Alizée made her début with the single, Moi... Lolita on the 4 July 2000. It is her most successful single to date. It was a instant hit throughout most of Europe and parts of east Asia, reaching number one in several countries. Alizée's image was that of a seductive Lolita character, referring to the novel by Vladimir Nabokov. The video for the single showed Alizée as a village girl visiting a night-club. Four months after the single her debut album "Gourmandises" was released. The album written entirely by Farmer and Boutonnat, has sold over 1,3 million copies in France. It was certified Platinum in just three months by the SNEP. In 2001, the album was released internationally, and she became the highest-selling female French singer in 2001. The album went on to sell over 2 million copies worldwide. Farmer and Boutonnat kept a tight rein how the album was marketed and controlled the image in which Alizée was portrayed. In the mean time, Alizée gave very few interviews, and even when she did, they did not stretch beyond 20 minutes per journalist. Neither did she agree to any photoshoots.
Her second single L'Alizé followed soon after. It was also successful giving her first number one in France, and gained some success internationally. The video of the "sexily alliterative" song shows Alizée amidst soap bubbles against a pink backdrop singing about herself. The video was shot in a studio in Brussels, which had a 25 metre by 10 metre painted canvas to serve as the background—with real bubbles. This single was followed up with another single from the same album - the title song, Gourmandises. The video, which shows a group of young boys and girls out on a picnic, was shot in a day. The last single from this album was Parler Tout Bas, which deals with the theme of dreams and a loss of innocence. In France, "Parler tout bas" was the third single followed by the release of "Gourmandises".
In 2003, Alizée returned with her second album "Mes Courants Électriques". With the release of this album, she changed her image from a 'Lolita' to that of a more toned-down teenager. This album was also written by Farmer and Boutonnat. The style of the music didn't change so much but the album was more critically acclaimed than the previous one. While it had much success in and outside France, worldwide it managed to sell 1.000.000 copies, less than its predecessor. The album has an international version featuring English versions of four tracks.
The first single from this album, Je N'ai Marre! was released in 2003. The music video for this shows Alizée in a glass cage, singing while having water splashed on her. The plexiglass cage, 3 by 3 meters in dimension, was constructed in a Parisian studio, and the shooting of the video took two days. An English-language version of this song, titled I'm Fed Up, was also released, and featured similar visuals for the music video. The other singles from this album were J'ai pas Vingt ans and À contre-courant. Like Je N'ai Marre, J'ai Pas Vingt Ans, Youpidou and Amelie M'a Dit also had English versions. The video for J'ai Pas Vingt Ans (I'm Not Twenty) resembles the ambience of a concert with Alizée dancing in the midst of several other dancers. À Contre-courant, the last single from this album, was shot in an abandoned coal factory. Unlike the other two singles, there was no English-language rendition of this song.
Following the release of her second studio album, Mes Courants Électriques, Alizée toured around France and had two performances in Belgium and Switzerland, during the second half of the year 2003. The tour started off with a performance on August 26, 2003 in Paris. It concluded with her performance on the eve of January 17, 2004 at the Le Zénith concert hall in Paris and had covered major cities including Lyon, Rouen, Lille, Grenoble and Dijon, among others.
A live CD and DVD, titled "Alizée En Concert", comprising of selected performances from her tour, was launched a year later in the fall of 2004. The audio CD contained tracks, taken from her two studio albums. The DVD featured video footage of the same performances as on the CD, along with bonus footage of her rehearsals. The compilation was re-released in early 2007 in Mexico by Universal music as a CD+DVD release, following the featuring of the songs in local radio stations. With the re-release and renewed interest, the songs climbed up the music charts in the country. The album became a hit, peaking at number 4 in the International Chart on May 28, 2007, and number 8 on the main albums chart. En concert has a Gold certification for shipments over 50,000 copies only in Mexico.
Following her marriage in late 2003, Alizée took a hiatus from singing and avoided appearing in the media. She welcomed her first child Annily in 2005. Her first television appearance in two years was on MTV France on February 18, 2006.
After almost two years of fan speculation, on April 3, 2006, a handwritten message, signed Alizée, was received by the webmaster of the fansite Le Nid d'Alizée, stating that she is working on the third album.
On July 7, 2006, the show Le JT de la musique on French TV channel "Europe 2 TV" reported that Alizée has separated from her former producer and song writer Mylène Farmer and was working on her third album. It was also reported that the lyrics of the new album were being penned by Jean Faulques. Her husband, Jérémy Châtelain produces a lot of the album.
Her third album Psychédélices was released in December of 2007. Despite the promotion it had moderate success in France, where it reached number 16 on the albums chart. The album only held its peak position for one week on each chart and fell in the second week. The album was more of a success in Mexico, it debuted at number 44 in the Mexican Top 100 Albums Chart. The album peaked at number 15 in the main chart and number 1 in the international chart. It has sold 300,000 copies so far. Many of her fans were disappointed by this album as it was not produced by Mylène Farmer and Laurent Boutonnat. The critics considered it as artistically inferior of her previous efforts.
Only one single was spawned in France from Psychédélices, called Mademoiselle Juliette. It missed the top 20 peaking at number 22. The second single release, Fifty-Sixty, peaked at number 65 in the Mexican single charts. In 2008 Alizée recorded a new studio version of Madonna's hit single La Isla Bonita and was included on a special edition for her album, Psychédélices in Mexico. The song so far has gone on to become a hit becoming Alizée's first top ten single on the national top ten airplay chart.
Following the success of Alizée En Concert and Psychédélices in Mexico, her former label, Universal Music released a compilation album, titled Tout Alizée. The compilation peaked at No. 62 on the Mexico Top 100 Albums Chart and No.20 on the Mexican International Top 20 Albums Chart.
During the Psychédélices tour, she had to cancel a tour date in Paris, stating that she was already working on her new album and it would sound different from all of her previous recordings. The album Une Enfant Du Siècle and was released in France on 29 March 2010. The theme of the album is the life of American model Edie Sedgwick from the birth till the death, based on the style of Andy Warhol. He isn't mentioned in the lyrics but the album has many references on him. The album received positive reviews from critics. However it peaked at No.24 on the French Album Chart aswell as No.22 on the Mexican Albums Chart. The single Limelight was released as a teaser single, being uploaded on 15 February 2010 on British website Popjustice. The main single Les Collines was released on 26 April 2010.
In 2011, she and Jérémy Chatelain divorced.
In Spring 2012, Alizée announced a new album would be released. However Sony delayed the album to Autumn 2012. In the meantime she was featured on the single Clara veut la Lune by Alain Chamfort.On 27 June 2012, Alizée announced on live chat that the first single, À cause de l'automne from the new album was to be released 28 June 2012. She also revealed that for the new album she was working with Jean-Jacques Goldman, BB Brunes and Thomas Boulard were also working on the album, The first music video was shot on 15 July 2012 and was released on 5 December 2012. The video features Alizée exploring the themes of autumn (i.e playing with autumn leaves and umbrellas). The first performance of the single was on RFM radio on 21 December 2012 where she sang the song in a live broadcast. It charted at 131 on the French Singles Chart. The album was yet again delayed to Spring 2013. In January, she revealed the artwork and name for the album, which is named 5. The album incorporates dance-pop,rock and ballads. This was her first album to not chart in the French Album Chart.
In 2014, following the success of her appearance (and win) on popular French tv show Danse avec les stars , she released her sixth studio album, Blonde on 23 June 2014. The single Blonde was released months earlier on 18 March 2014. The song peaked at No.63 while the album peaked at No.20. It was considered a commercial failure.
Alizée now owns a dance studio in Ajaccio, Corsica with her now-husband Grégoire Lyonnet and welcomed a baby girl called Maggy Lyonnet on 24 November 2019.
Fifty sixty
Alizée Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Tu te dandines, t'es divine
Quand tu danses dans les yeux d'Andy
Adieu bebop, plus au top c'est le pop art
Qui te sape à la trappe
Pop-corn et hula hoop
Chic en Chanel l'amour est toujours glamour
Aux expos tu poses et t'exposes à 400 ASA tu oses
Toutes les poses
Fifty-sixty
Née en cinquante sexy soixante
Si excitante s'extasie
Candide elle croit tout ce qu'Andy
Qu'Andy dit d'elle, qu'elle est la plus belle
De toutes les modèles
Comme une icône sous le Nikon
Tu tournes la tête au velvet
Et Nico te voudrait loin de Lou Reed
À East Village y a pas d'âge
On est tous jeune, emmène-moi
Taxi jaune là d'où vient la légende
Rêve de gloire et de fortune
Chic en Chanel l'amour sera toujours glamour
Je te regarde en Polaroid, tu sais le temps n'a pas
Pris une ride
Fifty-sixty
Née en cinquante sexy soixante
Si excitante s'extasie
Candide elle croit tout ce qu'on dit
Ce qu'on dit d'elle, qu'elle est la plus belle
De toutes les modèles
Le flower power est mort sur le dance floor
L'électro, le punk n'existent pas encore
Enlève le rollin' aux rockers, on a changé d'époque
Le rock roule en roller, la pop est en cloque
Le flower power est mort de sa belle mort
New wave et techno n'existent pas encore
Vas-y, joue ton dernier rôle, n'est plus là le dandy
Mais tu danses encore dans les yeux de Warhol
Fifty-sixty
Née en cinquante sexy soixante
Si excitante s'extasie
Candide elle croit tout ce qu'on dit
Ce qu'on dit d'elle, qu'elle est la plus belle, la plus belle
Fifty-sixty
Née en cinquante sexy soixante
Si excitante s'extasie
Candide elle croit tout ce qu'on dit
Ce qu'on dit d'elle, qu'elle est la plus belle
De tous les modèles
In Alizée's song "Fifty Sixty," the lyrics are a reflection on the world of 1960s fashion and art, largely inspired by the iconic artist Andy Warhol. The song's protagonist is a young model, only sixteen, who dreams of fame and fortune in the glamorous world of fashion. The lyrics are full of cultural references to the era, from the rise of pop art and the decline of bebop music to the emergence of flower power and the early days of dance music genres like punk and techno.
Throughout the song, the lyrics emphasize the young model's excitement and naivete as she navigates the fast-paced world of fashion and art. She dreams of being "chic en Chanel," posing for photographers at exhibitions and events, and being the most beautiful model of them all. Although the world around her is changing rapidly -- "we have changed epochs," as the song puts it -- she remains captivated by the glamour and excitement of her world.
Line by Line Meaning
Pretty sixteen, belle héroïne des sixties
The singer uses compliments to describe an attractive girl of sixteen who is a heroine from the sixties era.
Tu te dandines, t'es divine
The girl dances gracefully and is divine in her movements.
Quand tu danses dans les yeux d'Andy
When the girl dances, it is as if she is performing for Andy Warhol's gaze.
Adieu bebop, plus au top c'est le pop art
The popularity of bebop has waned, but pop art has taken its place.
Qui te sape à la trappe
Pop art has given way to newer trends that have edged it out of popularity.
Pop-corn et hula hoop
The lyrics reference two iconic objects from the era, popcorn and hula hoops.
Rêve de gloire et de fortune
The girl dreams of fame and wealth.
Chic en Chanel l'amour est toujours glamour
Even in the pursuit of love and relationships, the girl prioritizes style and looking glamorous by wearing Chanel.
Aux expos tu poses et t'exposes à 400 ASA tu oses Toutes les poses
The girl poses for photo exhibitions, confidently displaying her body at 400 ASA with all kinds of poses.
Fifty-sixty
The title of the song, referencing the 1950s and 1960s era.
Née en cinquante sexy soixante
The girl was born in the 1950s and grew up to be sexy in the 1960s.
Si excitante s'extasie
The girl becomes ecstatic at her own attractiveness and appeal.
Candide elle croit tout ce qu'Andy
The girl believes anything that Andy Warhol tells her, as if in a childlike and innocent way.
Qu'Andy dit d'elle, qu'elle est la plus belle
The girl believes that she is the most beautiful of all models, as Andy Warhol often tells her.
De toutes les modèles
Among all the other models, the girl thinks that she is the most beautiful one.
Comme une icône sous le Nikon
The girl is like an icon under the gaze of the camera lens.
Tu tournes la tête au velvet
The girl turns her head coyly while wearing velvet clothing.
Et Nico te voudrait loin de Lou Reed
Nico, the iconoclastic singer, would want you (the girl) to be away from Lou Reed.
À East Village y a pas d'âge
In East Village, age is not a defining factor for anyone.
On est tous jeune, emmène-moi
Everyone is young at heart, hence the artist feels included and asks to be taken along.
Taxi jaune là d'où vient la légende
The artist references the iconic yellow taxi, whose origin has become part of folklore.
Je te regarde en Polaroid, tu sais le temps n'a pas
The artist looks at the girl in a Polaroid photo and believes that she has stood the test of time.
Pris une ride
The girl has not aged in the photo and looks as young as ever.
Le flower power est mort sur le dance floor
The flower power era has died out on the dance floor.
L'électro, le punk n'existent pas encore
Electronic and punk music styles have not yet come into existence.
Enlève le rollin' aux rockers, on a changé d'époque
The lyrics discuss the change in the music industry, where rock is no longer as popular as it was before.
Le rock roule en roller, la pop est en cloque
The setting changes again as rock and pop take up newer forms in the singer's imagination, such as rollerblading and pregnancy.
Le flower power est mort de sa belle mort
The flower power era died out peacefully, of its own accord.
New wave et techno n'existent pas encore
New wave and techno music styles haven't come into existence yet.
Vas-y, joue ton dernier rôle, n'est plus là le dandy
The girl is encouraged to play her final role, now that the dandy (Andy Warhol) is no longer present.
Mais tu danses encore dans les yeux de Warhol
However, the girl still dances in the eyes of Andy Warhol, who remains captivated by her even in his absence.
De tous les modèles
The girl is still considered the most beautiful model among all the others.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: JEAN FAUQUE, JEREMY CHATELAIN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@harleykenn13
This is the first French song my hs teacher played for us to discover French music.
@betojasjas
yo recuerdo esta cancion cuando la sacaron en MTVLA.. 🤩😍
@edwardedwards6785
France is so cool even the teen pop is classy. Love Alizee.
@hotaruchize1262
que recuerdos desde 2009 me enamore de tu musica alizee y en 2019 te sigo escuchando
@aserg88
Какая же Ализе красивая! И прекрасно поёт! 🥰😍
@waltervanhenis9023
More Alizee!! Fifty sixty!! What a voice from heaven!!!la plus belle!! Quel performance!!
@rasjitwmiatdp2550
ポップでカワイイ😍❤アリゼ❤
@VochoCosmico
Vengo por MTV la escuché en algunos momentos random antes de irme a mi escuela, esa vez iba en la primaria y desde la primera vez que la escuché me gusto❤ 😅
@danielalexisayala5863
We need a 2021 comeback!
@michalbawor380
michael tu sais que tu as transformé mes cieux en mes milliards de coeurs de flamme alizee