Un roman d'amitié (Friend You Give Me a Reason)

"Un Roman d'amitié (Friend You Give Me a Reason)"
Single by Elsa Lunghini and Glenn Medeiros
from the album Elsa
B-side Instrumental
Released 1988
Format CD single, 7" single
Genre Pop
Length 4:20
Label Mercury
Writer(s) Robbie Buchanan,
Diane Warren,
Didier Barbelivien
Producer(s) Robbie Buchanan
Certification Gold France, 1988
Elsa Lunghini singles chronology
"Quelque chose dans mon cœur"
(1987)		 "Un Roman d'amitié (Friend You Give Me a Reason)"
(1988)		 "Jour de neige"
(1988)
Glenn Medeiros chronology
"Lonely Won't Leave Me Alone"
(1988)		 "Un Roman d'amitié (Friend You Give Me a Reason)"
(1988)		 "Never Get Enough of You"
(1989)

"Un Roman d'amitié (Friend You Give Me a Reason)" is a 1988 song recorded by the French artist Elsa Lunghini and the United States singer Glenn Medeiros. The song was released as a single in the summer of 1988 and features on the self-titled LP Elsa.

Background

In 1988, Elsa was invited to a French TV programme to perform her second single, "Quelque chose dans mon cœur". Jean-Pierre Foucault, the host of the show, made her the surprise to invite Glenn Medeiros of whom Elsa was a fan. The two singers got on and finally decided to record two songs together : "Love Always Finds a Reason", written by Diane Warren, which was recorded in full in English-language and added on Glenn Medeiros' album, and "Un Roman d'amitié", whose complete title is actually "Un Roman d'amitié (Friend You Give Me a Reason)", as it appears on the single's cover.[1]

This is a bilingual song that mixes English and French lyrics. The text and the music were composed by Robbie Buchanan, Diane Warren and Didier Barbelivien.

The music video was entirely shot in Los Angeles by Maxime Ruiz. It starts with a view at night on the town, then we see the singers strolling the streets of the city on foot or by bike cross.

Both singers promoted the song in the world, even in the Netherlands. Glenn Medeiros re-recorded the song in a full English version with Ria Brieffies who performed the song with him in the U.S. While the Franco-English version is about friendship, the full English version speaks of love.

Elsa sang live at her concert at the Olympia in 1990 and during the next tour, but Glenn Medeiros was replaced by Roger Secco.

Chart performances

The single achieved a huge success in France. It debuted at number eight on French Singles Chart on 23 July 1988 and reached number two two weeks later. There it stayed for six weeks, behind the summer hit "Nuit de folie" by Début de Soirée, but managed then to top the chart for six consecutive weeks. Certified Gold disc by the SNEP for a minimum of 500,000 copies sold,[2] the single remained on the chart (Top 50) for 25 weeks.[3]

The song is the 167th best-selling single of all time in France.[4]

Track listings

  1. "Un Roman d'amitié (Friend You Give Me a Reason)" — 4:20
  2. "You're My Woman, You're My Lady" (instrumental) — 3:39
  1. "Un Roman d'amitié (Friend You Give Me a Reason)" — 5:25
  2. "Un Roman d'amitié (Friend You Give Me a Reason)" (instrumental) — 4:20
  3. "You're My Woman, You're My Lady" (instrumental) — 3:39
  4. "Pieces of My Dreams" - by Glenn Meideiros
  1. "Love Always Finds a Reason" — 4:20
  2. "Pieces of My Dreams" (by Glenn Medeiros) — 4:01

Charts and sales

Peak positions

Chart (1988) Peak
position
Belgian (Flanders) Singles Chart[5] 9
French SNEP Singles Chart[3] 1
Chart (1989) Peak
position
Dutch Top 40[6] 12

Year-end charts

Chart Peak
position
Belgian (Flanders) Singles Chart[7] 93

Certifications and sales

Country Date Certification Sales certified Physical sales
France[2] 1988 Gold 500,000 825,000

References

  1. ↑ Habib, Elia (2002). Muz hit.tubes (in French). Alinéa Bis. p. 141. ISBN 2-9518832-0-X.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Toutes les certifications depuis 1973" (in French). Infodisc. Retrieved 15 August 2008.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 ""Un Roman d'amitié (Friend You Give Me a Reason)", French Singles Chart" (in French). Lescharts. Retrieved 25 December 2008.
  4. ↑ "Best-selling singles of all time in France" (in French). Infodisc. Retrieved 25 December 2008.
  5. ↑ ""Un roman d'amitié", Belgian (Flanders) Singles Chart" (in Dutch). ultratop.be. Retrieved 7 March 2014.
  6. ↑ ""Love Always Finds a Reason", Dutch Top 40" (in Dutch). Dutchcharts. Retrieved 23 October 2010.
  7. ↑ "1988 Belgian Flanders Singles Chart" (in Dutch). ultratop.be. Retrieved 7 March 2014.
Preceded by
"Nuit de folie" by Début de Soirée		 French SNEP number-one single
17 September 1988 - 22 October 1988 		Succeeded by
"Amor de mis amores" by Paco