Déshabillez-moi
Encyclopedia
"Déshabillez-moi" is a 1967 song first recorded by French singer Juliette Gréco
, by Patti Layne
in 1987, then by Mylène Farmer
in a studio version in 1988
and in a live version during her 2006 concerts at Bercy
(Paris
). This live version was the second single
from Farmer's fourth live album, Avant que l'ombre... à Bercy
, and was released on 5 March 2007. Although it was a top ten hit in France, it achieved moderate success in terms of sales and chart performances.
in 1967, and became scandalous at the time. In 1987, when Farmer wrote "Sans contrefaçon" on the edge of a swimming pool along with photographer Elsa Trillat, Gréco's version of "Déshabillez-moi" was played on radio and Trillat performed a comic strip-tease, which gave Farmer the idea to cover the song. Farmer explained : "I ran to the drugstore to buy Juliette Greco's disc. And the next day, we created a new version." "I want to highlight the humorous side of the approach. I have always more liked Barbara than Juliette Greco."
Her new version, totally different from the original one, was first not much appreciated by Gréco who deemed it as too sweet and lacked enough "bitch". The song became the B-side of her 1987 single "Sans contrefaçon
" and was later included in the track listing of her second studio album, Ainsi soit je...
. Seeing the public was enthousiastic by this cover, Farmer first decided to release it as a single, then abandoned the idea, as Canadian singer Patti Layne
published at the same time her own version of the song, in a reggae version.
In January 2006, Farmer performed the song during her series of concerts at Bercy. About one year later, while the live DVD of the concert had huge success, "Déshabillez-moi" was officially announced on 26 January 2007 as second single
from the live album Avant que l'ombre... à Bercy
. This choice was much appreciated by most of Farmer's fans, according to polls made on various websites about Mylène Farmer which underlined that the song was considered as the best choice for a second live single. On 2 February, the song was aired on radio in its live version for the first time. The promotional CD was sent a few days later to the radio stations, but the song had a poor airplay and was never broadcast on NRJ. Before the CD single's content became known, a rumour had announced that a new remix of "Je te rends ton amour
" would be featured as second title. That was erroneous, since the second track was "Porno graphique", in the 2006 live version.
"Déshabillez-moi" is available in a studio version on Ainsi soit je...
and in a live version on En Concert and Avant que l'ombre... à Bercy
.
of a woman, the latter "asking a man to undress her in different ways". In the album and live versions of the song, Farmer shows that she has humour
and plays to "imitate successively the voice of a little girl, a femme fatale
, a bourgeois, a managing woman..." Around the end, she yells a huge "Déshabillez-moi", and finishs the song with the words "Et vous / Déshabillez-vous !".
The video was aired on television for the first time on 15 February 2007. It is an excerpt from the 2006 concert film and does not contain new images. Farmer can be seen wearing black clothing, including a bra
which seems to be made of feather
s, as it can be seen on the single cover.
on 21 October 1987 ; at this occasion, Farmer, dressed in a black dress, played with a chair and revealed by mistake one of her breast
s. She also performed in Les Uns et les Autres, aired on TF1 on 29 April 1989.
The song was performed during the 1989 and 2006 tours. During one live performance of the song in 1989, Farmer sang with a microphone on a base, and sometimes she pretended to laugh. She wore restrictive black dress with sleeves that greatly limited her arm movement, effectively an bondage
dress. Dress rendered her unable to undress herself, which explains why she wore it for the song of which title would be translated to English as "undress me". This is only known occasion of Farmer wearing something like that, which was clearly intended to make smile. After a last "Déshabillez-vous !" launched and an explosion of fireworks, a total black enabled the singer to leave the stage to take off her dress. According to Florence Rajon, "we may be disappointed by the coldness of the performance, but this song "remains one of the highlights of the concert". About the 2006 live version, author Erwan Chuberre considered the performance as being "energic" and "more rock", adding that "Farmer herself loose on this song", performing it in a "dynamic, mischievous and playful" way; however, on some shows, she forgot a verse of the song.
for five weeks, from 17 March to 21 April, with a peak at number 19 in its second week. In Switzerland, the single appeared for one week, at number 81, on 25 March.
Juliette Gréco
Juliette Gréco, — also Michelle – is a French actress and popular chanson singer.-Early life and family:Juliette Gréco was born in Montpellier to a Corsican father and a mother who became active in the Résistance, in the Hérault département of southern France. She was raised by her maternal...
, by Patti Layne
Patti Layne
Patti Layne is a Canadian singer/songwriter/recording artist. Patti Layne had a recording career in France from 1982–1991 and started recording again in 2009. Her first release in 1982, 'Une espèce de Canadienne' written by Didier Barbelivien for her, was a moderate success...
in 1987, then by Mylène Farmer
Mylène Farmer
Mylène Farmer, , born Marie-Hélène Jeanne Gautier, , , is a French singer, songwriter, occasional actress and author....
in a studio version in 1988
1988 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1988.-January-March:* January 1 – André Rieu's Johann Strauss Orchestra plays its first concert....
and in a live version during her 2006 concerts at Bercy
Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy
Opened in 1984, Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy, often abbreviated as POPB or Bercy, is an indoor sports arena on boulevard de Bercy located in the 12th arrondissement of Paris...
(Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
). This live version was the second 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 Farmer's fourth live album, Avant que l'ombre... à Bercy
Avant que l'ombre... à Bercy
Avant que l'ombre... à Bercy is the fourth live album by Mylène Farmer, released on December 4, 2006.- Background :Six years after her Mylenium Tour, Mylène Farmer came back on stage with a tour in 2006 which included 13 shows at Bercy, in Paris. This very successful series of concerts started on...
, and was released on 5 March 2007. Although it was a top ten hit in France, it achieved moderate success in terms of sales and chart performances.
Background and release
The song, written by Robert Nyel and composed by Gaby Verlor, was originally recorded by French singer Juliette GrécoJuliette Gréco
Juliette Gréco, — also Michelle – is a French actress and popular chanson singer.-Early life and family:Juliette Gréco was born in Montpellier to a Corsican father and a mother who became active in the Résistance, in the Hérault département of southern France. She was raised by her maternal...
in 1967, and became scandalous at the time. In 1987, when Farmer wrote "Sans contrefaçon" on the edge of a swimming pool along with photographer Elsa Trillat, Gréco's version of "Déshabillez-moi" was played on radio and Trillat performed a comic strip-tease, which gave Farmer the idea to cover the song. Farmer explained : "I ran to the drugstore to buy Juliette Greco's disc. And the next day, we created a new version." "I want to highlight the humorous side of the approach. I have always more liked Barbara than Juliette Greco."
Her new version, totally different from the original one, was first not much appreciated by Gréco who deemed it as too sweet and lacked enough "bitch". The song became the B-side of her 1987 single "Sans contrefaçon
Sans contrefaçon
"Sans contrefaçon" is a 1987 song recorded by French artist Mylène Farmer. It was released on 16 October 1987 as the first single from her second studio album, Ainsi soit je.... It was a big hit in 1987 and is one of her three best-selling singles. It became a very popular song in France over the...
" and was later included in the track listing of her second studio album, Ainsi soit je...
Ainsi Soit Je...
Ainsi Soit Je... is the second album by Mylène Farmer, released in April 1988. It contains the hit singles "Sans contrefaçon", "Pourvu qu'elles soient douces" and "Sans logique"...
. Seeing the public was enthousiastic by this cover, Farmer first decided to release it as a single, then abandoned the idea, as Canadian singer Patti Layne
Patti Layne
Patti Layne is a Canadian singer/songwriter/recording artist. Patti Layne had a recording career in France from 1982–1991 and started recording again in 2009. Her first release in 1982, 'Une espèce de Canadienne' written by Didier Barbelivien for her, was a moderate success...
published at the same time her own version of the song, in a reggae version.
In January 2006, Farmer performed the song during her series of concerts at Bercy. About one year later, while the live DVD of the concert had huge success, "Déshabillez-moi" was officially announced on 26 January 2007 as second 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 the live album Avant que l'ombre... à Bercy
Avant que l'ombre... à Bercy
Avant que l'ombre... à Bercy is the fourth live album by Mylène Farmer, released on December 4, 2006.- Background :Six years after her Mylenium Tour, Mylène Farmer came back on stage with a tour in 2006 which included 13 shows at Bercy, in Paris. This very successful series of concerts started on...
. This choice was much appreciated by most of Farmer's fans, according to polls made on various websites about Mylène Farmer which underlined that the song was considered as the best choice for a second live single. On 2 February, the song was aired on radio in its live version for the first time. The promotional CD was sent a few days later to the radio stations, but the song had a poor airplay and was never broadcast on NRJ. Before the CD single's content became known, a rumour had announced that a new remix of "Je te rends ton amour
Je te rends ton amour
"Je te rends ton amour" is a 1999 song recorded by the French artist Mylène Farmer. The second single from her fifth studio album Innamoramento, it was released on 8 June 1999...
" would be featured as second title. That was erroneous, since the second track was "Porno graphique", in the 2006 live version.
"Déshabillez-moi" is available in a studio version on Ainsi soit je...
Ainsi Soit Je...
Ainsi Soit Je... is the second album by Mylène Farmer, released in April 1988. It contains the hit singles "Sans contrefaçon", "Pourvu qu'elles soient douces" and "Sans logique"...
and in a live version on En Concert and Avant que l'ombre... à Bercy
Avant que l'ombre... à Bercy
Avant que l'ombre... à Bercy is the fourth live album by Mylène Farmer, released on December 4, 2006.- Background :Six years after her Mylenium Tour, Mylène Farmer came back on stage with a tour in 2006 which included 13 shows at Bercy, in Paris. This very successful series of concerts started on...
.
Lyrics, music and video
The song refers to the nudityNudity
Nudity is the state of wearing no clothing. The wearing of clothing is exclusively a human characteristic. The amount of clothing worn depends on functional considerations and social considerations...
of a woman, the latter "asking a man to undress her in different ways". In the album and live versions of the song, Farmer shows that she has humour
Humour
Humour or humor is the tendency of particular cognitive experiences to provoke laughter and provide amusement...
and plays to "imitate successively the voice of a little girl, a femme fatale
Femme fatale
A femme fatale is a mysterious and seductive woman whose charms ensnare her lovers in bonds of irresistible desire, often leading them into compromising, dangerous, and deadly situations. She is an archetype of literature and art...
, a bourgeois, a managing woman..." Around the end, she yells a huge "Déshabillez-moi", and finishs the song with the words "Et vous / Déshabillez-vous !".
The video was aired on television for the first time on 15 February 2007. It is an excerpt from the 2006 concert film and does not contain new images. Farmer can be seen wearing black clothing, including a bra
Brassiere
A brassiere is an undergarment that covers, supports, and elevates the breasts. Since the late 19th century, it has replaced the corset as the most widely accepted method for supporting breasts....
which seems to be made of feather
Feather
Feathers are one of the epidermal growths that form the distinctive outer covering, or plumage, on birds and some non-avian theropod dinosaurs. They are considered the most complex integumentary structures found in vertebrates, and indeed a premier example of a complex evolutionary novelty. They...
s, as it can be seen on the single cover.
Promotion and live performances
Farmer performed the song in two television shows in the late 1980s. First, in Les Oscars de la mode, 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 21 October 1987 ; at this occasion, Farmer, dressed in a black dress, played with a chair and revealed by mistake one of her breast
Breast
The breast is the upper ventral region of the torso of a primate, in left and right sides, which in a female contains the mammary gland that secretes milk used to feed infants.Both men and women develop breasts from the same embryological tissues...
s. She also performed in Les Uns et les Autres, aired on TF1 on 29 April 1989.
The song was performed during the 1989 and 2006 tours. During one live performance of the song in 1989, Farmer sang with a microphone on a base, and sometimes she pretended to laugh. She wore restrictive black dress with sleeves that greatly limited her arm movement, effectively an bondage
Bondage (sexual)
Bondage is the use of restraints for the sexual pleasure of the parties involved. It may be used in its own right, as in the case of rope bondage and breast bondage, or as part of sexual activity or BDSM activity.- Private bondage :...
dress. Dress rendered her unable to undress herself, which explains why she wore it for the song of which title would be translated to English as "undress me". This is only known occasion of Farmer wearing something like that, which was clearly intended to make smile. After a last "Déshabillez-vous !" launched and an explosion of fireworks, a total black enabled the singer to leave the stage to take off her dress. According to Florence Rajon, "we may be disappointed by the coldness of the performance, but this song "remains one of the highlights of the concert". About the 2006 live version, author Erwan Chuberre considered the performance as being "energic" and "more rock", adding that "Farmer herself loose on this song", performing it in a "dynamic, mischievous and playful" way; however, on some shows, she forgot a verse of the song.
Chart performances
The single debuted at a peak of number ten on French SNEP Singles Chart on 10 March 2007, selling 6,369 units. It was thus the 33rd top ten of Farmer in France, which was at the time the record. Like Farmer's previous singles, it dropped the weeks after and stayed for ten weeks in the Top 50, and 17 weeks on the chart. In Belgium (Wallonia), the single was ranked on the Ultratop 40Ultratop
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...
for five weeks, from 17 March to 21 April, with a peak at number 19 in its second week. In Switzerland, the single appeared for one week, at number 81, on 25 March.
Formats and track listings
These are the formats and track listings of single releases of "Déshabillez-moi":- CD single
- CD single - Promo
- Digital download
Release history
| Date | Label | Region | Format | Catalog |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 February 2007 | Polydor | France, Belgium, Switzerland | CD single - Promo | 11420 |
| 5 March 2007 | CD single | 984 685-6 | ||
Personnel
These are the credits and the personnel as they appear on the back of the single:- Robert Nyel — lyrics
- Gaby Verlor — music
- Polydor — recording company
- Intersong — editions
- Claude Gassian — photo
- Henry Neu — design
- Made in the E.U.
Official versions
| Version | Length | Album | Remixed by | Year | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Album version | 3:45 | Ainsi soit je... Ainsi Soit Je... Ainsi Soit Je... is the second album by Mylène Farmer, released in April 1988. It contains the hit singles "Sans contrefaçon", "Pourvu qu'elles soient douces" and "Sans logique"... |
— | 1988 | See the previous sections |
| Live version (recorded in 1989) |
3:55 | En Concert | — | 1989 | This version is similar to the that of the album. (see Mylène Farmer en concert Mylène Farmer en concert Mylène Farmer en concert is Mylène Farmer's 1989 concert tour in support of her second studio album, Ainsi soit je.... It was the first tour of the singer.- Introduction :... ) |
| Live version (recorded in 2006) |
4:12 (audio) 3:54 (video) |
Avant que l'ombre... à Bercy Avant que l'ombre... à Bercy Avant que l'ombre... à Bercy is the fourth live album by Mylène Farmer, released on December 4, 2006.- Background :Six years after her Mylenium Tour, Mylène Farmer came back on stage with a tour in 2006 which included 13 shows at Bercy, in Paris. This very successful series of concerts started on... |
— | 2005 | This energetic version has a more rock sound. (see Avant que l'ombre... à Bercy (tour) Avant que l'ombre... à Bercy (tour) Avant que l'ombre... à Bercy is the Mylène Farmer's 2006 concert tour in support of her sixth studio album, Avant que l'ombre.... It was the fourth tour of the singer.More than 169,000 tickets were sold one about one year before the concert.-Set list:... ) |
| Single live version | 4:12 | — | — | 2006 | This version is slightly different from the album one with an introduction in fade in and an end in fade out. |
Charts
| Chart (2007) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Belgian (Wallonia) Singles Chart | 19 |
| Belgian Singles Chart (global) | 23 |
| Eurochart Hot 100 | 33 |
| French SNEP Singles Chart | 10 |
| Swiss Singles Chart | 81 |
| Country | Certification | Physical sales |
|---|---|---|
| France | — | 20,000 |