Peut-être toi

"Peut-être toi" (English: "Maybe You") is a 2005 song recorded by the French artist Mylène Farmer. It was the fifth single from her sixth studio album, Avant que l'ombre..., and was released on 21 August 2006. The music video was produced as an animated feature and the lyrics deals with a love relationship. It was a top three hit in France, but its sales were rather modest.

"Peut-être toi"
Single by Mylène Farmer
from the album Avant que l'ombre...
B-side
  • Instrumental (CD single)
  • Remixes (CD maxi)
Released21 August 2006
Recorded2005, France
GenreDance-pop, house
Length3:40 (single version)
3:45 (radio edit)
4:55 (album version)
LabelPolydor
Songwriter(s)Lyrics: Mylène Farmer
Music: Laurent Boutonnat
Producer(s)Laurent Boutonnat
Mylène Farmer singles chronology
"L'amour n'est rien..."
(2006)		 "Peut-être toi"
(2006)		 "Slipping Away (Crier la vie)"
(2006)
Alternative cover
CD maxi
Peut-etre Toi
Directed byNaoko Kusumi
Music byMylène Farmer
Production
company
Release date
  • July 15, 2006 (2006-07-15)
Running time
7 minutes
CountryJapan

Background and release

In May 2005, the fans were disappointed when "Q.I" was chosen as the second single, as "Peut-être toi" was already broadcast on radio and then seemed to be a next single.[1] Later, as of 22 May 2006, a rumor announced "Dans les rues de Londres" as the fifth single from the album.[2] However, on 16 June 2006, it was officially announced that "Peut-être toi" would be the fifth and last single from Avant que l'ombre....

The song was broadcast for the first time in its radio edit version on 19 June on NRJ. On 26 June, the first remix, called the Miss Farmer's remix, was presented but not played. On 6 July, both versions - the radio edit and the Miss Farmer's remix - were available on digital download websites. Twenty-one days later, the second remix - Cox's remix -, was officially announced. The single was eventually released on 21 August, in three limited editions: CD single, CD maxi et 12" vinyl.[3] The first remix was produced by Bionix, who also produced one of them for "L'amour n'est rien...", and the two others were made by Chris Cox who also remixed "Désenchantée" and "Q.I".[4]

"Peut-être toi" was performed during the 2006 Farmer's tour as the first song of the concert, and thus it is available on the live album Avant que l'ombre... à Bercy.

Lyrics and music

The author Benoît Cachin said the song's lyrics are optimistic, which is very rare in Farmer's career. In the refrain, the singer explains to her lover that he should prevent her from speaking "if her dark universe exceeded her love". The song is punctuated with several "Shut up" sung by Farmer and has dance and electro sonorities.[1][4] The psychologist Hugues Royer believes that in this song, "there is some caution in the declaration [of love], a decency to say the passion that could be extinguished", which is expressed by the "Shut Up" in the chorus. Love is not seen as being eternal and is only related to the present. It seals the pact of "a requirement of absolute sincerity" in which no error must be committed by one of the lovers, and no routine must appear.[5]

Music video

The music video was produced as an anime by Production I.G, a famous Japanese anime company and was written by Katsuhiro Ôtomo after a strip cartoon by Osamu Tezuka, and was directed by Kusumi Naoko, Kazuchika Kise and Shuichi Hirata.[6] It was originally intended to illustrate "Fuck Them All",[7] as the booklet of Music Video IV proves it, indicating that the video was produced in 2005.[8]

On 7 July 2006, the music video was presented by Universal in a twenty-second version on mobile phone, and in its full version by Orange, the day after. Then it was also presented on several websites : on Yahoo Music five days after, and on Orange website, on 21 July.[3] This anime video depicts Farmer as a young and sexy woman with the bun she wore during her second series of concerts tour in 1996. Author Erwan Chuberre considered that the video was "certainly the most innovative one of the year."[9] As the video ends with the death of two lovers who perish when entwined, pierced by an arrow, Royer said that the message of this video is the same as in the story of Romeo and Juliet, i.e. only death can guarantee the eternity of love.[5] Major themes of the video are rebellion and love.[10]

The video, presented on television on 19 July 2006, was the most broadcast of those from the album Avant que l'ombre.... It was also available as download on iTunes on 29 July.[3] During a musical programme named Les 100 Meilleurs Clips du XXIè siècle aired on MCM on 25 February 2007, this video reached number four (behind those of "Fuck Them All" at number one, and "Redonne-moi" at number three) thanks to the voters of the television viewers.[11] On the Yahoo Music France site, the video was awarded "Best Animated Clip 2006".[6]

Promotion and live performances

"Peut-être toi" was never performed on television, but was the opening song of the 2006 series of concerts. It began with a huge "Shut up!", then a cylindrical glass coffin suspended in the airs in which the singer was locked up appeared, went down to the central cross-shaped stage. Six men dressed in black moved it to the center of the stage and placed it on a pedestal. It bowed upright and opened. While the whole stage was then illuminated in red, Farmer, dressed in light brown, came out of it and began to perform the song, starting with the first verse, instead of the refrain.[12]

Chart performances

The single obtained its highest position in France where it debuted at number three on 26 August, selling a peak of 18,144 units.[13] The next weeks, it dropped and remained for a total of nine weeks in top 50 and 15 weeks on the chart.[14] According to the SNEP, "Peut-être toi" was the 97th best-selling singles from the first nine months of 2006.[15]

The single went to number 24 on Belgian (Wallonia) Ultratop 40 Single Chart on 2 September, and jumped to a peak of number 12 the week after, then dropped. It fell off the chart after seven weeks.[16] In Switzerland, "Peut-être toi" peaked at number 34 in the first week, on 3 September. Then, it crumbled very quickly and remained in the top 100 for seven weeks.[17]

Formats and track listings

These are the formats and track listings of single releases of "Peut-être toi":[18]

Release history
Date[18]LabelRegionFormatCatalog
26 June 2006 Polydor France, Belgium, Switzerland CD single - Promo 11 233
July 2006 7" maxi - Promo 11 234
21 August 2006 7" maxi 984 206-8
CD single 984 206-9
CD maxi 984 207-0

Official versions
Version[19]LengthAlbumRemixed byYearComment[3][4]
Album version 4:55 Avant que l'ombre... — 2005 See the previous sections
Single version / Radio edit 3:45 — Laurent Boutonnat 2006 This remixed version is shorter, more dynamic and with additional sonorities (sounds of bells, more synthesizers and drum) than the album version.
Instrumental 3:46 — Laurent Boutonnat 2006 All the lyrics, even the "Shut up" in the vocals, are deleted.
Miss Farmer's remix 4:10 — The Bionix 2006 This remix had R&B sonorities and some "Shut the fuck up" repeated throughout the song.
Cox's remix - club mix 6:58 — Chris Cox 2006
Full vocal Cox's remix 8:46 — Chris Cox 2006
Music video 4:19 Music Videos IV — 2006
Live version
(recorded in 2006)		 3:27 (audio)
3:22 (video)		 Avant que l'ombre... à Bercy — 2006 See Avant que l'ombre... à Bercy (tour)

Credits and personnel

These are the credits and the personnel as they appear on the back of the single:[18][20]

Charts and sales

References
  • Cachin, Benoît (2006). Le Dictionnaire des Chansons de Mylène Farmer (in French). Tournon. ISBN 2-35144-000-5.
  • Chuberre, Erwan (2007). L'Intégrale Mylène Farmer (in French). City. ISBN 978-2-35288-108-7.
  • Chuberre, Erwan (2008). Mylène Farmer, phénoménale (in French). City. ISBN 978-2-35288-176-6.
  • Chuberre, Erwan (18 June 2009). Mylène Farmer : Des mots sur nos désirs (in French). Alphée. ISBN 2-7538-0477-X.
  • Khairallah, Sophie (2007). Mylène Farmer, le culte - L'envers du décor (in French). Why Not. ISBN 2-916611-25-8.
  • Royer, Hugues (2008). Mylène, biographie (in French). Spain: Flammarion. ISBN 978-2-35287-139-2.

Notes
  1. Cachin, 2006, p. 195.
  2. Chuberre, 2007, p. 246.
  3. "Mylène Farmer - "Peut-être toi" - Histoire du single" (in French). Mylene.net. Retrieved 17 December 2007.
  4. Rigal, 2010, pp. 157-59.
  5. Royer, 2008, pp. 284-85.
  6. "Mylène Farmer "Peut-être toi" - Clip" (in French). Mylene.net. Retrieved 21 July 2010.
  7. Lagrange, Clément (February 2008). "Mylène Farmer, l'icône". Jukebox (in French). 253: 10. Archived from the original on 16 October 2011. Retrieved 1 May 2011.
  8. Khairallah, 2007, p. 44.
  9. Chuberre, 2008, p. 282.
  10. Chuberre, 2009, p. 208.
  11. "Mylène Farmer, rétrospective 2007" (in French). Mylene.net. Retrieved 11 January 2008.
  12. Rigal, Julien. "Avant que l'ombre... à Bercy (2006) - Description du live" (in French). Sans-logique. Archived from the original on 1 November 2012. Retrieved 6 July 2010.
  13. "Mylène Farmer "Peut-être toi" - Classements" (in French). Mylene.net. Retrieved 21 July 2010.
  14. ""Peut-être toi", French Singles Chart" (in French). Lescharts. Retrieved 17 December 2007.
  15. "Best-selling singles from 01.01.06 to 30.09.06" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Archived from the original on 18 December 2007. Retrieved 20 December 2007.
  16. ""Peut-être toi", Belgian (Wallonia) Singles Chart" (in French). Ultratop. Retrieved 3 January 2007.
  17. ""Peut-être toi", Swiss Singles Chart" (in German). Hitparade. Retrieved 17 December 2007.
  18. "Mylène Farmer - "Peut-être toi" - Supports" (in French). Mylene.net. Retrieved 2 March 2010.
  19. "Mylène Farmer - "Peut-être toi" - Versions" (in French). Mylene.net. Retrieved 21 July 2010.
  20. "Mylène Farmer - "Peut-être toi" - Crédits" (in French). Mylene.net. Retrieved 3 April 2010.
  21. Royer, 2008, p. 368.
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