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#1
05-24-2007, 08:31 AM
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Homer's analysis of Lui ou Toi
Homer's Analysis of Lui ou Toi
Disclaimer: I am still learning Spanish; I by no means have a mastery of the language so if there are several mistakes in this essay translation please don't stone me  I will correct them.To all those who are not French speaking people this song at first glance can seem a bit cold, and a bit boring. The music is slow, without big effects like in other songs, that can continue to support this impression of coldness, if one does not understand the words. This is without doubt an erroneous impression. Very erroneous. Because, this song contains one of the best songs ever written by Mylène for Alizée, considered by many as the only one that can approach the awesome quality of the words to “Cœur déjà pris” [Heart already taken]. And so, this “monotonous” musicality is absolutely perfect for reflecting the serene sadness and the romantic infidelity of a woman that neither dares nor chooses between two lovers, because one complements the other, and the union of the two constitutes a perfect love. This is a precious love song, that describes Alizée’s mental confusion of dividing her love between two men, who are completely different from each other. Doing this somewhat differently than “Moi…Lolita” [Me…Lolita], composed before Mylène Farmer and Laurent Boutonnat knew Alizée, the remainder of the songs on the disc Gourmandises [Delicacies] were written based on the personal experiences of Alizée, and “Lui ou Toi” [Him or You] is one of them, one that reflects a true love story of Alizée, preciously rare. In French “IL” means “ÉL” [HE], while “LUI” also means “ÉL” [HE], which gives us a serious problem to translate this song into Spanish, because if we were to say continually “él…él…él” [he…he…he…] etc. we would not be alerted to the divided love because it would seem that we are talking about the same person. For this reason, let’s avoid a literal translation and in order to make this song more understandable, I translate “IL” [HE] by “the one” and “LUI” [HIM] by “the other”, like I already said at the end of the first paragraph of this translation, they are completely different, “the one” from “the other”. Like I have already said, this song (I repeat: autobiographical) shows our darling’s difficult decision between two men, very different from each other, and it seems that “IL” (the one) is more inflexible, more childish, more fun, and a “party” boy, while “LUI” (the other) is more mature, it seems, a lot older than her, more wise, more serious, and more accomplished. Maybe “IL” and “LUI” are references to the real names of the two, but we cannot know anymore than this. On this other hand, this song is called “Lui ou Toi” (Him or You), and not “He or Him”, which means that (in my humble opinion) that this song reflects a real conversation maintained by Alizée to one of the two, which must have meant quite directly that she had to decide between one of them. If we take the title of the song literally, it might give us the impression that that she was speaking with “IL”, the party boy, because she next talked about “LUI”, the serious one, in the third person. Not only this, it seems that for this duality of loves, “IL” has abandoned her, and it is so that the song begins… “Where is HE When he abandons me All of life Is far” Remember that “IL”, the one, is an interesting boy, which will become apparent in the rest of the song, is he who gives life to Alizée, this is the reason why when he abandons her she distances herself from life. It gives the impression that “IL” offers her the passionate and interesting side of life. “Where is HIM I love his manly voice Without him HE is nothing This comes back to ask where is her love, in this case “the other”. It can give the impression of having lost the two, or also something more profound: When “HIM” is lacking in some qualities, we remember that everyone has his strengths and weaknesses, but for her the perfect love would be the sum of the two. In fact, she says it explicitly at the end of this interview. Quote:
“HIM” is older I wear his blue pullover The water of his eyes Is blue, a blue of the Chinese seas Here we clearly appreciate two qualities of “HIM” – he exercises a fatherly and protective relationship with Alizée, symbolized in the fact that she wears his jersey, and he presumably gave it to protect her from the cold. We try with this symbol to declare that “HIM” is very attentive towards her, like someone who cares about her. The second trait is “the water of his eyes”. This could say that he has blue eyes, but given the poetic air of this song I am inclined to think that it is referring to his tears. We already know that “HIM” is more tender, more fatherly, and his tears (before the presumed breakup) will make an impression on Alizée. “HE” is mysterious In his stratosphere Between the two, I wanted Both This shows a quality of “HE”. It seems like he is a rare boy, who lives in a world apart, in the stratosphere (which is colloquially expressed as “being on cloud nine”) but he is an interesting person. While with “HIM” everything seems measured and predictable, with “HE” everything is improvisation. Quite frankly, it results in her being unable to decide between the two, and liking both. This results in her saying “I wanted”, in the past, instead of “I want”, in the present, which makes us suppose that Alizée is not talking about a current love, but of a story that has already passed in another time, but that without a doubt has marked her, to the point that she writes a song about the two. “My heart feels so heavy A thorn is in my throat For not having chosen “HIM” or “YOU” The windows are wood And these assassinating rains That fall deep within me “HIM” or “YOU”…” Spectacular refrain, very poetic, but very hard to translate or interpret for someone like me who does not have a mastering of French, so don’t take my opinion too seriously, because it may have many errors. Quite frankly, I think the idea is clear. It reflects Alizée’s bottomless pain in light of this situation. My heart feels heavy, I have a thorn in my throat (which also can be translated by “a spine stuck in my chest” [probably a Spanish proverb, don’t know ]), and all this because she is aware the situation is unsustainable, she should have chosen one of the two. I think the second part of the refrain can symbolize very bitter tears. The windows (symbolizing the eyes) are made of wood (symbolizing also her weakness), and the rain (without a doubt the tears) that fall in the depths of her soul are quite assassinating, very painful (in reality rain can ravage wooden windows with the passage of time). All this symbolism is referring to Alizée’s weakness. Weakness for not having known how to decide, now it is too late and she regrets this, and weakness for the terrible pain that all this produces. One must underscore that she says “for not having chosen”, which means “for not having made the choice”, which is again in the past. It gives the impression that, she has simply lost both of them because she has chosen neither of the two, here her bitterness, because she had not chosen at the time. I don’t know if this interpretation will be the correct one, but I like this very poetic description.“Where is “HE”? When nobody is there The whole city turns off” We return to the style of the first strophes, where she asks nostalgically for a person she has lost. Now we turn towards “HE”, and she repeats the idea that it is he who gives her life. If before, in his absence, Alizée felt without life, now she feels without light, the light that “HE” gives her. “YOU and HIM My two halves of Man Without them I am Nothing” A perfect description of the situation. Alizée a man that unites the qualities of the two, because each of the two conforms to one half of what would be her ideal man. And she likes both of them the same way. Without them, she is nothing, she feels empty, and only one does not satisfy her. It is the sum of the two that creates the ideal man. ““HIM” is so strong I laugh when he is bored When he is wrong There, I like him still better, he says:” This is the first time in the song Alizée her feelings to us. She clearly prefers “HIM”, the mature one. She is attracted to her strength, but this evidently does not have to be physical strength, but mental and spiritual strength. She loves this strength. She misses the remaining hours with “HE”, the carefree and more timid one, but this doesn’t matter to Alizée. It is more, she is attracted to him, she laughs when he gets bored, which is quite typical in a romantic relationship with a lot of paternalism, “when he is wrong” is translated literally by “when he is not right”, when he is confused. Could this mean that they are in discussion? That “HIM” does not stop giving her advice in this paternalistic desire? Or is this simply a mistake and we have it thanks to Alizée? We would need to know her in person to answer that. During this time, whatever guess we have is exactly this, a guess that already is. But these details of maturity make Alizée like him even more, that she prefers him (literal translation of “I like him more”), and this preference is seen in the entire song. Not already for this explicit declaration of “HIM” in this strophe, but if you notice the “treason” of the subconscious, because in the whole song Alizée is more profuse in details, even more so when she speaks of “HIM”. With “HE” she is less expressive, understanding less things about him, a lot less. “That “HE” is in love Like the water loves the waves Me, without the two, I feel So sad” I know I have already said this, but I repeat: the words to this song are spectacular. In this strophe and just three and a half verses a million things are said. On first appearance, this strophe has a link with the end of the previous one, and we conclude that she talks to “HIM”. And what does she say to him? Nothing other than “HE” is in love with Alizée, hopelessly, like the water of the waves. That is to say that she leaves it very clear that “HE” and “HIM” are both masters of the situation, with total exactitude. By the title of the song and the refrain we have said that it seems that Alizée was speaking with he. And in this strophe she was speaking with “HIM” (she say sit explicitly in the previous strophe). The fact that both of the two know each other produces the total breakup, and causes this bitterness of Alizée expressed in the strophe for not having decided at the time. And who did she choose? None of us will know, but I underscore Alizée’s express declaration of her love of “HIM”, which she says clearly in the previous strophe (And like I said, in the tone of the whole song), while she says nothing about “HE”, only that he loves her, and in addition she doesn’t say this herself, she puts the words in “HIM”’s mouth. But all these are only guesses, because what follows is that certainly she wants and needs both [men]. Without both she has a hole in her soul. “Have waves in your soul” is translated literally as “have a hole in the soul”, but in reality it is an expression, and so I consulted the Larousse dictionary, and it means “to be melancholy”, which is why I translated it like that. “My heart feels heavy Of tears of India Ink That show me with outstretched fingers “HE” or “YOU” To find again in me Children’s rhymes But the toy horses Are cold” We finish the song with this second strophe, also very beautiful, in which an idea is repeated that all those who have suffered through failed love stories have experienced: “if only we could live in the past and fix everything that went wrong…” The first part of the refrain returns to remember, the sadness and the bitterness of Alizée. She has been changed by this experience, changed by her own tears, of India Ink, indelible, marked forever. The fact that she says that her tears point with fingers underscore the fact that she feels responsible for what has happened. One more time you know that she should have chosen before, but now it is too late and all three have been influenced badly in some way. The second part of the refrain evokes the idea that we have gone back in time, to undo all the trouble that has been done, and for this reason she remembers the children’s games, the circles, and the small playhorses. Quite frankly, the two are cold, a sign of their detachment and that in reality it is impossible to live in the past. “Wooden horses” means “horses made of wood”, but the Larousse translates it as “little horses”, so I picked that one. I don’t know if it is referring to merry-go-round horses, or to the horses that little kids use sometimes to play see-saw with. However, that is not important, what is important is the dear idea of remembering childhood, when these problems did not exist… And so the translation is finished. I was surprised, I told myself that this song doesn’t say much, but now that I have discovered what is locked inside, I am quite simply touched, and now I will listen to this song from a different point of view… What shocks me is that listening to the song it seems that she did not have to make the choice. Quite frankly, in various interviews she has declared that yes she has had to make the choice, and that she chose well, because the “choice” was the boy she was going out with at the time of the interview, as you can see in this interview, Quote:
I have done this translation practically alone, “raw”, there are no internet sites where they talk about this song, I just found a French page where there was a brief commentary. For this reason, the help you have been able to give me was little, and this is why I imagine that there will be many errors. A greeting. July 1, 2004. Homer.
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 Last edited by garçoncanadien; 03-23-2008 at 09:46 PM.. 
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#2
05-24-2007, 10:32 AM
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Thanks, Garçon ! I really enjoyed reading Homer's analysis. It makes me appreciate Lui ou Toi so much more.
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#3
05-24-2007, 11:19 AM
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thank you GArcon it is much apreciated i loved reading it, makes me just like the album, the song, and having you on this forum even more!
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Rockin' since 92 and rolling and melting faces off since 2005. I am a metalhead and Alizee fan to the end.
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#4
05-24-2007, 06:42 PM
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I'm not gonna say much besides I'm pretty impressed.
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C'est ta faute... mais on t'aime quand même, Alizée!
Tu m'as pris dès le premier "moi."
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#7
06-05-2007, 02:32 AM
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Quote:
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#8
06-05-2007, 06:19 AM
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can't remember links right now
alizeemamuse.tk --> (Continue to ALIZEEMAMUSE.TK: Enciclopedia de Alize en espaol ou attendre 15 secs) --> Traducciones --> Letras de canciones --> Lui ou Toi click on those links tell me the links within the original document and i will translate 
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#10
03-23-2008, 09:41 PM
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Quote:
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Je t'aime Alizée 
Linear Mode
