Oui, elle est très belle..........
#58
Roch Voisine - Hélène
Picked By: Berserkboi
Credentials: #1 France (9 weeks) - staying in the Top 10 for 20 weeks, #3 Norway, 1 million copies sold, Certified PLATINUM by SNEP, 139th Best Selling Single Of All Time in France
Average Score: 6.279
Highest Score: 10
@berserkboi
Lowest Score: 1
@Ana Raquel
Ana Raquel AKA The Bop Police strikes and Roch is the first victim!
As previously discussed, the Lost Classics Rate hoped to bring each of us at least one song we grew up enjoying, and potentially “lost” along the way. Hélène was such a song for me. I forgot all about its existence (and Roch’s) until a year or two ago when first compiling potential songs for this rate, and when I listened to it again after 20 odd years - the memories came flashing back. The best visual I can give to how this felt was the scene in Ratatouille when the food critic tries the ratatouille, triggering a childhood memory. I remembered how much my teenage sister loved this track, how Roch’s simple melody and good looks captured the women from every generation in my life (my sister, my mother and my grandmother all loving everything Hélène for what seemed like years).
With an emotional connection so intense it almost made me tear up thinking of my Grandma who has since passed away, a 10 was always on the cards for Hélène. I am very glad I stuck with that score actually - the simplicity of that opening guitar chord is enchanting every time as is the beautiful sad longing with which Roch delivers the track. I will admit I don’t actually find the English chorus as strong as the immersive and poetic verses but the bombastic progression where the chorus literally explodes is an aural serve every time!
You know who else pretty much gave this song a 10/10 as soon as they heard it? The French! Hélène has the distinction of being the first song by a Canadian artist to top the charts in France! You can see how much of an impact it made too when looking at the credentials above - it truly remained relevant for a long time. Obviously a certain Queen Dion would go on to break different records on that chart, as would Bryan Adams and Lost Classics alumnus Garou. Isn’t it fascinating to picture how different the Easy Listening genre would be if we had a little more Roch Voisine and a lot less Bryan Adams on the charts in the late 80s-early 90s, hey? Potentially a lot more bilingual country-tinged ballads for us to talk about today! (Poor Ana Raquel Ddddd)
Sadly for Roch, no other song he released ever reached Francophone zeitgeist like Hélène did. He would still score a lot of hits on the chart (I am counting 9 Top 10 Singles within 5 years) but I (along with many I would gather) cannot even remember how they go as his legacy is well and truly tied to Helene!
Lyrically the song describes Roch’s short term affair with a flight attendant called Hélène, and poetically recounts the beautiful memories they share, and dreads the upcoming separation and dissolution of the relationship. I hadn’t even noticed how beautifully written a lot of lyrics were in French until I heard the English version Roch tried to break through in America with. The quietly lonely opening lines “Seul sur le sable, Les yeux dans l'eau, Mon rève était trop beau.” (Alone on the sand, staring at the sea, this dream was too beautiful) truly paints an amazing picture, and though the English version gives it a good crack with “Two hundred miles from my home, A million miles from you, Living without you on my own” - it all truly sounds better in French.
Fascinatingly Roch’s first passion was for Ice Hockey, and planned on becoming a professional Ice Hockey Player until an injury put an end to that dream and he turned to music. (Are you familiar with Roch Voisine, and is he some kind of national treasure in Canada
@ohnostalgia and
@iheartpoptarts?)
Here’s what PopJustice had to say about this one! Funnily - you will find that despite a fairly low rank, Roch was quite divisive. 10 of us (half the voters) gave him a score over 8 and the other half were either ambivalent or hated the experience. Par for the course that half the voting public can give a score of 8+ and the song can still find itself in the bottom 10, hey? Wait for the other upcoming surprises!
@jtm (9.3) responds to this like the French public pretty much did! - This is quite beautiful.
@Filippa (5) channels the Austrian public perfectly since they never gave Roch any hits - It’s not bad, but it’s not really good either.
@WowWowWowWow (5) shocks me in
not stanning Roch for
his portfolio alone - A little too sugary sweet for my taste.
@Eric (8) picks up on how beautifully emotive Roch’s delivery is - Gorgeously soulful.
@Epic Chocolat (8) reiterates just how the French public responded - A memorable debut.
@DominoDancing (6.5) is too old for this! - Cute, but rather schmaltzy.
@daninternational (2) has words that might actually come from Ana Raquel too! - What a comedown after Vamos a la playa. Ennuyeuzzzzz
@pop3blow2 (8.7) - is totally here for some Roch Hard Times! Dddd - A nice little song that gives me 90s U.S. country vibes.
@Phonetics Girl (5.9) does not stan the Quebecois accent! -: Him missing his articles shouldn't bother me as much as it does.
@MilesAngel (5.5) points out Country isn’t for everyone! - This is pleasant but a bit bland and feels too 'country' for me.
@berserkboi (10) succinctly sums up my essay! - I know the English parts are not as strong as the French parts but the effect this gorgeous melody has is undeniable. And Roch was the definition of a hunk back in the day!
Mr Voisine in concert - beautiful! Listen to that crowd go wild when the opening chords kick in!
