Written by Farmer in 1987, the theme of "Sans contrefaçon" was inspired by two other songs, "Comme un garçon" by Sylvie Vartan and "3è Sexe" by the band Indochine.

Photographer Elsa Trillat explained that the lyrics were written very quickly (taking somewhere between thirty minutes and two hours) by poolside, using a thesaurus.

[1] Laurent Boutonnat came that same day to the large Provençal-styled villa where both women were and immediately wrote the music which would accompany the lyrics.

In the French magazine Elle, she spotted a checkered and striped suit and asked Bertrand Le Page to wear it for the sleeve covers that illustrated the various single formats.

[2] On Farmer's advice, Bertrand Le Page made numerous approaches to the NRJ radio station for it to broadcast the song twice as often, which contributed to its success.

"[9] The song mentions the Chevalier d'Eon, a French diplomat, spy and soldier who presented as a man early in life but later presented as a woman, which provides some ambiguity regarding the search for identity, as well as the figure of European gay icon Eva Kotchever, whose nickname was Queen of the 3rd sex,[10] dressed as a man in New York at Eve's Hangout and in Paris at Le Dôme Café before World War II and assassinated at Auschwitz.

For the first time, Farmer participated in the writing of the screenplay [17] along with Boutonnat and initially wanted the shooting to take place in a concentration camp but this idea was rejected.

It was inspired by The Adventures of Pinocchio, a novel for children by Carlo Collodi, Le Petit Cirque by Dargaud[20] and "Les Saltimbanques", a poem by French poet Guillaume Apollinaire.

Farmer explained that she had greatly appreciated Zouc's shows, which dealt with the strange and sordid themes and the world of childhood.

The two women met in the programme Mon Zenith à moi and Farmer absolutely wanted Zouc to play a role in the video for "Sans contrefaçon".

François Hanss was Boutonnat's assistant (he also directed the videos for "Je te rends ton amour", "Innamoramento", "Dessine-moi un mouton" and "Redonne-moi").

Interviewed in the show Nulle Part Ailleurs, broadcast on 23 November 1987, Farmer said she was surprised by the song's success, saying "I think it's the 7" that started the fastest.

[25] Some interpret this video as an allegory of the Pygmalion myth, expressed through the puppeteer and its doll, while others see it as a tribute to Zouc, who disappeared from public life a short time after.

[27] The author Erwan Chuberre stated that the Gothic artist Angélique Comet was disturbed "at the emotional level" by the video.

[17] Farmer performed the song in lip sync on 16 French television shows (all sources listed below provide different data), broadcast between 13 November 1987 and 6 February 1988 on various channels (TF1, Antenne 2, FR3, Canal+, La 5).

[30] In the 1999 performance, Farmer wears a black costume composed of a woven trousers open on the upper thighs, a transparent bustier, high shoes with heels, a large necklace and two iron false-buttocks; dancers have the same costume, without the jacket, and perform a collective choreography, the same as for "Pourvu qu'elles soient douces" during the 1989 tour.

[31] During the 2009 tour, Farmer and her dancers wear a white tutu, pinsripe trousers and a jacket, and perform the choreography together, while the screens in the back show chessmen.

[34] Pascal Bussy, from French magazine Compact, awarded three stars to the CD maxi and added: "Without shame, [Farmer] may be to attack the UK charts.

"[35] A review in Pan-European magazine Music & Media stated: "This light dance/pop tune should catch willing ears with its squeezed vocals and Police-like drive".

The song has been covered by many artists, including Patricia in 1998 with a dance version entitled "Listen to Your Heart" and recorded in English,[41] Lorie in 2003 as second track on her single "À 20 ans",[41][42] French rock band Armens in 2003 for their live album Sans contrefaçon - Le Live (track 1, 3:24) and released as a single,[41][43] Mr Popicide in 2003,[41][44] many contestants of the show Star Academy, including Anne-Laure Sitbon (2003), Élodie Frégé (2004), and Giovanni (2003, Belgian Star Academy)(these versions were not released as a single, but were only performed on TV),[41] and Julie Zenatti in 2003 on French radio Generation Scoop in an acoustic version.

[41][45] "Sans contrefaçon" is featured on the soundtrack of the 1996 French film Pédale douce, produced by Gabriel Aghion, as the first track.