"High" is a 1988 song recorded by
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
artist
David Hallyday. It was the second of the four
singles from his debut studio album ''True Cool''. Released in November 1988, the song was a hit in France, becoming David Hallyday's first number-one single.
Writing and video
The song was composed by Lisa Catherine Cohen and the music composed by Hallyday. As for the other tracks of the album, lyrics are in
English-language
English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to t ...
. The music video was shot in a
church, Hallyday playing the
organ, while a chorus composed of women chanted 'high' during the refrains. Elia Habib, an expert of the French charts, deemed that with this vigorous song, Hallyday presented "a musical style at the joint of
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...
n rock and pop".
Chart performance
In France, "High" debuted on the singles chart at number 45 on 19 November 1988, climbed quickly and entered the top ten in its fourth week. It topped the chart for five consecutive weeks, dislodging
Mylène Farmer's "
Pourvu qu'elles soient douces
"" (English: "As Long as They're Soft/Gentle/or Sweet") is a 1988 synthpop song by the French artist Mylène Farmer. Third single from her second studio album '' Ainsi soit je...'', it was released on 12 September 1988. The long music video ver ...
"; then it almost did not stop to drop on the chart and totaled 15 weeks in the top ten and 23 weeks in the top 50.
It was the most successful from the album ''True Cool'' and the second one in Hallyday's career, behind "
Tu ne m'as pas laissé le temps". "High" was also released in UK with another cover single, but failed to reach the chart. On the
European Hot 100 Singles
The European Hot 100 Singles was compiled by '' Billboard'' and ''Music & Media'' magazine from March 1984 until December 2010. The chart was based on national singles sales charts in 17 European countries: Austria, Belgium (two charts separately ...
, it debuted at number 90 on 10 December 1988, peaked at number five in its seventh week,
and fell off the chart after 19 weeks. It charted for three weeks on the European Airplay 50, with a peak at number 40.
Track listings
* 7" single
# "High" — 4:05
# "True Cool" — 3:29
* 12" maxi
# "High" — 4:05
# "True Cool" — 3:29
# "Vertigo" — 4:08
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:High (David Hallyday Song)
1988 singles
David Hallyday songs
Songs written by David Hallyday
SNEP Top Singles number-one singles
1988 songs