"Hélène" is a 1989 pop song recorded by the

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

singer

Roch Voisine Joseph Armand Roch Voisine, (born 26 March 1963) is a Canadian singer-songwriter, actor, and radio and television host who lives in Montreal and Paris. He writes and performs material in both English and French. He won the Juno Award for Male V ...

. Written and composed by Voisine and Stéphane Lessard with guitars played by Carl Katz and keyboards by Luc Gilbert, it was the first single from his first studio album '' Hélène'', and was released in November 1989. It is mainly a song in

French-language French ( or ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages. French evolved from Gallo-Romance, the Latin spoken in Gaul, and more specifically in Nor ...

, but contains a line in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

as follows: "Hélène things you do / Make me crazy about you". The cover for the

CD maxi A maxi single or maxi-single (sometimes abbreviated to MCD or CDM) is a music single release with more than the usual two tracks of an A-side song and a B-side song. The first maxi singles Mungo Jerry's first single, "In the Summertime" was the ...

used the same photograph as that of the album '' Hélène'' : Roch Voisine's face with a black background. "Hélène" achieved a great success in France where it topped the singles chart for nine weeks, thus allowing Voisine to launch his international career.

Music video

The music video features the singer and an

air hostess A flight attendant, also known as steward/stewardess or air host/air hostess, is a member of the aircrew aboard commercial flights, many business jets and some government aircraft. Collectively called cabin crew, flight attendants are primar ...

who are in love, but who are forced to separate because of professional reasons. She may be French because when, in the video, she writes her name on a mirror with her

lipstick Lipstick is a cosmetic product used to apply coloration and texture to lips, often made of wax and oil. Different pigments are used to produce color, and minerals such as silica may be used to provide texture. The use of lipstick dates back t ...

, she does end it with an 'e' ('Helene'), as on the single cover. The model who plays the role of Hélène is Ariane Cordeau.

Versions

"Hélène" is available on the ''Roch'' collection (2007), also known as ''Best of''.Voisine also recorded the song wholly in English as "Helen" and included this version on the English portion of his bilingual album ''

Double A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another. Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to: Film and television * Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character * Th ...

'' in 1990 (which was in turn released separately as a full-length English album titled ''

'' the same year). "Hélène" was also recorded in an acoustic version on his 2003 album '' Je te serai fidèle'', which appeared as the second track on

for "

Tant pis "Tant pis" is a song recorded by Canadian singer Roch Voisine. Written by Claudio Guidetti, Léa Ivanne, it was the lead single from his album '' Je te serai fidèle'' (2003), and was released first as CD maxi in February 2004, then as CD single ...

", released in February 2004. In 2013, he recorded a duet wersion with Cœur de pirate, which features on his album ''

Duophonique ''Duophonique'' is a compilation album of famous songs by Canadian singer Roch Voisine in French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and ...

''.

Critical reception

Music & Media ''Music & Media'' was a pan-European magazine for radio, music and entertainment. It was published for the first time in 1984 as ''Eurotipsheet'', but in 1986 it changed name to ''Music & Media''. It was originally based in Amsterdam, but later ...

'' considered "Hélène" as "a strong ballad, reminiscent of Elton John's early material", which is "vital for your play list".

Chart performance

In France, the French version of "Hélène" started at number 27 on the chart edition of 11 November 1989, topped the chart for non consecutive nine weeks, in alternance with

François Feldman François Feldman (; born 23 May 1958) is a French singer. He had a great success in the 1980s and the 1990s in France. Biography The young François Feldman spent his adolescence listening to soul music, including songs by Marvin Gaye, Stevi ...

's hit "

Les Valses de Vienne "Les Valses de Vienne" is a 1989 song originally recorded by the French artist François Feldman for his 1989 album, '' Une Présence'' and was the second singles release from that album in November of the same year. It achieved great success i ...

", and remained in the top 50 for 27 weeks, 20 of them in the top ten. and was certified

Platinum disc Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

by the French certifier, the

Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique The National Syndicate of Phonographic Publishing (french: Syndicat national de l'édition phonographique; SNEP) is the inter-professional organisation that protects the interests of the French record industry. Originally known under the acronym ...

, for 800,000 units. ''Select "Roch Voisine" from the drop-down menu and click "OK"''. Voisine thus became the first

to reach number one on the French SNEP Singles Chart, followed by

Bryan Adams Bryan Guy Adams (born 5 November 1959) is a Canadian musician, singer, songwriter, composer, and photographer. He has been cited as one of the best-selling music artists of all time, and is estimated to have sold between 75 million and mor ...

Céline Dion Céline Marie Claudette Dion ( ; born 30 March 1968) is a Canadian singer. Noted for her powerful and technically skilled vocals, Dion is the best-selling Canadian recording artist, and the best-selling French-language artist of all time. Her ...

and Garou a few years later.Alex P. King, ''Hit-parade, 20 ans de tubes'', 2005, Pascal Ed., p. 9 (
Vingt ans de tubes
(Retrieved 23 April 2008) The French version also peaked at number three in

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. The English version performed moderately well on ''

RPM Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or with the notation min−1) is a unit of rotational speed or rotational frequency for rotating machines. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 defines a unit of rotation as the dimensionl ...

'' magazine's all-Anglophone singles charts, peaking at number 57 on the top 100 and number nine on the Adult Contemporary chart in very early 1990. It also achieved a moderate success in the Netherlands, peaking at number 53 two years after its original release.

Track listings

* CD maxi # "Hélène" (new English version) — 3:42 # "Hélène" (French version) — 3:42 # "Hélène" (instrumental) — 3:42 * 7" single # "Hélène" — 3:42 # "Ton Blues" — 3:35 * CD single # "Hélène" — 3:42 # "Ton Blues" — 3:35

Charts and sales

Weekly charts

¹ Duet with Cœur de Pirate

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Helene (Song) 1989 debut singles 2013 singles Cœur de pirate songs Roch Voisine songs RPM Top Singles number-one singles SNEP Top Singles number-one singles Franglais songs 1989 songs 2012 songs Ariola Records singles Macaronic songs