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 in France, topping the chart for six nonconsecutive weeks, and remains Feldman's signature song and a classic of 1980s French music.

Song information

The lyrics were written and the music composed by Feldman himself and the famous songwriter Jean-Marie Moreau. According to the expert of French chart Elia Habib, the song is a "romantic ballad, whose identity remains a salve savour in the subject as well as in the musical coloration". The song is based on a pun and all the text is declined as well, juggling with the likeness and the consonance of terms between them. The part played by the violins was written by Thierry Durbet.

The song was also included on the singer's best of, Two Feldman.
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 performances

In France, the single started at #38 on 23 November 1989, then climbed quickly and entered the top ten three weeks later. It was blocked for four weeks at #2 by Roch Voisine's huge hit "Hélène". Then it reached #1 for four weeks, was displace by "Hélène" for two weeks, then returned at the top of the list for two additional weeks. Almost continual dropping from the list followed and left the chart after 23 weeks. It achieved Gold status awarded by the SNEP and is currently the 548th best-selling single in French recording history.
In 2003, the French program Top 50: 50 numéros 1 de légende revealed that the song was the 26th best received number-one hit of the Top 50 thanks to the votings of the TV viewers.

Track listings

; 7" single
  1. "Les Valses de Vienne" — 3:56
  2. "Les Valses de Vienne" — 4:02
; 7" maxi
  1. "Les Valses de Vienne" — 5:08
  2. "Les Valses de Vienne" — 4:02
; CD maxi
  1. "Les Valses de Vienne" — 3:56
  2. "Longue nuit" — 4:39
  3. "Pour faire tourner le monde" — 3:50
  4. "Les Valses de Vienne" — 4:02

    Credits

Charts

Peak positions

Year-end charts