text: maman a tort " maman a tort " is a 1984 song recorded by french artist mylène farmer . it was the debut single from farmer 's first studio album de lune , and marked the beginning of her collaboration with her long - time composer , laurent boutonnat . with lyrics by jérôme dahan , who also helped compose the song with boutonnat , the song was first released in march 1984 . an english - language version , titled " my mum is wrong " and produced by f. r. david , was released in september 1984 . " maman a tort " was deemed as provocative at the time , as its ambiguous lyrics seem to deal with a lesbian love ; similarly , the video , which shows farmer lightly dressed , was often censored on television when it was released . generally well received by critics , the original french version of the song achieved modest success in comparison with the singer 's next singles , while the english - language version was a commercial failure . the song did , however , allow farmer to launch her singing career and establish her particular artistic style . background and writing in december 1983 , dahan and laurent boutonnat , two friends , composed a song called " maman a tort " , about lesbian love between a girl committed to a mental hospital and her nurse . to find a performer , they held a casting . a girl aged 15 – 16 was initially chosen to perform the song , before being rejected because she was too young to sing its sexually ambiguous lyrics . boutonnat then decided to ask one of his friends , mylène gautier , to sing the track . both composers have said that they thought gautier seemed psychotic and thus was the ideal person to record the track . boutonnat said : " as soon as i saw her , with her triangular face , i realized that this would be her and nobody else . she looked crazy , it was perfect . " after they decided to work with her , gautier took the pseudonym of farmer , as a tribute to actress frances farmer . according to jean - claude , farmer showed limited enthusiasm during the demo recordings and declared : " the voice was surprisingly present and she laughed after each take when listening " . dahan was satisfied , because farmer had a clear and deep voice and could easily reach high notes . initial rehearsals were held at dahan 's home . dahan has said of these rehearsals : " there was a large room with a piano and there we repeated the staging of the song . mylène had a hard time understanding all this , we had to teach her everything , starting with the choreography [ ... ] this probably did not look very professional . " recording of the french version of " maman a tort " took place in paris in january 1984 , with farmer stating that the sessions were a " magic " moment . later , the english - language version of the song was recorded in an afternoon at the dany studio in . farmer had no difficulty in singing in english because she spoke the language very well , having lived in canada . initially boutonnat and dahan found it difficult to find a record company who would release the track , either because labels were worried about the song being censored due to the sexual nature of its lyrics or because they did not see any commercial potential in the track . in order to get a second appointment with rca records the pair claimed they had remixed the song , even though they had not . only after a third appointment with rca did the label 's francis give them a contract . according to france dimanche , the song saved the singer from entering into a loveless marriage . farmer had become disillusioned with showbusiness after struggling to get even tiny roles in commercials and had resolved to wed a childhood friend , a student of the école nationale d , before she was selected to sing " maman a tort " . release the single was first released in france in march 1984 , but was not commercially successful . several months later , it gained more success under the management of bertrand le page , a famous artistic director . the song was heavily played on french radio . in view of the song 's success , frédérick leibovitz suggested that farmer record an english - language version of the single named " my mum is wrong " , in an effort to win over a wider audience . this version was produced by f. r. david who also translated the lyrics , being motivated by affection for le page . the song was released in september in france and canada . the english version was released in germany , italy and scandinavia and was scheduled to be released in england and the united states . extended versions of " maman a tort " and " my mum is wrong " were produced by laurent boutonnat and issued as 7 " maxi singles . there were two covers for " maman a tort " : the first release was produced in black and white and shows the singer looking sad and wearing a nightgown , the second release , in colour , shows her laughing . the second cover was based on an idea by bertrand le page who thought that it would be better to give the public an image it wanted . the single 's canadian release did not have a cover . a different cover was used for " my mum is wrong " ' s vinyl , with the image used being similar to the second french release of " maman a tort " . the b - side of the song was an instrumental version of the track , as farmer 's musical team had no budget to record another song . in 2003 , a remix version was produced by dj joaquim garraud for the compilation album but was not released . lyrics and music the song is constructed like a nursery rhyme in which a young girl , while numbering facts between 1 and 8 , confesses her love for a female nurse . as written on the cover , the song is dedicated to the actress frances farmer , as well as king ludwig ii of bavaria . farmer explained at the time that the song was not autobiographical . " maman a tort " lays the foundation of farmer 's musical universe , including many themes dealt with by the singer in subsequent releases . among the topics discussed are transgression , love , the world of childhood , violence and death , mortality and suffering , sexuality , and social demands . the song also deals with psychoanalysis . the rhythm is catchy , and the lyrics , " dark and symbolic " , describe the conflicts between a daughter and her mother , as the title suggests . according to an analysis published by sophie , the lyrics could also refer to incest . they seem to be " innocent " and are sung " in the most ingenuous way " . biographer bernard violet considers the song " a nursery rhyme with enigmatic but quite spicy lyrics which place it rather far from sabine and her innocent song " les " " . journalist caroline bee deemed the song as " a small efficient ufo , with a catchy and binary melody and a disconcerting video " . in a 1984 interview farmer discussed the song 's lyrics , stating : " it can happen to many children who are in hospital [ ... ] the nurses feed these children , tuck them into bed , kiss them before they sleep and therefore take the place of their mothers . so it is a little girl who tells her mother : i love the nurse " . she said in another interview : " but if people prefer to give this song a perverse sense , it is their problem " . thus , she does not confirm the lesbian allusions that seem to emerge from the chorus ( the french verb " aimer " can mean either " to love " or " to like " ) . however , the song has been listed in several books dealing with homosexuality and explains the fact that many gay people were immediately attracted to farmer 's world . music video production and plot the music video was directed by laurent boutonnat who also wrote the screenplay , and produced by rca , and was shot for one day and cost about 5 , 000 francs ( 750 – 760 euro ) . boutonnat wanted that the video would be filmed in , but this was unusual at the time and the idea was finally withdrawn . the video begins with a portrait of sigmund freud in close - up , then shows a picture of farmer 's mother . the song 's lyrics are subtitled . still images of farmer are then shown in silhouette wearing a white and transparent nightgown . with each line of the song , an image of farmer appears . when the chorus begins , farmer turns blue and begins to dance in front of a backdrop featuring stars and the moon . three children are shown looking at farmer . after another verse , which again features still images of farmer , shots of the singer jumping are intercut with shots of her singing along with the track with her arms clutched to her breast . afterwards farmer and the three children are shown holding placards with the words " maman a tort " . following another verse the singer 's decapitated head is pictured on a plate on a table in front of the children who are holding knives and forks . the singer is again shown in blue and cries before being slapped in the face . a low - angle shot of farmer shows her readjusting the strap of her nightgown and is intercut with images of her in silhouette . the video ends with a portrait of freud . another more ambitious and dramatic video had originally been planned by boutonnat . farmer would have been shown in a wheelchair pushed by a nun nurse , who she had feeling for . as the singer cannot understand this relationship , and faces the disapproval of her mother because of it , farmer decides to commit suicide by throwing herself from the top of a cliff . the story board was even presented in the media , but farmer 's recording company rca did not agree with to the project , especially since this video would have cost 70 , 000 euro to make . there was no video for " my mum is wrong " . reviews the video caused " a veritable stir in the music world " because " boutonnat cast [ farmer ] as a kind of provocative lolita figure " . as she wears a transparent nightgown in the music video , some french television channels censored it . it was first aired on the french television programme clip clap in a shortened version . in an interview , farmer deplored the censorship , saying : " [ it ] has shocked many people . i find it pretty stupid . jacques said " in france " and everyone went into raptures . as for me , i simply say that i enjoyed the controversy " . despite the low cost of the video , it was described in the press as " beautiful " by chanson and " one of the best music videos of the year " by télé star . in contrast , the french newspaper le provençal called the video " useless : static , unimaginative " and claimed that it was low - budget . for his part , violet described the video as being " half way between and shadow play " and said that it provides " a blend of ethereal and childish sensuality , of measured provocation and of obsessive victimization " . critical reception the song was generally very well received by the press at the time . boys and girls considered it " undoubtedly one of the hits of the summer of 1984 " , ok called it " a very promising first 7 " " , and chanson 84 stated that it was " great : rhythmic , spicy , original ; the orchestration , based on a synth and drums , is enriched over the couplets " . le matin de paris said it was " a funny perverse little song " , and les grands de la stated : " the tone is original , the music is subtle : it 's a good surprise " . " maman a tort " did not appear in the french top 50 singles chart because the chart had not been created at the time . the sales of the single were about 100 , 000 ( 220 , 000 , according to french magazine elle ) , which was deemed as a " decent performance " and a " first success , not a triumphant one " . " my mum is wrong " was not successful and its sales are unknown . in march 2014 " maman a tort " entered the french singles chart at number 104 due to digital downloads by farmer 's fans as a tribute to her thirty - year singing career . promotion and live performances bertrand le page provided many opportunities for farmer to perform the song on television . french host michel drucker was the first to allow the singer to perform on his show , champs élysées . from that moment , the song was widely played on radio and aroused the curiosity of the public . throughout 1984 , farmer actively promoted " maman a tort " and performed it in on many french television programs broadcast on tf1 , 2 , and tmc . from february 1985 to december 1986 , when her next three singles — " on est tous des " , " plus " and " libertine " — were released , farmer promoted them on many television shows , but she also sang " maman a tort " on these occasions . in total , the song has been performed over twenty times on television . her performance on salut les mickey was censored because of the song 's ambiguous lyrics . according to author erwan chuberre , farmer 's performances on television were generally deemed as unconvincing , because she had never taken dance lessons at the time , and her colored dresses were not very tasteful . in spite of these performances , farmer had difficulty achieving notoriety and , on an advice of le page , she extended the promotion of the song to include interviews in magazines for teenagers . the song was included in the set list of farmer 's 1989 tour and was performed as a duet . carole fredericks , one of farmer 's vocalists , portrayed the nurse , and in a long monologue , she complained about one of her female patients , who was difficult to bear . farmer , hidden beneath frederick 's long dress , suddenly appeared , wearing pyjamas , and performed the song by waddling like a little child . the song was also performed during the tour but included in a medley composed of her 1980s greatest hits . a snippet of the song was performed on the opening night of the timeless tour on 7 september 2013 in paris . as for " my mum is wrong " , it does not appear on any of farmer 's albums and has not been performed on stage . cover versions the song has been covered five times . first , in the late 1990s , by french singer lio for a 1984 hits compilation , then in 2000 , by beyond the nightmare , but this version was not released as a single . in 2003 the song was released twice : first by and gabrielle , two contestants of à la recherche de la nouvelle star , on the album tubes on which it appears as 13th track , and then by ; his version , released in the united kingdom as a 7 " maxi single , included an instrumental version named " my mum is dub " as a b - side , was unsuccessful and failed to chart . in 2010 momus recorded an english translation of this song titled ' the orderly ' . formats and track listings these are the formats and track listings of single releases of " maman a tort " and " my mum is wrong " : " maman a tort " 7 " single – first and second releases 7 " maxi digital download ( since 2005 ) " my mum is wrong " 7 " single 7 " maxi – promo official versions personnel and credits these are the credits and the personnel as they appear on the back of the single : jérôme dahan – lyrics , music laurent boutonnat – music jean - claude – recording , at " le " studio philippe – mixing , at davout studio bertrand le page – editions rca – recording company john frost – photo release history