Comme j'ai mal

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“Comme j'ai mal”
Single by Mylène Farmer from the album Anamorphosée
Released	July 1, 1996
Format	CD single CD maxi 12" maxi Digital download (since 2005)
Recorded	1995
Genre	Pop
Length	3:50
Label	Polydor
Writer(s)	Text : Mylène Farmer Music : Laurent Boutonnat
Producer	Laurent Boutonnat
Mylène Farmer singles chronology
"California" (1996) "Comme j'ai mal" (1996) "Rêver" (1996) Alternate cover CD maxi Anamorphosée track listing "Alice" (9) "Comme j'ai mal" (10) "Tomber 7 fois..." (11) Live à Bercy track listing "Alice" (10) "Comme j'ai mal" (1) "Sans contrefaçon" (2) Music Videos II track listing "California" (4) "Comme j'ai mal" (5) Music Videos II & III track listing "California" (4) "Comme j'ai mal" (5) "L'Âme-stram-gram" (6) Les Mots track listing "L'Instant X" (4) "Comme j'ai mal" (5) "Rêver" (6)

"Comme j'ai mal" is a 1995 song recorded by the French artist Mylène Farmer. Fourth single from her fourth album Anamorphosée, it was released on July 1, 1996.

[edit] Background

In June 1996, Farmer continued her concert tour through France that she had begun on May 25, while her fourth studio album Anamorphosée was a great success despite the lack of promotion. However, on June 15, the singer had a fall at her concert in Lyon and broke her wrist, forcing her to stop her tour. To make her fans wait, the song "Comme j'ai mal", which should have been initially released in August, was finally marketed in July, although it is not illustrated by a video at the time.^{[1] [2]}

The three official remixes made for the different media were produced by Laurent Boutonnat and Bertrand Châtenet. The song is available in its studio version on albums Anamorphosée and Les Mots, and its live version on Live à Bercy. However, the song was not performed at the two following tours, in 2000 and 2006.

[edit] Lyrics and music

"Comme j'ai mal" seems to be as "a confession and may be related to the texts of "Ainsi soit je..." 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".^[3] With this song, Farmer keeps up with lyrics "evoking death and the escape from reality".^[4]

[edit] Music video

The video was produced by Marcus Nispel, who had already directed those of "XXL" and "L'Instant X" (and later, that of "Souviens-toi du jour"). He also composed the screenplay with Farmer, and this video is generally regarded as his best. This Requiem Publishing production was filmed in Los Angeles for 2 days with a budget of about 80,000 euros.

The video was produced twice, because the scenery of the first one was ransacked by panthers that were originally included in the video. Only few photographs were taken by the only photographer present at the shooting, Jeff Dahlgren, who has played in the 1992 film Giorgino. The costumes, make up and hairstyles of Farmer has required several hours of preparation.^[5]

Mylène Farmer converted into a butterfly in the music video "Comme j'ai mal".

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 forrest. She begins to leave it, the sticky body with wings 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.^{[6] [7]}

The video was broadcast for the first time on television about one month after the single's release. According to the 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 ?"^[8]

[edit] TV and chart performances

Farmer performed the song only in the show "Tip Top," broadcast on TF1 on October 24, 1996. At the same time, she also sang "La Poupée qui fait non" in duet with Khaled, which is a song originally composed by Michel Polnareff.^[9]

"Comme j'ai mal"'s trajectories in the Singles Charts were very disappointing in comparison with the three previous singles. In France, the single narrowly failed its debut in the Top 10 (#11, on August 10), and then dropped rapidly. It left the Top 50 after just 9 weeks of attendance.^[10] Thus, this song was the least-selling single from Innamoramento.
In Belgian Utratop 40, "Comme j'ai mal" started to number 36 on August 24, then reached #21 the following week. It was it peak position. After that, it fell very quickly and left the chart after only four weeks of attendance. This song was the shortest running single from Anamorphosée in Belgium.^[11]

[edit] Formats and track listings

[edit] Versions

Official versions

Unofficial mentionable fan remixes^[12]

• Around the world remix (5:57)
• Keyan's extended mix (6:24)
• Soul's a bobo mix (6:15)

[edit] Credits and personnel

• Text : Mylène Farmer
• Music : Laurent Boutonnat
• Editions : Requiem Publishing
• Recording company : Polydor
• Photography : André Rau / Sygma
• Design : Com'N.B

[edit] Charts, certifications and sales

[edit] References