elle me dit Elle me dit - Song and Lyrics Discussion

[Roxy♥Mika♥]

I honestly love this song, I love how even in another language he still manages to bring all of his energy and personality like in the songs before. He's simply amazing!!!

[CrazyChloe15]

I love Elle Me Dit so much :')

[CrazyChloe15]

 

EMD is currently at No10 on the French i-tunes chart.

http://www.apple.com/euro/itunes/charts/top10songs.html

 

Thats amazing news! Thanks for posting!

[Marilyn Mastin]

 

EMD is currently at No10 on the French i-tunes chart.

http://www.apple.com/euro/itunes/charts/top10songs.html

That's great! Maybe, if it is a hit in other countries where it is released, they'll release it in the UK. I do understand why they might not have thought to release it here, as the other 3 singles flopped, and they wouldn't risk another one doing badly. But hopefully, if it is a hit (which it is already) in the countries where it is released, his record company might reconsider releasing it in the UK. I hope so anyway.

If it is, I hope it gets decent radio play. I certainly blame the lack of radio play for the falure of KA, which ought to have been a huge hit, and would have been if someone like Robbie Williams had recorded it, because it would never have been off the radio.

[egita]

 

EMD is currently at No10 on the French i-tunes chart.

http://www.apple.com/euro/itunes/charts/top10songs.html

 

woow... thats great...!

[Christine]

But hopefully, if it is a hit (which it is already) in the countries where it is released, his record company might reconsider releasing it in the UK. I hope so anyway.

 

Marilyn I am going to steal Silver's wet blanket here and say that I think that a French song would not only not get any airplay in the UK but it would actually be detrimental to his reputation to be seen as turning into a "French singer".

 

I only lived in the UK for a few years so maybe I'm not gauging things right but all the anglophones I know - British, Canadian, American - are not interested in non-English pop music and I think there is a special animosity between the French/English in Canada and the UK that goes beyond a general lack of interest in all things "foreign". English Canadians do not even listen to their own francophone stars singing in French, like Celine Dion. Only her English songs make it to English radio. I think unless a song is really gimmicky like the Macarena it doesn't have a hope of being played on English pop radio.

 

Hopefully Mika is planning to come back with guns blazing with an English single in the next 6 months and make an impact on UK radio then.

[Christine]

I have refrained from voting until today so I can finally say "I LOVE IT!"

[suzie]

I have refrained from voting until today so I can finally say "I LOVE IT!"

 

I also refrained from voting until today and I clicked "it's good" but now I regret it as I should have clicked "it's great" - compared to the other songs

It think it is the other French song that is merely good (more neutral) and BIOTW is ....undefinable...

[Jaya]

 

EMD is currently at No10 on the French i-tunes chart.

http://www.apple.com/euro/itunes/charts/top10songs.html

 

thanks for posting.

[Christine]

I also refrained from voting until today and I clicked "it's good" but now I regret it as I should have clicked "it's great" - compared to the other songs

 

Well I am not sure I class it as a "great" song really. But I do love it

[suzie]

Well I am not sure I class it as a "great" song really. But I do love it

 

yes, I thought of putting 'great' as the one between 'good' and 'I love it' as I considered this poll to represent a scale... True it does not really make sense that way. I would have used different options to choose from, something like

 

'I switch it off as soon as I hear it'

'I don't understand French so it is irrelevant to me'

'It's a good song but not my type'

'I love to sing it in the bathroom'

'My neighbours keep banging on my door to turn the volume down'

[Christine]

Yes I am worried about my neighbours because I have my doors wide open

[Droopsy]

Marilyn I am going to steal Silver's wet blanket here and say that I think that a French song would not only not get any airplay in the UK but it would actually be detrimental to his reputation to be seen as turning into a "French singer".

 

I only lived in the UK for a few years so maybe I'm not gauging things right but all the anglophones I know - British, Canadian, American - are not interested in non-English pop music and I think there is a special animosity between the French/English in Canada and the UK that goes beyond a general lack of interest in all things "foreign". English Canadians do not even listen to their own francophone stars singing in French, like Celine Dion. Only her English songs make it to English radio. I think unless a song is really gimmicky like the Macarena it doesn't have a hope of being played on English pop radio.

 

Hopefully Mika is planning to come back with guns blazing with an English single in the next 6 months and make an impact on UK radio then.

 

Quite sad actually, there's so much great non-English music.

I'm open to all kinds of languages and music, and very happy with that

 

 

Anyway, good news about itunes

[ilseh1983]

Quite sad actually, there's so much great non-English music.

I'm open to all kinds of languages and music, and very happy with that

 

 

Anyway, good news about itunes

 

 

good news about itunes? you mean the french one?

[Christine]

Every decade or so, some non-English song hits HUGE in the states, usually because of a catchy melody that makes people giddy, like Elle Me Dit has the strong potential to do.

 

I know but it is very very rare and I think these exceptions prove the rule. It is almost always gimmicky and/or related to a movie. The only time I felt like foreign pop music penetrated in Canada for real was with 99 Luftballons and a couple of other German songs in the 80s. But even then there were English versions that dominated the originals for radio and video airplay.

 

What works or doesn't work on radio or with the public is pretty random and unpredictable. One of my favourite Canadian bands slogged away for 10 years before having a US #1 single for a song that wasn't even one of their best IMO. You don't know when someone is going to break or why.

 

But in any case I don't think his UK record company is going to pursue it even if it does okay in a couple of European countries.

[Christine]

Quite sad actually, there's so much great non-English music.

I'm open to all kinds of languages and music, and very happy with that

 

I think there is just so much out there in English that people are too lazy. Personally I am just not crazy about the style of most of the non-English pop I hear and it has nothing to do with the language. I will happily listen to opera in Italian but Italian pop songs are just not my taste.

 

But if you take films for example, where there are many great non-English films out there by any standard, it takes a lot of hype and praise surrounding a movie to get English people to go to the bother of reading subtitles because they have so many other easy choices.

 

Music can transcend language and convey emotions without words, but I think this is not quite as easy with pop as some other types of music. I would get nothing from "Karen" without understanding the lyrics for example.

[ilseh1983]

I think there is just so much out there in English that people are too lazy. Personally I am just not crazy about the style of most of the non-English pop I hear and it has nothing to do with the language. I will happily listen to opera in Italian but Italian pop songs are just not my taste.

 

But if you take films for example, where there are many great non-English films out there by any standard, it takes a lot of hype and praise surrounding a movie to get English people to go to the bother of reading subtitles because they have so many other easy choices.

 

Music can transcend language and convey emotions without words, but I think this is not quite as easy with pop as some other types of music. I would get nothing from "Karen" without understanding the lyrics for example.

 

i think these kinds of things might also have to do with what one grew up with. like here we hear english, dutch, french, german, italian,... songs from when being little. so i think that also might have to do with if people are rather to accept songs in other language..

 

hmm don't know if i' made myself clear, as i don't find the right words in english to say exactly what i mean

[Christine]

hmm don't know if i' made myself clear, as i don't find the right words in english to say exactly what i mean

 

Yes I know exactly what you mean. Canada is very multicultural but our media is dominated by American influences and that's what children are exposed to the most as they are growing up. The only thing that can penetrate that is British stuff because the Brits are also English speakers and British culture is more similar to Canadian culture in some ways.

 

I think the most popular music here from non-English artists has come from countries like Sweden and Germany and there is a strong Spanish influence in the US from the Hispanic population. But it still comes in the form of English lyrics more often than not. Abba, Nena, Julio Iglesias, Ricky Martin, Shakira, etc.

[Soaring Simpson]

Marilyn I am going to steal Silver's wet blanket here and say that I think that a French song would not only not get any airplay in the UK but it would actually be detrimental to his reputation to be seen as turning into a "French singer".

 

I only lived in the UK for a few years so maybe I'm not gauging things right but all the anglophones I know - British, Canadian, American - are not interested in non-English pop music and I think there is a special animosity between the French/English in Canada and the UK that goes beyond a general lack of interest in all things "foreign". English Canadians do not even listen to their own francophone stars singing in French, like Celine Dion. Only her English songs make it to English radio. I think unless a song is really gimmicky like the Macarena it doesn't have a hope of being played on English pop radio.

 

Hopefully Mika is planning to come back with guns blazing with an English single in the next 6 months and make an impact on UK radio then.

 

I think English radio could maybe take to a really fantastic song in French- so long as the singer was singiing in THEIR first language. People who have one hit here then make a good career abroad rank lower than one hit wonders so far as most people are concerned.

[Christine]

I think English radio could maybe take to a really fantastic song in French- so long as the singer was singiing in THEIR first language. People who have one hit here then make a good career abroad rank lower than one hit wonders so far as most people are concerned.

 

Yes I agree with that. I'm sure most people in the UK have no idea that Mika even speaks French and there would be a big WTF??? if he starts releasing French songs suddenly. I mean some of us can hardly believe it

[basicamenteyo]

Honestly, I´d love Mika to be the new Michael Jackson and to rock the world... but if I´m asked, no, I don´t want the whole world to know Mika for a song like EMD. I like it, but it could make Mika sound as a "normal" popstar who writes catchy mellodies. Mika has masterpieces and I´m sure he´ll had a couple or three of them in the next album. I would wait for it to make a number one...

[Marilyn Mastin]

Marilyn I am going to steal Silver's wet blanket here and say that I think that a French song would not only not get any airplay in the UK but it would actually be detrimental to his reputation to be seen as turning into a "French singer".

 

I only lived in the UK for a few years so maybe I'm not gauging things right but all the anglophones I know - British, Canadian, American - are not interested in non-English pop music and I think there is a special animosity between the French/English in Canada and the UK that goes beyond a general lack of interest in all things "foreign". English Canadians do not even listen to their own francophone stars singing in French, like Celine Dion. Only her English songs make it to English radio. I think unless a song is really gimmicky like the Macarena it doesn't have a hope of being played on English pop radio.

 

Hopefully Mika is planning to come back with guns blazing with an English single in the next 6 months and make an impact on UK radio then.

Yes you are probably right. I supose we have to just think of EMD as something extra. It's made us have something to talk about after all the lean months anyway.

Hopefully, he will come back to the UK with something spectacular. Let's hope so.

[ChloeBaybee]

*listening to elle me dit*

me: dadadada elle me dit uuhhhh dance dance dance uuuhhh

[Zak110695]

I just read through the English translation of the lyrics and I noticed that the song is very repetitive and simple, unlike other Mika songs. It does a deep story through it though.

[cathouzouf]

Marilyn I am going to steal Silver's wet blanket here and say that I think that a French song would not only not get any airplay in the UK but it would actually be detrimental to his reputation to be seen as turning into a "French singer".

 

I only lived in the UK for a few years so maybe I'm not gauging things right but all the anglophones I know - British, Canadian, American - are not interested in non-English pop music and I think there is a special animosity between the French/English in Canada and the UK that goes beyond a general lack of interest in all things "foreign". English Canadians do not even listen to their own francophone stars singing in French, like Celine Dion. Only her English songs make it to English radio. I think unless a song is really gimmicky like the Macarena it doesn't have a hope of being played on English pop radio.

 

Hopefully Mika is planning to come back with guns blazing with an English single in the next 6 months and make an impact on UK radio then.

 

Of course, 2 centuries of fighting for the same territories might have left some scars:mf_rosetinted:

 

But it doesn,t prevent us from listening to music, no matter what language it's in. It's probably a reflex from a minority. You need to open yourself to other to be accepted.

 

Like I said before, in Montreal, it's not strange to have someone who sings in different languages (and I'm not referring to Celine Dion) as long as the music is good, we'll enjoy it:biggrin2: