"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 in France, topping the chart for six nonconsecutive weeks, and remains Feldman's signature song and a classic of 1980s French music. It was also included on the singer's three

best of A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be creat ...

compilations: ''Two Feldman'' (1996), ''Best Feldman'' (1998) and ''Gold'' (2008); it was also performed during Feldman's 1991 tour and was thus included on the live album ''Feldman à Bercy'' (1992).

Lyrics, music and video

The lyrics were written and the music composed by Feldman himself and the songwriter Jean-Marie Moreau. According to the expert of French chart Elia Habib, the song is a "romantic

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

, whose identity remains a salve savour in the subject as well as in the musical coloration". The song is based on a

pun A pun, also known as paronomasia, is a form of word play that exploits multiple meanings of a term, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from the intentional use of homophoni ...

and all the text is declined as well, juggling with the likeness and the consonance of terms between them (e.g. "dans la Rome antique, errent les romantiques"). The part played by the violins was written by Thierry Durbet.François Feldman's biography, ''François Feldman'
Feldmanfrancois.com
(Retrieved 10 December 2008) The music video features Feldman with a young girl who portrayed his daughter and who tries to comfort her father because he is separated from her mother. The cover on the CD maxi and vinyls is a screenshot from the video.

Chart performance

In France, "Les Valses de Vienne" started at number 38 on the chart edition of 23 November 1989, climbed regularly and entered the top ten three weeks later. It was blocked for three weeks at number two by

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 ...

's hit " Hélène", then reached number one for four weeks, then was dislodged by "Hélène" for two weeks, and eventually returned atop for additional two weeks. Then it almost did not stop to drop and fell off the top 50 after 23 weeks, and achieved Gold status awarded by the Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique.. ''Select "François Feldman" from the drop-down menu and click "OK"''. In 2003, the French TV program ''Top 50: 50 numéros 1 de légende'' revealed that the song was the 26th best received number-one hit of the SNEP Singles Chart thanks to the

voting Voting is a method by which a group, such as a meeting or an electorate, can engage for the purpose of making a collective decision or expressing an opinion usually following discussions, debates or election campaigns. Democracies elect holde ...

s of the TV viewers.

Track listings

* 7" single # "Les Valses de Vienne" — 3:56 # "Les Valses de Vienne" (instrumental) — 4:02 * 7" maxi # "Les Valses de Vienne" (extended version) — 5:08 # "Les Valses de Vienne" — 4:02 * CD maxi # "Les Valses de Vienne" (single version) — 3:56 # "Longue nuit" — 4:39 # "Pour faire tourner le monde" — 3:50 # "Les Valses de Vienne" (instrumental) — 4:02

Credits

* Produced by Jean Fredenucci for Big Bang * Mixed by Dominique Blanc-Francard * Editions: Marilu Music / Carole Line, 1989 Phonogram * Photos: Claude Gassian / Thierry Bouêt * Design: Antonietti / Pascault & Ass.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Valses De Vienne 1989 singles François Feldman songs SNEP Top Singles number-one singles Pop ballads 1989 songs Phonogram Records singles