"Un Roman d'amitié (Friend You Give Me a Reason)" is a

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Bicenten ...

song recorded by the French artist

Elsa Lunghini Elsa Lunghini, stage name Elsa (born 20 May 1973), is a French singer and actress. She was a teenage pop-star in the late-1980s. In 1986, she was the youngest singer to reach number one in the French charts, with the single " T'en va pas", and sh ...

and the American artist

Glenn Medeiros Glenn Alan Medeiros (born June 24, 1970) is an American former musician, singer, and songwriter who achieved chart success in the late 1980s and early 1990s. He is best known on the national and international music scene for his 1987 global s ...

. The song was released as a single in the summer of 1988 and features on the self-titled LP '' Elsa''.

Background

In 1988, Elsa was invited to a French TV programme to perform her second single, "Quelque chose dans mon cœur".

Jean-Pierre Foucault Jean-Pierre Foucault (; born 23 November 1947 in Marseille) is a French television and radio host. He was born in Marseille, his mother was Jewish. He was the host of '' Qui Veut Gagner des Millions ?'', the French version of ''Who Wants to Be a ...

, the host of the show, made her the surprise to invite Glenn Medeiros of whom Elsa was a fan. The two singers got on and finally decided to record two songs together: "Love Always Finds a Reason", written by Diane Warren, which was recorded in full in English-language and added on Glenn Medeiros' album, and "Un Roman d'amitié", whose complete title is actually "Un Roman d'amitié (Friend You Give Me a Reason)", as it appears on the single's cover. Medeiros explained why the song had been retitled in French, dealing with

friendship Friendship is a relationship of mutual affection between people. It is a stronger form of interpersonal bond than an "acquaintance" or an "association", such as a classmate, neighbor, coworker, or colleague. In some cultures, the concept o ...

while the original version was about love: "Elsa and I don't want our fans to think that we're really going together. It's just a good friendship. Though she is one of the nicest girls I've ever, ever met". This bilingual song mixes English and French lyrics. The text and the music were composed by Robbie Buchanan, Diane Warren and

Didier Barbelivien Didier René Henri Barbelivien (born 10 March 1954 in Paris) is a French author, lyricist, songwriter and singer. Beginning in the 1970s, he wrote a number of successful songs for artists such as: Dalida, Johnny Hallyday, Michel Sardou, Daniel ...

. The music video was entirely shot in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

by Maxime Ruiz. It starts with a view at night on the town, then we see the singers strolling the streets of the city on foot or by bike cross. Both singers promoted the song in the world, even in the Netherlands. Glenn Medeiros re-recorded the song in a full English version with Ria Brieffies who performed the song with him in the United States. While the Franco-English version is about friendship, the full English version speaks of love. Elsa sang live at her concert at the Olympia in 1990 and during the next tour, but Glenn Medeiros was replaced by Roger Secco.

Chart performances

"Un Roman d'amitié" achieved a huge success in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

: It debuted at number eight on the chart edition of 23 July 1988 and reached number two, two weeks later, being blocked at this position for weeks by the summer hit "

Nuit de folie "Nuit de folie" (, literally "Night of madness") is a 1988 popular song recorded by French pop duet Début de Soirée. It was their debut single from their album ''Jardins d'enfants'' and was released in June 1988. In France, it became the sum ...

" by

Début de Soirée Début de Soirée (, literally ''Beginning of the Party'') was a French pop music duo which had a huge success in 1988 with their song "Nuit de folie", a number-one single in France. History Released for the first time in 1984 while the 2 singers ...

; then it managed to top the chart for consecutive six weeks, and remained on the chart (top 50) for 25 weeks. It was certified Gold disc by the Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. In Belgium (Flanders), it was number one for two weeks, in alternance with "Nuit de folie", and appeared in the top three for eight weeks. On the European Hot 100 Singles, it started at number 21 on 6 August 1988, peaked at number five in its ninth week, and remained in the top ten for 12 weeks, and in the top 100 for 21 weeks.

Track listings

* 7" single # "Un Roman d'amitié (Friend You Give Me a Reason)" — 4:20 # "You're My Woman, You're My Lady" (instrumental) — 3:39 * CD single # "Un Roman d'amitié (Friend You Give Me a Reason)" — 5:25 # "Un Roman d'amitié (Friend You Give Me a Reason)" (instrumental) — 4:20 # "You're My Woman, You're My Lady" (instrumental) — 3:39 # "Pieces of My Dreams" - by Glenn Meideiros * 7" single - English version # "Love Always Finds a Reason" — 4:20 # "Pieces of My Dreams" (by Glenn Medeiros) — 4:01

Charts and sales

Weekly charts

¹ Version by Glenn Medeiros & Ria, "Love Always Finds a Reason"

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roman D'Amitie Songs about friendship 1988 singles Elsa Lunghini songs Glenn Medeiros songs Macaronic songs SNEP Top Singles number-one singles Songs written by Diane Warren Songs written by Robbie Buchanan Songs written by Didier Barbelivien 1988 songs Mercury Records singles Male–female vocal duets Pop ballads 1980s ballads Ultratop 50 Singles (Wallonia) number-one singles