawing towards the gloomy, even the morbid …

The idea of ​​explaining this is difficult for me. How to say ? For me, it’s not morbid. I simply want to appeal, once again, to the imagination, to the unconscious. Of course, this drains symbols. But, it’s up to everyone to appropriate them as they see fit. It is not a forced passage. The urge to shock is not part of me. But the desire to react, yes! It’s a way of feeling alive. In my last clip, the skeleton dance is fun.

And it’s true, that in flayed outfit, you are rather sexy…

(She smiles). As much as to be terrified of death, because it is inevitable, you might as well take it lightly, you might as well laugh at it. Even if it’s not easy every day…

Do you sometimes censor yourself?

I believe there is still a bit of self-censorship. But with me, it happens more in my words. I give you an example. In “It’s a beautiful day”, I sing “It’s a beautiful day / I’m going to bed. “I first wrote, with cynicism and derision:” It’s a beautiful day / I’m going to kill myself. I said to myself that maybe it went too far, that there were fragile lives, that it could have consequences. So, I changed my text. On the other hand, a gender can appear on a screen, if it is not obscene, there is no problem, it is part of life.

There are a lot of representations of the body in your show. For example, images of a couple attracting and repelling each other. And especially the thirty or so naked dolls, human size, which resemble you, exhibited in an immense library in the background …

The body in its fullness, then in its decomposition with the flayed. Life made of contortions… The couple in pictures that you evoke are two dancers. They express feelings of love and expressions of pain. Because love also incorporates the feeling of pain.

To sum up, your universe is very much a universe of love and fantasy, isn’t it?

I love the fantastic, in the magical sense of the word, that is to say that transports us out of reality. I was rocked by Edgar Poe and I continue to read it and reread it. Like Stefan Zweig, like Kafka. I also loved a series that I discovered recently, which is called, in French, La caravane de l’Erange. On a traveling, bizarre circus. It swarms with symbols, with what makes a circus, a hyper-sensitive and scary side. It is very well done. A real journey, metaphysical at will. I love these universes.

To return concretely to the concert, today do not have the impression of creating the event more with your shows than with your records?

First, the stage is the ultimate creation. No one is hindering anything. As for the emotion, it is first generated by the concert, by what happens with the audience. Then, we must not be fooled. It is obvious that the disc economy is collapsing. It is a reality that must be dealt with.

In this regard, you fill two Stade de France in a few hours and tackle a tour of 32 concerts, all or almost sold out. The enthusiasm does not weaken. Awesome, isn’t it?

It moves me. In all humility, I tell myself why me? But I never thought that the public was acquired. It would be a total mistake. He can be disappointed. There can be ups and downs. Of course, we want to last, it’s human, but it doesn’t haunt me. We cannot force things. We can beget. You can be discouraged. But we are not in control of our life. On the other hand, to last, the fundamental thing is work. It’s a certainty. Sometimes it happens in pain. But it’s worth it.

Even if it may be worth living for you in an “Inanimate Paradise”, as you sing it in your last album. In a nutshell, to be a star is to be alone?

I could have chosen, for a while, another career, internationally. I wanted to stay in France, even if Russia offered itself to me a little later. So I could have gone even further. Having said that, I believe I have always been a solitary being, at the same time, a great desire and a great need for others. You just have to choose well. Anyway, I believe that human beings all have the same apprehensions, the same demons.

One of the main surprises of your last album is the revolutionary side in two or three titles such as “Réveiller le monde” where you sing: “Awaken the world / Dreaming of another summer / Revolus les mondes / Without a revolution. Surprising?

I’m not sure I want to wear this hat… But I like the idea of ​​revolution, of a people rising up. I like the mass movement. It is a desire. A sort of an animal cry. Not a political message. A regrouping is an incredible force whereas sometimes the man in his individuality terrifies me.

We cannot end this interview without remembering that you have Breton blood, through your mother, who lives (back then. EK note) in Brittany. What do you think is Breton in you?

(She smiles) The tenacity, the sense of the deep values ​​of the land. And then… I love pancakes! My mother lives near Pleyben. As a child, I spent my holidays in Brittany, on the farm. I love the tormented landscapes of Brittany.

Interview by Michel TROADEC.

I love the quirky choreography! Did you also notice the blue stripes on her skinless costume match the stripe on the mic (also blue) nice touch!

https://soundcloud.com/search?q=Je%20m%27ennuie%20mylene%20farmer

lyrics with translation

La vie oscille à l’envi
Comme un pendule rouillé
Me balancer
De la tourmente à l’ennui
L’ennui naquit un jour gris
D’une uniformité que je
Sais invincible

Je m’ennuie
C’est le vide
Déesse
Détresse
Le spleen
C’est l’hymne
À l’ennui d’être
Je m’ennuie
Un néant béant
Petite nausée
Temps dilué
À l’infini

Qu’on traîne toute sa vie
Toute sa vie durant
Obstinément
Sempiternelle rêverie
De l’ennui à Bovary
Vivre en beauté
Vivre en blessure
Sa finitude


Life swings in the air
Like a rusty pendulum
Swing me
From turmoil to boredom
Boredom was born on a gray day
With a uniformity that I
Know invincible

I am bored
It’s the void
Goddess
Distress
The spleen
This is the hymn
To the boredom of being
I am bored
A gaping nothingness
Little nausea
Diluted time
To infinity

That we hang around all our life
All his life
Obstinately
Eternal reverie
Boredom in Bovary
Live in beauty
Living in injury
Its finiteness