Comme j'ai mal
Encyclopedia
"Comme j'ai mal" is a 1995
song recorded by French
singer-songwriter
Mylène Farmer
. Fourth single
from her fourth album Anamorphosée
, it was released on 1 July 1996. It was a relative failure: indeed, it failed to reach the top ten in France and was the least-selling single from the album.
was a success despite a lack of promotion. However, on 15 June, the singer fell at her concert in Lyon
and broke her wrist, forcing her to stop her tour. To make her fans wait, the release of "Comme j'ai mal", initially scheduled for August, was delayed to July, although no music video was shot then. The three official remixes available on the various formats were produced by Laurent Boutonnat
and Bertrand Châtenet. As the previous single "California", a CD maxi was released in Germany. The song was later included in the studio version on the 2001 best of album Les Mots.
" and "Laisse le vent emporter tout"". Farmer evokes "her pain of living that prevents her from enjoying life"; she also talks about her lucidity and disillusionment and "that leads her to disconnect both physically and psychologically from the real world for a better world that belongs to her". Author Erwan Chuberre considered that with this song, Farmer keeps up with lyrics "evoking death and the escape from reality". According to psychologist Hugues Royer, the song contains "the sign of a hope of change" of the malaise from childhood, "of a travel for the mind and the body".
, who had previously directed the ones for "XXL
" and "L'Instant X
", and later for "Souviens-toi du jour
". Nispel also composed the screenplay alongside Farmer, and this video was generally regarded as his best. A Requiem Publishing production, the video was filmed in Los Angeles
for two days in August 1996 with a budget of about 80,000 euros. It was said that the video was produced twice, as the scenery of the first one was ransacked by panther
s that were originally included in the video. Only few photographs were taken by the only photographer who attended the shooting, Jeff Dahlgren, who also played in the 1992 film Giorgino
. The costumes, make up and hairstyles required several hours of preparation. Farmer was deeply involved in the creation of the butterfly costume which holds itself through a iron wire and pins, and Farmer deemed it a masterpiece.
The video features Farmer at different stages of her life, and two actors who seem to be her parents. At the beginning, Farmer plays with a praying mantis in a cupboard. Then a little girl in a dark room opens a box containing many insects that she likes. When her father comes, she hides them in the box. She is then beaten by the latter who also starts to break everything in the room. With her doll and her box, the girl runs to take refuge in her cupboard where she plays with an insect. Then she eats sugar and gets covered with honey
and finds herself in a cocoon in a forest. She begins to leave it, the sticky body with wing
s in the back, very long nails, ruffled hair. She has therefore converted into a butterfly
whose face is that of Farmer. The father cries because he understands that his daughter is gone away.
The video was broadcast for the first time on television about one month after the single's release. According to French magazine Instant-Mag, this video underlines "the relationship with a father figure". "The girl, scared by her father, who hides in her cupboard, is the representation of a child beaten and mistreated. The most painful is the metaphor of Farmer converted into a butterfly
, which has therefore no more than one day to live : allegory of a child injured in search of paradise
?" Royer considered this video proves the fact that "animals have something valuable to teach us. Something that we lost, and which undoubtedly relates to the survival instinct."
on 24 October 1996. Just after her performance, she sang "La Poupée qui fait non
", a song originally composed by Michel Polnareff
, as duet with Khaled
. Regarding tours, the song was only performed on the 1996 Live à Bercy tour; Farmer sang it alone in the middle of the stage illuminated by many lights.
"Comme j'ai mal"'s trajectories on the singles charts were rather disappointing in comparison with the previous three singles. In France, the single failed to enter the top ten, debuting at number 11 on 10 August 1996, then dropped and fell off the top 50 after nine weeks, becoming the lowest-selling single from the Anamorphosée
album. On the Belgian Ultratop 40
, "Comme j'ai mal" started at number 36 on 24 August, reached a peak at number 21 the next week, dropped quickly and totaled four weeks, which was the shortest chart run of a single from the album in Belgium.
1995 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1995.- January–February :*January 18 – Jerry Garcia crashes his rented BMW into a guard rail near Mill Valley, California, USA, but is not injured in the accident....
song recorded by French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
Mylène Farmer
Mylène Farmer
Mylène Farmer, , born Marie-Hélène Jeanne Gautier, , , is a French singer, songwriter, occasional actress and author....
. Fourth single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
from her fourth album Anamorphosée
Anamorphosée
Anamorphosée is the fourth studio album by Mylène Farmer, released on October 17, 1995. Led by the number-one single "XXL", the album was something of a departure from her previous work...
, it was released on 1 July 1996. It was a relative failure: indeed, it failed to reach the top ten in France and was the least-selling single from the album.
Background
In June 1996, Farmer continued her concert tour through France that she had begun on 25 May, while her fourth studio album AnamorphoséeAnamorphosée
Anamorphosée is the fourth studio album by Mylène Farmer, released on October 17, 1995. Led by the number-one single "XXL", the album was something of a departure from her previous work...
was a success despite a lack of promotion. However, on 15 June, the singer fell at her concert in Lyon
Lyon
Lyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....
and broke her wrist, forcing her to stop her tour. To make her fans wait, the release of "Comme j'ai mal", initially scheduled for August, was delayed to July, although no music video was shot then. The three official remixes available on the various formats were produced by Laurent Boutonnat
Laurent Boutonnat
Laurent Pierre Marie Boutonnat is a French composer and film and music video director, best known as the songwriting partner of Mylène Farmer and the director of moody, provocative and literature-inspired music videos.- Career :...
and Bertrand Châtenet. As the previous single "California", a CD maxi was released in Germany. The song was later included in the studio version on the 2001 best of album Les Mots.
Lyrics and music
Journalist Benoît Cachin said "Comme j'ai mal" seems to be as "a confession and may be related to the texts of "Ainsi soit je...Ainsi soit je... (song)
"Ainsi soit je..." is a 1988 song recorded by the French artist Mylène Farmer. The song was released as a single twice: as the second single from her second studio album Ainsi soit je... on 4 April 1988, and as the second single in a live version from her second live album Live à Bercy on 20...
" and "Laisse le vent emporter tout"". Farmer evokes "her pain of living that prevents her from enjoying life"; she also talks about her lucidity and disillusionment and "that leads her to disconnect both physically and psychologically from the real world for a better world that belongs to her". Author Erwan Chuberre considered that with this song, Farmer keeps up with lyrics "evoking death and the escape from reality". According to psychologist Hugues Royer, the song contains "the sign of a hope of change" of the malaise from childhood, "of a travel for the mind and the body".
Music video
The music video was produced by Marcus NispelMarcus Nispel
Marcus Nispel is a German–American feature film director and producer, and formerly a director of television commercials and music videos. Many of his films have been remakes, all of which have met with a negative critical reception....
, who had previously directed the ones for "XXL
XXL (Mylène Farmer song)
"XXL" is a 1995 song recorded by French singer-songwriter Mylène Farmer. The song was the lead single from her fourth studio album Anamorphosée and was released on 19 September 1995. It marked an important change in the singer's career, with more rock sonorities, easier lyrics to understand and a...
" and "L'Instant X
L'Instant X
"L'Instant X" is a 1995 song recorded by the French artist Mylène Farmer. It was the second single from her fourth album Anamorphosée and was released on 12 December 1995. Directed by Marcus Nispel in New York, the music video depicts with humour the apocalypse and shows Farmer bathing in the foam...
", and later for "Souviens-toi du jour
Souviens-toi du jour
"Souviens-toi du jour" is a 1999 song recorded by French singer-songwriter Mylène Farmer. It was the third single from her fifth studio album Innamoramento and was released on 2 September 1999. Inspired by Primo Levi's book If This Is a Man, the song deals with the theme of the Holocaust...
". Nispel also composed the screenplay alongside Farmer, and this video was generally regarded as his best. A Requiem Publishing production, the video was filmed in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
for two days in August 1996 with a budget of about 80,000 euros. It was said that the video was produced twice, as the scenery of the first one was ransacked by panther
Black panther
A black panther is typically a melanistic color variant of any of several species of larger cat. Wild black panthers in Latin America are black jaguars , in Asia and Africa they are black leopards , and in North America they may be black jaguars or possibly black cougars A black panther is...
s that were originally included in the video. Only few photographs were taken by the only photographer who attended the shooting, Jeff Dahlgren, who also played in the 1992 film Giorgino
Giorgino
-Presentation:* Title : Giorgino* Direction : Laurent Boutonnat* Screenplay : Laurent Boutonnat, Gilles Laurent* Production : Laurent Boutonnat* Music : Laurent Boutonnat* Photo : Jean-Pierre Sauvaire* Film editing : Laurent Boutonnat, Agnès Mouchel...
. The costumes, make up and hairstyles required several hours of preparation. Farmer was deeply involved in the creation of the butterfly costume which holds itself through a iron wire and pins, and Farmer deemed it a masterpiece.
The video features Farmer at different stages of her life, and two actors who seem to be her parents. At the beginning, Farmer plays with a praying mantis in a cupboard. Then a little girl in a dark room opens a box containing many insects that she likes. When her father comes, she hides them in the box. She is then beaten by the latter who also starts to break everything in the room. With her doll and her box, the girl runs to take refuge in her cupboard where she plays with an insect. Then she eats sugar and gets covered with honey
Honey
Honey is a sweet food made by bees using nectar from flowers. The variety produced by honey bees is the one most commonly referred to and is the type of honey collected by beekeepers and consumed by humans...
and finds herself in a cocoon in a forest. She begins to leave it, the sticky body with wing
Wing
A wing is an appendage with a surface that produces lift for flight or propulsion through the atmosphere, or through another gaseous or liquid fluid...
s in the back, very long nails, ruffled hair. She has therefore converted into a butterfly
Butterfly
A butterfly is a mainly day-flying insect of the order Lepidoptera, which includes the butterflies and moths. Like other holometabolous insects, the butterfly's life cycle consists of four parts: egg, larva, pupa and adult. Most species are diurnal. Butterflies have large, often brightly coloured...
whose face is that of Farmer. The father cries because he understands that his daughter is gone away.
The video was broadcast for the first time on television about one month after the single's release. According to French magazine Instant-Mag, this video underlines "the relationship with a father figure". "The girl, scared by her father, who hides in her cupboard, is the representation of a child beaten and mistreated. The most painful is the metaphor of Farmer converted into a butterfly
Butterfly
A butterfly is a mainly day-flying insect of the order Lepidoptera, which includes the butterflies and moths. Like other holometabolous insects, the butterfly's life cycle consists of four parts: egg, larva, pupa and adult. Most species are diurnal. Butterflies have large, often brightly coloured...
, which has therefore no more than one day to live : allegory of a child injured in search of paradise
Paradise
Paradise is a place in which existence is positive, harmonious and timeless. It is conceptually a counter-image of the miseries of human civilization, and in paradise there is only peace, prosperity, and happiness. Paradise is a place of contentment, but it is not necessarily a land of luxury and...
?" Royer considered this video proves the fact that "animals have something valuable to teach us. Something that we lost, and which undoubtedly relates to the survival instinct."
Promotion and chart performances
On the television, Farmer performed "Comme j'ai mal" on the Tip Top show, broadcast on TF1TF1
TF1 is a national French TV channel, controlled by TF1 Group, whose major share-holder is Bouygues. TF1's average market share of 24% makes it the most popular domestic network...
on 24 October 1996. Just after her performance, she sang "La Poupée qui fait non
La Poupée qui fait non
"La Poupée qui fait non" is a 1966 song written by Franck Gérald and originally recorded by the French singer/songwriter Michel Polnareff...
", a song originally composed by Michel Polnareff
Michel Polnareff
Michel Polnareff, born in Nérac on 3 July 1944, is a French singer-songwriter who was very popular from the mid-1960s until the early 1980s...
, as duet with Khaled
Khaled (musician)
Khaled Hadj Ibrahim , better known as Khaled, is a raï singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist born in Sidi El Houari in Oran Province of Algeria...
. Regarding tours, the song was only performed on the 1996 Live à Bercy tour; Farmer sang it alone in the middle of the stage illuminated by many lights.
"Comme j'ai mal"'s trajectories on the singles charts were rather disappointing in comparison with the previous three singles. In France, the single failed to enter the top ten, debuting at number 11 on 10 August 1996, then dropped and fell off the top 50 after nine weeks, becoming the lowest-selling single from the Anamorphosée
Anamorphosée
Anamorphosée is the fourth studio album by Mylène Farmer, released on October 17, 1995. Led by the number-one single "XXL", the album was something of a departure from her previous work...
album. On the Belgian Ultratop 40
Ultratop 40
Ultratop 40 singles, often just Ultratop 40, is the weekly chart of best-selling singles in Wallonia and Brussels Capital Region, the french-speaking parts of Belgium. Its equivalent covering the Flanders region is Ultratop 50. Both charts are produced and published by the Ultratop organization...
, "Comme j'ai mal" started at number 36 on 24 August, reached a peak at number 21 the next week, dropped quickly and totaled four weeks, which was the shortest chart run of a single from the album in Belgium.
Formats and track listings
These are the formats and track listings of single releases of "Comme j'ai mal":- CD single / CD single - Digipack / CD single - Promo - Digipack
- CD maxi
- 12" maxi / 12" maxi - Promo
- Digital download
- CD single - Promo
- CD maxi - Promo - Germany
- Video - Promo
Release history
| Date | Label | Region | Format | Catalog |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 1996 | Polydor | France, Belgium, Switzerland | CD single - Promo | 3378 |
| CD maxi - Promo | 576 998-2 | |||
| 12" maxi - Promo | 6415 | |||
| VHS Promo | — | |||
| 5 August 1996 | CD single | 576 998-2 | ||
| CD maxi | 575 471-1 | |||
| 12" maxi | 575 471-7 | |||
| October 1996 | Germany | CD maxi | 576 999-2 | |
Official versions
| Version | Length | Album | Remixed by | Year | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Album version | 3:53 | Anamorphosée Anamorphosée Anamorphosée is the fourth studio album by Mylène Farmer, released on October 17, 1995. Led by the number-one single "XXL", the album was something of a departure from her previous work... , Les Mots |
— | 1995 | See the previous sections |
| Single version | 3:50 | — | — | 1996 | This version is similar to the album version. |
| Instrumental | 3:50 | — | Laurent Boutonnat Laurent Boutonnat Laurent Pierre Marie Boutonnat is a French composer and film and music video director, best known as the songwriting partner of Mylène Farmer and the director of moody, provocative and literature-inspired music videos.- Career :... |
1996 | All the lyrics are deleted. |
| Aches remix | 3:58 | — | Laurent Boutonnat, Bertrand Châtenet | 1996 | This version has a new orchestration Orchestration Orchestration is the study or practice of writing music for an orchestra or of adapting for orchestra music composed for another medium... : percussions, guitar Guitar The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with... s and chorus are added whereas and all strings are removed. The song ends abruptly, unlike the album version. |
| Pain killer mix | 6:20 | — | Laurent Boutonnat, Bertrand Châtenet | 1996 | It is similar to the 'Upside Down Remix', but slower and containing all the lyrics of the original version. |
| Upside down remix | 6:45 | — | Laurent Boutonnat, Bertrand Châtenet | 1996 | This is a techno and dance remix in which Farmer sings only "Je bascule" throughout the song. |
| Music video | 4:00 | Music Videos II Music Videos II Music Videos II is a VHS recorded by the French singer Mylène Farmer, containing all the singer's videoclips from 1992 to 1996. It was released in April 1997 in France.... , Music Videos II & III Music Videos II & III Music Video II & III is a DVD recorded by the French singer Mylène Farmer, containing all the singer's videoclips from 1992 to 2000. It was released in March 2001 in France.... |
— | 1996 | |
| Live version (recorded in 1996) |
4:35 (audio) 4:18 (video) |
Live à Bercy Live à Bercy Live à Bercy is the second live album by Mylène Farmer, released on May 21, 1997. It was also produced as a video.-Background:After the successful concerts tour of 1996, whose shows were spread out from May 25 to December 15, a live album was recorded and produced by Thierry Suc, and sponsored by... |
— | 1996 | This live version is similar to that of the album, with a shorter introduction.See 1996 Tour |
Personnel and credits
These are the credits and the personnel as they appear on the back of the single:- Mylène Farmer – lyrics
- Laurent Boutonnat – music
- Requiem Publishing – editions
- Polydor – recording company
- André Rau / Sygma – photo
- Com'N.B – design
Charts and sales
| Chart (1996) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Belgian (Wallonia) Singles Chart Ultratop Ultratop is an organization which generates and publishes the official record charts in Belgium, and it is also the name of most of those charts... |
21 |
| French SNEP Singles Chart | 11 |
| Country | Certification | Physical sales |
|---|---|---|
| France | — | 80,000 - 90,000 |