L'Instant X
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| “L'Instant X” | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Single by Mylène Farmer from the album Anamorphosée |
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| Released | December 12, 1995 (single version) January 21, 2004 (One-T version) |
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| Format | CD single CD maxi 12" single Digital download (since 2005) |
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| Recorded | 1995, Los Angeles | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Genre | Pop | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Length | 4:10 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Label | Polydor | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Writer(s) | Text : Mylène Farmer Music : Laurent Boutonnat |
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| Producer | Laurent Boutonnat | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mylène Farmer singles chronology | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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"L'Instant X" is a 1995 song recorded by the French artist Mylène Farmer. Second single from her fourth album Anamorphosée, it was released on December 12, 1995.
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[edit] Backgroung and writing
The name of the song comes from an expression of the first verse ; as for the chorus, it covers in its own way Tino Rossi's Christmas song "Petit Papa Noël". Indeed, in it, Farmer scans, in jerky syllabes, "Papa Noël, quand tu descendras du ciel...[1]"
For the first time in Farmer's career, all the remixes on the media (CD single, CD maxi, vinyl) were not produced only by Boutonnat's team : indeed, while two of them were made by Laurent Boutonnat and Bertrand Châtenet, the two others, with techno and dance sounds, were produced by Ramon Zenker. The second track on the CD single is a remixed version of "Alice", a song from Anamorphosée, with jazz sonorities.
"L'Instant X" was performed during the 1996 Tour. The song was remixed by One-T for the compilation RemixeS ; this version was even released as 7" maxi on January 21, 2004. It was thus the third single from RemixeS - after "Sans contrefaçon" and "Je t'aime mélancolie" - and was the more broadcast on radio.
[edit] Lyrics and music
In the song, Farmer evokes with humour and irony the year 2000 in which many people get lost in conjecture. She says that this year will bring much joy. She also refers to a song by the rock group U2, "Sunday Bloody Sunday" (in the phrase "Bloody lundi"), addressed in the refrain to the Father Christmas comparing him to the Messiah, uses a quote from André Malraux ("le XXIè siècle sera spirituel ou ne sera pas"), cites the women's magazine Elle, the River Styx in the Greek mythology, and the antidepressant Prozac (but in verlan).[2]
[edit] Music video
.jpg/220px-L'Instant_X_(video).jpg)
Like "XXL", the video was made by Marcus Nispel, who also wrote the screenplay. This Requiem Publishing production was shot in Los Angeles and New York for three days (one for Farmer, the two others for the extras) and cost about 80,000 euros. In addition to the version broadcast on television, there was another video of "Instant X" that was in fact the first editing containing only Farmer's unpublished shots. Some video's photos were touched up by an American rock group that used them as cover of its album. The small towel worn by Farmer in the video has been made by the French fashion designer Jean-Paul Gaultier.[3]
In this video, Farmer plays in the foam while she's lying on a cloud. The city of New York, which is under this cloud, is in turn covered with foam.[4]
This video shows the end of the world, but was not much appreciated by the Farmer's fans. About the video, the singer said : "I wanted to retrace one day we can have, where everything goes wrong. It is a concentration of events as soon as we get up... and everything goes wrong again ! And we expect that time and it often happens that in a day or, or in a month, at a time when all things come to concentrate a bit like a puzzle, and this is when all this time redounds upwards rather than downwards".[5]
It was first broadcast on television on December 17, 1995, in the French show Déjà le retour, but in a different version in which only the singer appears.[2]
According to Instant-Mag, the foam in which Farmer rolls could be a symbol of the orgasm, as it is in French literature.[6]
[edit] TV performances
At the end of 1995, Farmer featured in two TV shows in order to promote the song, but without singing it ; she was only interviewed in Studio Gabriel (December 14, France 2) in which she announced her next tour, and in Déjà le retour (December 17, France 2). She also performed "L'instant X" on two other programs : Le Bêtisier du samedi soir, (January 13, 1996, France 2), and Top aux Carpentier (March 9, 1996, TF1).[7] At these occasion, Farmer kissed on the mouth her two female dancers during the musical bridge.[8] [9]
[edit] Chart performances
In France, the single debuted at number 9 in the Top 50 on December 16, 1995, and fell the three following weeks. However, it reached again the Top 10 on January 20 peaking at 6, and remained in the Top 10 for a total of 8 weeks. It left the chart on April 27, 1996, after 20 weeks of attendance. "L'Instant X" was the best-selling single, with the longest running, from Anamorphosée.[10] The song was ranked #67 on the End of the Year Chart.[11]
The single remained on the Belgian Ultratop 40 Singles Chart for 21 weeks (January 1 - May 18, and June 6). Its reached its peak position, number 12, on February 17 and March 30. "L'Instant X" was the second longest running single of Farmer in Belgium, behind "Slipping Away (Crier la vie)" (24 weeks).[12] It was the 49th best-selling single of 1996 in Belgium.[13]
In 2004, the remixed version by One-T was aired in Russia.[14]
[edit] Cover
The song was covered by Michał Kwiatkowski and Sofia Essaïdi, on October 30, 2003, in the show Star Academy France, but this version was not released as a single.[2]
[edit] Formats and track listings
A-side :
B-side :
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[edit] Versions
- Official versions
| Version | Length | Album | Remixed by | Year | Comment[2] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Album version | 4:45 | Anamorphosée | 1995 | See the previous sections | |
| Single Version | 4:10 | Laurent Boutonnat | 1995 | This version is shorter than the album one, with a fade-out end. | |
| Santa's hard re-x-mix | 6:05 | Laurent Boutonnat | 1995 | Laughs can be heard at the beginning. Bell sounds were deleted. Only chorus and the first verse are retained in this version. | |
| Ramon Zenker groove trop re-mix | 5:24 | Ramon Zenker | 1995 | This is an electronic version which contains all the lyrics. | |
| Ramon Zenker club dub re-mix | 5:35 | Ramon Zenker | 1995 | This is a dance version which contains only "C'est l'instant X" and "Papa" as lyrics. | |
| Have an Instant X mix | 7:10 | Laurent Boutonnat | 1995 | This is the more dance remix of the song. There are many laughs and bell sounds. | |
| Live version (recorded in 1996) | 9:41 | Live à Bercy | 1996 | See 1996 Tour | |
| Album version | 4:45 | Les Mots | Laurent Boutonnat | 2001 | The last guitar riff is deleted. |
| The X key mix | 3:43 | RemixeS | One-T | 2003 | This version adds different noises, including the sound of a revolver when Farmer is singing "Humeur killer". |
[edit] "Alice"
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Please help improve this section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion. |
[edit] Credits and personnel
- Text : Mylène Farmer
- Music : Laurent Boutonnat
- Editions : Requiem Publishing
- Recording company : Polydor
- Photography : Herb Ritts
- Design : Com'N.B
[edit] Charts, certifications and sales
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[edit] References
- ^ Elia Habib, Muz hit. tubes, p. 340 (ISBN 2-9518832-0-X)
- ^ a b c d Le Dictionnaire des Chansons de Mylène Farmer, Benoît Cachin, 2006, Tournon Ed., p. 130-134
- ^ "L'Instant X", videoclip Mylenefarmeriscalled.net (Retrieved January 9, 2008)
- ^ "L'Instant X", videoclip Sans-logique.com (Retrieved January 9, 2008)
- ^ Interview of Mylène Farmer, on Paris Première, by Paul Amar, 1996 Dailymotion.com (Retrieved January 15, 2008)
- ^ Instant-Mag, No. 7, 2001, p. 6
- ^ "L'Instant X" Mylene.net (Retrieved January 9, 2008)
- ^ "L'Instant X", L'histoire de la chanson : le tube de Noël 1995 Mylenefarmeriscalled.net (Retrieved January 9, 2008)
- ^ L'Intégrale Mylene Farmer, Erwan Chuberre, 2007, City Ed., p. 166 (ISBN 978-2-35288-108-7)
- ^ a b "L'Instant X", French SNEP Singles Chart Lescharts.com (December 5, 2007)
- ^ a b 1996 French Singles Chart Disqueenfrance.com (Retrieved April 14, 2008)
- ^ a b "L'Instant X", Belgian (Wallonia) Ultratop 40 Singles Chart Ultratop.be (Retrieved January 3, 2008)
- ^ a b 1996 Belgian Singles Chart Ultratop.be (Retrieved January 21, 2008)
- ^ a b "L'Instant X", by One-T, Russian Airplay Chart Tophit.ru ((Retrieved January 3, 2008)
- ^ Platine, 1996
