Beyond My Control

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

“Beyond My Control”
“Beyond My Control” cover
Single by Mylène Farmer
from the album L'Autre...
Released May 1992
Format CD single
CD maxi
7" single
12" maxi
Cassette
Digital download (since 2005)
Recorded 1991, France
Genre Pop
Length 5:24
Label Polydor
Writer(s) Text : Mylène Farmer
Music : Laurent Boutonnat
Producer Laurent Boutonnat
Mylène Farmer singles chronology
"Je t'aime mélancolie"
(1991)
"Beyond My Control"
(1992)
"Que mon cœur lâche"
(1992)
Alternate cover
12" maxi
12" maxi
L'Autre... track listing
"Il n'y a pas d'ailleurs"
(8)
"Beyond My Control"
(9)
"Nous souviendrons-nous"
(10)
L'Autre track listing
"Je t'aime mélancolie"
(3)
"Beyond My Control"
(4)
Dance Remixes track listing
"Regrets"
(5)
"Beyond My Control"
(6)
"Désenchantée"
(7)
Mylenium Tour track listing
"L'Âme-stram-gram"
(3)
"Beyond My Control"
(4)
"Rêver"
(5)
Music Videos I track listing
"Je t'aime mélancolie"
(11)
"Beyond My Control"
(12)
"Maman a tort"
(13)
Les Mots track listing
"Je t'aime mélancolie"
(13)
"Beyond My Control"
(14)
"Que mon cœur lâche"
(15)

"Beyond My Control" is a 1991 song recorded by the French artist Mylène Farmer. Fourth single from her third studio album L'Autre..., the song was released in May, 1992.

Contents

[edit] Background and writing

The fickle and ambiguous song "Pas de doute", already scheduled as the third single from the album L'Autre...,[1] would have been released as the fourth single, but was finally replaced by "Beyond My Control", which was remixed to be more commercial.

The song was inspired by two characters in the 1782 French epistolary novel "Les Liaisons dangereuses", written by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos : the Marquise de Merteuil and the Vicomte de Valmont.[2] In the song, the voice heard on the chorus of the song which repeats "It's beyond my control" is in fact a sample of John Malkovich's voice from the film "Les Liaisons dangereuses" by Stephen Frears.[3]

For the first time in Farmer's career, a CD single was marketed among the various media. At the time of the song's release, the radio NRJ prepared a 7" maxi with a collector picture disc in a limited edition (50 copies) and containing a new remix.[4]

The song was performed on Mylenium Tour, but at this occasion, Malkovich's voice was replaced and the choreography initially scheduled was abandoned.[4]

[edit] Lyrics and music

The song deals with the self-control, the love and the death. Farmer tells her own story from the Valmont's sentence ("it's beyond my control") : that of a woman who kills her unfaithful lover after a night of love.[2] [5]

[edit] Music video

Mylène Farmer biting Frédéric Lagache, her lover in the video "Beyond My Control".
Mylène Farmer biting Frédéric Lagache, her lover in the video "Beyond My Control".

The video was directed by Laurent Boutonnat who also wrote the screenplay based on the book "Les Liaisons dangereuses", by Choderlos de Laclos.[6] It was his last video for Farmer before that of "Les Mots", nine years after. The video was shot for two days at Studio Sets in Stains (where the video of "Plus grandir" was already shot in 1985) and cost about only 45,000 euros (the budget was limited because the film Giorgino was in preparation). This Requiem Publishing and Heathcliff SA production features Farmer, Frédéric Lagache, who was the puppeteer in the video of "Sans contrefaçon" and who there plays her flighty lover, and Christophe Danchaud, a dancer of Farmer's tours, who replaces this one for the bare scenes.[7]

In the video, Farmer, tied on an ignited pyre, tries to struggle. Then she kisses for a long time her lover in torrid scenes, and then, wearing a long and wide dress, she walks on embers, with hands full of blood, while singing. These three scenes continue to intersecting until the end of the video. Then Farmer enters a home and surprises her lover making love with a fair-haired woman. The scenes are very erotic. Farmer bites her lover in the shoulder and some blood trickles along his back ; they kiss and some blood flows from their mouths. Two wolves voraciously tear apart the body of a dead man.[8]

The video, with many explicit scenes of sex and violence, was censored from its release, making a great to-do in the mass media which published many controversial images.[9] Michel Drucker categorically refused to air it in his show on France 2, M6 decided to bill it in full version only after midnight, Canal + agreed to broadcast it in the show Top 50, where the programmer confessed she didn't find the video so shocking ; as for the channel MCM, it asked advice of its TV viewers who had voted for or against.[10]

[edit] Chart performances

In France, the single started at number 10 on May 9. It reached it highest position, number 8, twice : on May 16 and June 6. It left the Top 50 after only 11 weeks of attendance.[11] The single peaked at number 10 on the Belgian (Wallonia) Ultratop Singles Chart. Thus, its running and sales were disappointing in comparison with the three other singles from L'Autre....

[edit] Formats and track listings

7" single - France

A-side :

  1. "Beyond My Control" (single mix)

B-side :

  1. "Beyond My Control" (ya ya version)
CD single - France
  1. "Beyond My Control" (single mix)
  2. "Beyond My Control" (ya ya version)
12" maxi - France

A-side :

  1. "Beyond My Control" (godforsaken mix)

B-side :

  1. "Beyond My Control" (under control remix)
  2. "Beyond My Control" (raven mix)
CD maxi - France
  1. "Beyond My Control" (single mix)
  2. "Beyond My Control" (godforsaken mix)
  3. "Beyond My Control" (under control remix)
  4. "Beyond My Control" (raven mix)
Cassette - France

A-side :

  1. "Beyond My Control" (single mix)
  2. "Beyond My Control" (ya ya version)

B-side :

  1. "Beyond My Control" (single mix)
  2. "Beyond My Control" (ya ya version)
Digital download
  1. "Beyond My Control" (album version) (5:20)
  2. "Beyond My Control" (2000 live version) (5:18)
  3. "Beyond My Control" (godforsaken mix) (8:03)
12" maxi - Promo - Picture disc - France

A-side :

  1. "Beyond My Control" (single mix)

B-side :

  1. "Beyond My Control" (ya ya version)
CD single - Promo - France
  1. "Beyond My Control" (single mix)
  2. "Beyond My Control" (ya ya version)
7" single - Germany

A-side :

  1. "Beyond My Control" (single mix)

B-side :

  1. "Beyond My Control" (ya ya version)
12" maxi - Germany

A-side :

  1. "Beyond My Control" (godforsaken mix)

B-side :

  1. "Beyond My Control" (under control remix)
  2. "Beyond My Control" (raven mix)
CD maxi - Europe
  1. "Beyond My Control" (godforsaken mix)
  2. "Beyond My Control" (under control remix)
  3. "Beyond My Control" (raven mix)
CD single - Promo - Without case - Canada
  1. "Beyond My Control" (album version)
  2. "Beyond My Control" (single mix)
  3. "Beyond My Control" (godforsaken mix)
  4. "Beyond My Control" (under control remix)
  5. "Beyond My Control" (raven mix)

[edit] Versions

Official versions
Version Length Album Remixed by Year Comment[12]
Album version 5:20 L'Autre... 1991 See the previous sections
Single version 4:45 Laurent Boutonnat 1992 This version is shorter because the last refrain is delated. A guitar has been added to add dance sonorities. Unlike the album version, the song ends with a musical passage added.
Single version 2 5:05 Laurent Boutonnat 1991 This version is shorter because the last refrain is delated. It ends with John Malkovich's voice.
Single mix 5:24 Les Mots Laurent Boutonnat 1992 Guitar riffs were added.
Ya ya version 4:40 Laurent Boutonnat 1992 This is an instrumental version punctuated by the onomatopoeia "Ya ya" sung by Farmer, and the phrase "It's beyond my control" repeated by Malkovitch.
Ya ya single version 5:24 Laurent Boutonnat 1992 It is the same version as the 'Ya Ya Version', but longer. The last "It's beyond my control", by Malkovich, is totally distorted.
Godforsaken mix 8:03 Dance Remixes Laurent Boutonnat 1992 In this version, the introduction (about 2:00) is composed of guitar riffs, Malkovitch's voice, the word "Lâche" repeated by Farmer and a cry of a man.
Under control remix 7:09 Laurent Boutonnat 1992 The introduction, almost entirely instrumental, lasts four minutes. Then, the refrain is sung five times.
The raven mix 6:02 Laurent Boutonnat 1992 It is an instrumental version, but with the voice of Malkovitch. A completely distorted cry can be heard at about the end of the song.
Live version (recorded in 2000) 5:00 Mylenium Tour 2000 This version is similar to that of the album, but Malkovich's voice is replaced. See Mylenium Tour
Unofficial mentionable fan remixes[13]
  • Trance remix (5:17)

[edit] Credits and personnel

[edit] Charts, certifications and sales

Chart (1991-1992) Peak
position
Belgian (Wallonia) Singles Chart 10
French Singles Chart[11] 8
Country Certification Sales
France No 200,000

[edit] References

  1. ^ L'Intégrale Mylene Farmer, Erwan Chuberre, 2007, City Ed., p. 62-63 (ISBN 978-2-35288-108-7)
  2. ^ a b Le Dictionnaire des Chansons de Mylène Farmer, Benoît Cachin, 2006, Tournon Ed., p. 52-57
  3. ^ "Beyond My Control" Sans-logique (Retrieved January 12, 2008)
  4. ^ a b "Beyond My Control", L'histoire de la chanson : La première chanson scandale Mylenefarmeriscalled.net (Retrieved January 12, 2008)
  5. ^ Mylène Farmer Influences, Benoît Cachin, 2006, Mascara Ed., p. 22,23 (ISBN 978-2351440261)
  6. ^ Télé Poche, May 20, 1992, "Les Liaisons dangereuses de Mylène Farmer", Daniel Beaucourt Devant-soi.com (Retrieved March 26, 2008)
  7. ^ "Beyond My Control", videoclip Mylenefarmeriscalled.net (Retrieved January 12, 2008)
  8. ^ "Beyond My Control", music video Jukebo.fr (Retrieved May 15, 2008)
  9. ^ France Soir, June 13, 1992, "Le clip scandale de Mylène Farmer", Florence tredez Devant-soi.com (Retrieved March 27, 2008)
  10. ^ Instant-Mag, No. 6, 2001, p. 10
  11. ^ a b "Beyond My Control", French Singles Chart Lescharts.com (Retrieved January 6, 2008)
  12. ^ Le Dictionnaire des Chansons de Mylène Farmer, Benoît Cachin, 2006, Tournon Ed., p. 136-140
  13. ^ Mentionable fan remixes Libnet.wuggleworld.com (Retrieved January 11, 2008)
Languages