Armand Van Helden is a house music artist and music remixer whose biggest c… Read Full Bio ↴Armand Van Helden is a house music artist and music remixer whose biggest commercial successes came from his remixes of the 1996 Tori Amos song "Professional Widow", which reached the top of the UK singles chart, and his own track "You Don't Know Me" which was Number 1 in the UK in January 1999.

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.

Why Can't You Free Some Time for Me
Armand van Helden Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

(Sample)
And these
The songs of the people
Simple songs
Works songs
Play songs
Songs of nature

(Vocals)
You say you're busy
I say "It's okay"
But I know that you can
Make time, make plans
Instead you see
Your girls instead of me

Why can't you free some time for me?
Why can't you give me your guarantee?
Why can't you be with only me?
Why can't you see what we could be?

You're working away the day
No time to play
At night I think of you
At the club what can I do?
What can't you make me
Your top priority?

Why can't you free some time...

Why can't you free some time for me? (Why can't you free some time for me?)
Why can't you give me your guarantee? (Why can't you give me your guarantee?)

Why can't you be with only me? (Why can't you be with only me?)
Why can't you see what we could be? (Why can't you see what we could be?)

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to Armand Van Helden's “Why Can’t You Free Some Time for Me” are about the struggle of finding time for a relationship. The song is a plea to a lover, who is too busy or preoccupied with other things, to prioritize the relationship and spend time together. The first verse alludes to the importance of music in people's lives in general, but then the focus shifts to the situation at hand: the singer is feeling neglected by their partner, who is always too busy to spend time with them. The chorus repeats the plea for the partner to create some space for a relationship despite their busy schedules. The second verse describes how the singer thinks of their partner while out having fun but wishes the partner would prioritize the relationship more.

The song speaks to the common experience of balancing work, social life, and romantic relationships in a fast-paced world. The lyrics express a sense of frustration and loneliness that comes with feeling like your partner does not have enough time for you. The song “Why Can’t You Free Some Time for Me” is a classic example of dance music that packs an emotional punch.

Line by Line Meaning

You say you're busy
You tell me that you're occupied

I say "It's okay"
I respond by telling you it's fine

But I know that you can
But I am aware that you have the ability

Make time, make plans
To adjust your schedule and set aside time for us

Instead you see
But on the contrary, you find time to spend

Your girls instead of me
With your friends instead of me

Why can't you free some time for me?
Why can't you spare some time for us?

Why can't you give me your guarantee?
Why can't you assure me of your commitment?

Why can't you be with only me?
Why can't we be exclusive?

Why can't you see what we could be?
Why can't you envision the potential of our relationship?

You're working away the day
You're occupied with work all day