Talk:Milord (song)

Music description

I'd like to discuss the melody of the song, but am almost completely lacking the necessary musical terminology... AnonMoos 14:25, 6 October 2006 (UTC)

All I can think of is "rinkitink", which I suspect is not a term used in formal music criticism. AnonMoos 09:59, 16 December 2006 (UTC)

Lyrics

Based on the lyrics and translation I found, I think the meaning of the song is somewhat different from what's described in the article:

( I found this at http://lyricstranslate.com/en/milord-milord.html ) Milord

Based on these lyrics, it seems that the song is the call of a prostitute approaching a potential customer. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 184.152.50.19 (talk) 16:19, 2 January 2013 (UTC)

First off, the lyrics are presumed to be copyrighted, unless evidence is presented to the contrary, so you should not copy them here. And even if the "girl of the port" is interpreted to be a prostitute, the song is far from being a simple "Hello, sailor!" enticement... AnonMoos (talk) 17:06, 2 January 2013 (UTC)

I completely agree. My own POV is that it is an extremely moving song that deals with differences of wealth, class, gender, and can even be read as a metaphor for the political and Economic power Britain held in the early 20th century, as viewed from a French perspective. But thats all POV. I had issue with the statement of fact that the singer has a crush on Milord. I think that is POV. Also, I'm sorry, I didn't realize the lyrics were copyright. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 184.152.50.19 (talk) 18:21, 3 January 2013 (UTC)

I think that the attraction is a pretty explicit inference from the lyrics. Not sure about the political allegory, but the use of the word "milord" would seem to indicate a wealthy-looking English-speaking traveler... AnonMoos (talk) 23:43, 3 January 2013 (UTC)

I don't see which passage infers that she has a crush on Milord. (I agree, likely an affluent British traveler). The closest I can find (hopefully sampled within the scope of fair use) is this passage: "Laissez-vous faire, Milord, Et prenez bien vos aises. Vos peines sur mon cœur Et vos pieds sur une chaise" "Let yourself go, sir And make yourself comfortable. Your sorrows on my heart And your feet on a chair." She says that she knows him even though he has never seen her, a shadow of the streets. One could read this as meaning that she has been following a man she has had a crush on, but I see it as meaning, that she knows him, she knows what is in his heart, she knows his type, and she is taking it upon herself to love and understand him, unburden his heart and offer her comforts, for a price. It's all part of a come-on until she sees him cry, a- and singers interpre her reaction in different ways, but almost universally it's an emotional breakthrough. One of my favorite versions is by Hergova Hana, where through her movements at the beginning, she makes it explicit that the singer is a prostitute working the street, and she brings a range of emotions to the song including anger, deep sorrow, resignation and perseverence. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRPGigEvvDs — Preceding unsigned comment added by 184.152.50.19 (talk) 13:55, 11 January 2013 (UTC)

As I said above, even if prostitution might be involved, there is no simple "Hello, sailor!" type bold and brassy enticement. It's all more complicated and emotionally involved than that... AnonMoos (talk) 01:06, 12 January 2013 (UTC)

Popularity

The song was a #1-hit in Germany in July 1960. In UK it reached #24 (1960), in Sweden #1
during 8 weeks (15/6-1/8 1960), in Norway #6 (1959), and in the United States #88
(Billboard Hot 100 in 1961).

Since it's a French song with lyrics in French and sung by a Frenchwoman, how well did it do in France?

☺ Dick Kimball (talk) 16:50, 6 November 2015 (UTC)