It was the third single from her first studio album Cendres de lune and was released on 1 April 1986 and met success on the French chart, becoming Farmer's first big hit.

The long form music video, produced as a short film, contains explicitly sexual and violent scenes.

In 2002, the song was successfully covered by Belgian singer Kate Ryan, who reached the top 20 in several European countries.

An English version of the song, "Bad Girl", was recorded, but unlike "My Mum Is Wrong", it was not completed and released as a single.

It is thought to be the first instance of full frontal nudity made by a singer on a major music video.

Libertine (Farmer) is a young woman who dresses in male clothing and spends her time in debauched parties.

They then dress, Libertine in male attire, and go to a banquet hall filled with people engaged in various pleasures.

(At this stage Farmer is shown fully naked, including full frontal, and the music stops to give way to sounds evoking eroticism, (moans and howles of wolves)).

Seriously hurt by a fireplace poker, Libertine and the man manage to escape on horseback, but the Woman in Red stages an ambush with accomplices and they are killed.

The character played by Farmer embodies "the liberal ideas of the [18th century], to the borders of vice and the loss of self", engaging in "extremes practices", such as the "sadomasochistic relationship" with the man.

With more than 25 appearances in different programmes on various French and Belgian channels (TF1, Antenne 2, FR3, RTBF Belgium, La 5, RTL TV), "Libertine" is to date Farmer's song which was the most promoted on television.

[31] In 2009, French band La Pompe Moderne released its album Greatest Hits with a cover version of "Libertine".

[32] Following the success of her cover version of "Désenchantée", Kate Ryan recorded "Libertine" and released it as single in late 2002.

Spending a total of 15 weeks in the top 100, it had the second-best chart run for a single of Kate Ryan in this country.