"Helena Beat" is a song by American
indie pop
Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and sub ...
band
Foster the People
Foster the People is an American indie pop band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 2009. Its members are singer Mark Foster, guitarist Sean Cimino, and keyboardist Isom Innis.
Foster founded the band in 2009 after spending several years in ...
. It is the opening track from their debut studio album ''
Torches
A torch is a stick with combustible material at one end, which is ignited and used as a light source. Torches have been used throughout history, and are still used in processions, symbolic and religious events, and in juggling entertainment. In ...
'' and was released as the record's second single. It was solicited to radio on July 26, 2011,
[ Archived by ]Wayback Machine
The Wayback Machine is a digital archive of the World Wide Web founded by the Internet Archive, a nonprofit based in San Francisco, California. Created in 1996 and launched to the public in 2001, it allows the user to go "back in time" and see ...
fro
the original
on July 23, 2011. and solicited to radio in the United Kingdom on September 5, 2011.
On August 10, 2011,
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...
DJ
Greg James
Gregory James Alan Milward (born 17 December 1985) is an English radio and television presenter, comedian and author. He is the host of BBC Radio 1's breakfast show, co-presenter on the cricket podcast '' Tailenders'' alongside Felix White and ...
selected the song as his ''Record of the Week''.
It was announced in January 2012 that "Helena Beat" was the most-played track on Australian radio station
Triple J
Triple J (stylised in all lowercase) is a government-funded, national Australian Radio in Australia, radio station intended to appeal to listeners of alternative music, which began broadcasting in January 1975. The station also places a greate ...
in 2011. The song appeared at number 15 on the
Triple J Hottest 100, 2011
The 2011 Triple J Hottest 100 was announced on Australia Day 26 January 2012. It is the nineteenth countdown of the most popular songs of the year, as chosen by the listeners of Australian radio station Triple J.
Voting commenced on 14 December ...
poll, and it ranked as
music streaming
A music streaming service is a type of streaming media service that focuses primarily on music, and sometimes other forms of digital audio content such as podcasts. These services are usually subscription-based services allowing users to stream d ...
service
Spotify
Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active us ...
's fifth-most streamed song of the year.
Inspiration and composition
"Helena Beat" was written by the group's lead songwriter Mark Foster to embody the attitude of the drug culture within
Hollywood
Hollywood usually refers to:
* Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California
* Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States
Hollywood may also refer to:
Places United States
* Hollywood District (disambiguation)
* Hollywood, ...
. Foster says the lyrics—particularly the line "Yeah yeah and it's okay, I tie my hands up to a chair so I don't fall that way"—are meant to express the nonchalant attitude that people had to their destructive tendencies. He said, "They're the young, hot, up and coming, powerful people that are gonna run the world. But they're just going out and doing drugs every night. They're saying it with this big smile of their face like 'I'm great, everything's great,' 'but don't you see that you're completely out of your mind on drugs right now that you can't even stand?'. Foster composed the song using the
Logic Pro
Logic Pro is a digital audio workstation (DAW) and MIDI music sequencer, sequencer software application for the macOS platform. It was originally created in the early 1990s as Notator Logic, or Logic, by German software developer C-Lab which ...
software; the original project file for "Helena Beat" is included in new copies of the application. Helena Beat is written in F minor with a tempo of 127 beats per minute.
Music video
A music video, directed by
Ace Norton
Ace Norton (born May 24, 1982, in Venice, Los Angeles, California) is a Japanese American filmmaker and artist born and raised in Venice, California. Norton creates visuals on a variety of media platforms including music videos, commercials, fas ...
, to accompany the release of "Helena Beat" was released onto
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
on July 18, 2011.
The video begins with singer Mark Foster fleeing from a destroyed
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
in a dystopian future along with his dog – inspired by the film ''
Mad Max
''Mad Max'' is an Australian post-apocalyptic Action film, action film series and media franchise created by George Miller (filmmaker), George Miller and Byron Kennedy. It began in 1979 with ''Mad Max (film), Mad Max'', and was followed by thre ...
''. On the road out of the city, he finds a baby carriage and goes to investigate. When he gets out of the van, a gang of violent, rebellious children attacks him and takes him hostage while his dog flees. The other members of the band are taken hostage as well. They are then taken to the children's headquarters, where they are tortured, beaten, and abused. Foster is then seated and restrained, he's joined to a strange machine that's also attached to an older man seated opposite him. When the machine powers on, bright bolts of electricity arc back and forth, and the machine looks as if it is going to transform the older man into someone young again by stealing Foster's youth. Instead, it works quite the opposite and when the device is turned off, alternately most of the life is drained from the man (now very old) and Foster is turned into a young boy. After being turned into a child, he is now accepted as one of them.
Usage in media
The song was used in the films ''
21 Jump Street
''21 Jump Street'' is an American police procedural television series that aired on the Fox network and in first run syndication from April 12, 1987, to April 27, 1991, with a total of 103 episodes. The series focuses on a squad of youthful-loo ...
'' and ''
Boyhood'' and the TV series ''
Late Show with David Letterman
The ''Late Show with David Letterman'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on CBS, the first iteration of the The Late Show (franchise), ''Late Show'' franchise. The show debuted on August 30, 1993, and was produced by ...
''.
Track listing
Personnel
*Mark Foster – vocals, guitar, synthesizer, percussion, programming
*Mark Pontius – drums and extra percussion
*Cubbie Fink – bass
*Greg Kurstin – synthesizer, programming
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Certifications
Release history
References
External links
*
{{authority control
2011 songs
2011 singles
Columbia Records singles
Foster the People songs
Psychedelic songs
Song recordings produced by Greg Kurstin
Songs about drugs
Songs written by Mark Foster (singer)