Van Helden was born in Boston on February 17, 1970 to a Dutch-Indonesian father and a French-Lebanese mother, but travelled around the world as a child spending time in the Netherlands, Turkey and Italy, as his father was a member of the US Air Force. At the age of thirteen, he bought a drum machine and started DJing two years later.
He returned to Boston in 1988 but also moonlighted as a DJ in Boston clubs. He attended Boston University. He quit his legal review job in 1989 to work as a remixer/producer for Mega-Mixx Productions DJ Remix Service (co-founded by his long time manager, Neil Petricone) where he reworked and re-edited a number of club records for the DJ-only service, including Shawn Christopher's "Another Sleepless Night." He also took up an occupancy at 'The Loft', Boston's leading nightclub.
Mega-Mixx's success was short lived. Mismanagement brought the company to a halt in early 1991. Later that year, he and Petricone, along with founding A&R coordinator, Tony Zeoli, launched X-Mix Productions, a similar DJ Remix service, which still exists today (http://www.xmix.com). Catching the attention of legendary Strictly Rhythm and Nervous Records A&R guru, Glady Pizarro, in 1992 Van Helden released his first official single "Stay On My Mind" under the psuedonym Deep Creed, through Nervous Records.
He released "Move It To the Left" (credited to Sultans of Swing) in 1992 on the Strictly Rhythm label, which became a moderate club hit. His first track to make the Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart was "Witch Doktor" which made the top 5 in 1994.
The success of "Witch Doktor" led to opportunities to remix acts such as The Real McCoy ("Another Night", New Order ("Bizarre Love Triangle"), Blondie ("Atomic), Capella ("U Got To Know"), Lightning Seeds ("Jackie Lucky"), Deep Forest ("Marta's Song"), Jimmy Somerville ("Heartbeat"), Deee-Lite ("Dewdrops In The Garden") and Faithless ("Insomnia"). However, it was the "Professional Widow" remix that established him and became a dance hit around the world as well as a number one hit in the UK. Unfortunately, Van Helden did not receive a penny for this mix as he presented it uncommissioned, and thus was not entitled to compensation. However, it led to work remixing The Rolling Stones, Janet Jackson, Britney Spears and Puff Daddy as well as Daft Punk and the Sneaker Pimps, and adding to his reputation as one of the world's top house musicians.
Within dance music circles, Van Helden is widely credited for the introduction of the U.K. bred Speed Garage sound to the U.S. club scene with incredible set of remixes. The sound, identifiable by its deep bass subtones, long melodic breaks, and devestatingly hard hitting beats are exemplified in the following remixes beginning in 1995 with Jimmy Somerville "Heartbeat"; CJ Bolland's "Sugar Is Sweeter"; Faithless "Insomnia"; Tori Amos "Professional Widow"; Apollo 440 "Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Dub"; and Sneaker Pimps "Spin, Spin, Sugar."
"Cha Cha" was another top ten dance hit from his first album Old School Junkies released in 1996, along with "The Funk Phenomena". A greatest hits album appeared the next year followed by a breakbeat album later in 1997. "U Don't Know Me," a collaboration with vocalist Duane Harden from the album, "2 Futur 4 U," was a number two hit on the Billboard dance chart, a Number one in the UK and a top 20 single on the pop charts in Australia and Canada.
In 1000 UK #1 Hits by Jon Kutner and Spencer Leigh, Armand Van Helden explained, "You Don't Know Me was a perfect example of putting 2 simple things together, the beats from Jaydee's Plastic Dreams and a disco loop from Carrie Lucas."
Van Helden released the Killing Puritans album in 2000 which contained the dance hit "Koochy". His single "Why Can't You Spend Some Time" made the number 34 in the UK in 2001. His New York: A Mix Odyssey album released in 2004 produced two hits:
* "Hear my Name" reached number 7 on the Billboard dance chart, was top 30 on world and internet charts, made number 34 in the UK, and reached the top 40 in Australia; and
* "My My My" reached number 4 on the world internet charts, number 5 in the Belgian and Dutch charts, number 6 in Australia, number 15 in the UK and top 30 in the world dance charts.
In 2010 Van Helden teamed with A-Trak to form the duo Duck Sauce. They had an international smash hit with "Barbra Streisand," which used an ingenious sample from Boney M.
Still In Love
Armand van Helden Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
What I have been put through before
Now it's out of control
I feel the fire breakin' out
As I summon to the ground
I feel my heart go
Ooh, out of my control
I feel the tempt to turn you out
As I travel underground
I see this trouble all around
I have to let you go
I wanna let you
Take good control of me
I feel the fire
Comin' in out of me
You have been through
What I have been put through before
Now it's out of control
I've been over you, you've been over me
I don't know what to do, I'm still in love with you
I've been over you, you've been over me
I don't know what to do, I'm still in love with you
There's a question I must ask
If you travel through the past
Could you change for me?
How different would it be?
Would you love me more or less
Could you handle all the stress
That I put you through
I don't know what to do
I wanna let you
Take good control of me
I feel the fire
Comin' in out of me
You have been through
What I have been put through before
Now it's out of control
I've been over you, you've been over me
I don't know what to do, I'm still in love with you
I've been over you, you've been over me
I don't know what to do, I'm still in love with you
I've been over you, you've been over me
I don't know what to do, I'm still in love with you
I've been over you, you've been over me
I don't know what to do, I'm still in love with you
I've been over you, you've been over me
I don't know what to do, I'm still in love with you
I've been over you, you've been over me
I don't know what to do, I'm still in love with you
The song "Still In Love" by Armand Van Helden featuring Karmen explores the complexities of love and the idea of being in control of one's emotions. The first verse suggests that the singer and their significant other are going through a similar situation, and it's becoming overwhelming. The fire imagery speaks to the passion between the two, but it's getting too intense and is slipping out of their control. The singer feels the temptation to let go of their significant other, but they're hesitant.
The chorus reveals that the singer is in love with their significant other, but they've both been through something together before that has made everything more complicated. The repetition of "I've been over you, you've been over me" suggests that the singer and their significant other have been through all of their ups and downs in their relationship. Yet, despite everything, the singer is "still in love" with their significant other.
The second verse poses a thought-provoking question about whether changing the past would make any difference in the present. The singer wonders if their significant other could love them more or less if they traveled back in time, but the uncertainty in the lyrics suggests that the singer is not entirely sure if going back in time would make any difference. Ultimately, the chorus is repeated several times, emphasizing the idea that the singer is still in love with their significant other, and even though they don't know what to do, they're willing to let them take control.
Line by Line Meaning
You have been through
Acknowledging that you have gone through the same experiences as me
What I have been put through before
Referring to past traumas we have each faced
Now it's out of control
Implying that the situation has escalated and is difficult to handle
I feel the fire breakin' out
Sensing the intensity of the emotions rising to the surface
As I summon to the ground
Feeling overwhelmed and unable to stand
I feel my heart go
Experiencing intense emotions that feel like they are taking over
Ooh, out of my control
Feeling powerless and unable to manage the feelings
I feel the tempt to turn you out
Feeling the urge to push you away
As I travel underground
Feeling like you are moving away from the surface and deeper into difficult emotions
I see this trouble all around
Acknowledging there are problems in the relationship
I have to let you go
Feeling like it may be best to end the relationship
I wanna let you
Expressing the desire to give in to the emotion
Take good control of me
Wanting the other person to lead and guide the relationship
I feel the fire
Referring to the intense emotions
Comin' in out of me
Feeling like the emotions are taking over
There's a question I must ask
Bringing up an important query
If you travel through the past
Asking if they could change something in the past
Could you change for me?
Asking if they would do something differently for the betterment of the relationship
How different would it be?
Wondering how the relationship would have changed if something were different in the past
Would you love me more or less
Asking if their feelings for you would change
Could you handle all the stress
Inquiring if they could handle the difficulties of the relationship
That I put you through
Acknowledging the difficulties of the relationship that you may have caused
I don't know what to do
Feeling uncertain about the current state of the relationship
I've been over you, you've been over me
Acknowledging that you have each thought the relationship was over
I'm still in love with you
Admitting that the love for the other person is still present
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: ARMAND VAN HELDEN, EUGENIO JR. SANCHEZ
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind