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.
You Don’t Know Me
Armand van Helden Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
No, I ask you what is man's problem with me
You don't even know me
You say that I'm not living right
You don't understand me
So why do you judge my life?
You say that I'm not living right
You don't understand me
So why do you judge my life?
I don't ask for nothing
I'm always holding my own
Everytime I turn around
There's something
People talking about what they don't know
And when I try to move on up
They always pulling me down
I'm tired and I've had enough
It's my life
And I'm living it now
You don't know...
You don't even know me
You say that I'm not living right
You don't understand me
So why do you judge my life?
You don't even know me
You say that I'm not living right
You don't understand me
So why do you judge my life?
I always wonder why
People try to hurt me
No happiness in their own lives
So they act by all their jealousy
Who are you to say that I'm living wrong
Always telling me what to do
I decided, I gotta be strong
What made you think that I needed you
You don't know me
You don't even know me
Oh, you don't know me
You say that I'm not living right
You don't understand the way that I feel
You don't understand me
You can't even see the way I feel
So why do you judge my life?
Oh, yeah, you don't know me
You don't even know me
You say that I'm not living right
You don't understand me
You don't understand
So why do you judge my life?
So why do you judge my life?
You don't even know me
You don't know me
You say that I'm not living right
You say I'm not living right
You don't understand me
You don't understand, yeah
So why do you judge my life?
You don't even know me
You don't even know...
You say that I'm not living right
While I'll be go with you
You don't understand me
Tell me who...
So why do you judge my life?
You say they judge my life
You don't even know me
You say that I'm not living right
I don't ask for nothing
You don't understand me
So why do you judge my life?
But give me...
Being down, down, down, down
You don't even know me
Are you think what you talk about
You say that I'm not living right
You don't understand me
You don't understand
So why do you judge my life?
Why do you judge my life?
You don't even know me
The way you can do
You say that I'm not living right
But I'll be go with you
You don't understand me
You don't understand me
So why do you judge my life?
So why do you judge my life?
Oh... tell
Who are you?
You say I'm not living right
Everything I try to do
You haven't walked in my shoes
I'm gonna move on
It's my life, it's my life
It's my life, it's my life
It's my life, it's my life
Aaah!
You don't even know me
You say that I'm not living right
You don't understand
You don't understand me
So why do you judge my life
Everything I try to do, oh
You don't even know me
Oh, you really fuck around
You say that I'm not living right
When I'm going in
You don't understand me
And a lot of my problems
So why do you judge my life?
I need any friend
You don't even know me
You say that I'm not living right
You don't understand me
So why do you judge my life?
The lyrics to Armand Van Helden's "You Don’t Know Me" deal with the issue of judgment and how people often form opinions about someone without truly knowing them. The song begins with a question about what the problem is with man, and the response is to ask why man has a problem with the singer. This sets the stage for the rest of the song, which argues that people are quick to judge and criticize others without understanding their circumstances.
The first verse features the singer expressing frustration that people are judging them without really knowing who they are or what they are going through. The chorus reinforces this idea, emphasizing that the judgment is unwarranted because those people don't truly understand the singer's life. The second verse delves deeper into the singer's frustration and asks why people try to hurt them, suggesting that it is rooted in jealousy or some other source of unhappiness.
Line by Line Meaning
What is my problem with man, you ask?
I ask you what is man's problem with me
You don't even know me
You say that I'm not living right, You don't understand me, So why do you judge my life?
I don't ask for nothing
I'm always holding my own, Everytime I turn around, There's something
People talking about what they don't know
And when I try to move on up, They always pulling me down
I'm tired and I've had enough
It's my life, And I'm living it now
I always wonder why
People try to hurt me, No happiness in their own lives, So they act by all their jealousy
Who are you to say that I'm living wrong
Always telling me what to do, I decided, I gotta be strong, What made you think that I needed you
You don't even know me
Oh, you don't know me, You say that I'm not living right, You don't understand the way that I feel, You don't understand me, You can't even see the way I feel, So why do you judge my life?
So why do you judge my life?
While I'll be go with you
Tell me who...
Being down, down, down, down
But give me...
Are you think what you talk about
But I'll be go with you
The way you can do
You say that I'm not living right
But I'll be go with you
You don't understand me, So why do you judge my life?
Who are you?
You say I'm not living right, Everything I try to do, You haven't walked in my shoes
It's my life, it's my life
Oh, you really fuck around
You say that I'm not living right, When I'm going in, And a lot of my problems, I need any friend
So why do you judge my life?
Everything I try to do, oh
You say that I'm not living right
You don't understand me, So why do you judge my life?
And a lot of my problems
I need any friend
So why do you judge my life?
Writer(s): Kossi Gardner, Duane Harden, Armand van Helden
Contributed by Leo K. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@rarebird_82
I'm 40 but I hear this and I'm instantly 16, in the club in 1999 after my GCSE exams ❤ WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE!
@warrengomez67
😂 24 years ago ya know lol
@malikking4291
Same age, same feeling, from Canada
@lumkamokoena5964
Almost 40 but I know South 🇿🇦
@nldm8511
Así es 😘😘😘
@heyupthere69
Needing you by David morales aswell makes me feel young again for about 3mins
@naturalbornchiller158
Probably the best house track ever made. No matter how deep you get into house and the whole electronic music culture . This track stands out from the rest. It’s the archetype.
@mrt445
This is the type of house I still want to hear today.
@cinderella5027
I just stumbled on this track for the first time in I dunno 15 or 20 years 🥳🥳🥳🥳 Man I want to relive those days so much there's nothing like the music we felt infuse our soul @ Sona 🥰 This is such an amazing song - when's the reunion 🥳🥂
@user-ot9ic7dh8z
No