Désenchantée

"Désenchantée" (; feminine of désenchanté, which is French for "Disenchanted" or "Disappointed") is a song recorded by French singer-songwriter Mylène Farmer. The first single from her third studio album ''L'autre...'' (1991), it was released on 18 March 1991 by Polydor Records and achieved great success in France, topping the charts for more than two months. It is Farmer's most successful song and is generally considered her signature song. In 2002, the song was covered by Belgian singer Kate Ryan, whose version reached number one in Belgium and became a top-20 hit across Europe.

== Mylène Farmer version == === Background and writing === After a two-year absence from the media, Farmer launched this new single "Désenchantée" on 18 March 1991, three weeks before the release of the album ''L'autre.... At the time, many demonstrations were organized by students throughout France to protest against their status and conditions for learning, and the Gulf War was raging. The pessimistic lyrics of the song strongly echoed the feelings toward worldwide events and thus certainly contributed to its success. According to the sound engineer, Thierry Rogen, "Désenchantée" was recorded four times. Boutonnat originally wanted a jerky song with techno influences, but Rogen convinced him to add drums and a more funk sound. The text was inspired by the 1934 book On the Heights of Despair'' by the Romanian philosopher Emil Cioran.