Helena Beat

"Helena Beat" was written by the group's lead songwriter Mark Foster to embody the attitude of the drug culture within Hollywood. Foster says the lyrics—particularly the line "Yeah yeah and it's okay, I tie my hands up to a chair so I don't fall that way"—are meant to express the nonchalant attitude that people have to their destructive tendencies. He said, "They're the young, hot, up and coming, powerful people that are gonna run the world. But they're just going out and doing drugs every night. They're saying it with this big smile of their face like 'I'm great, everything's great,' but don't you see that you're completely out of your mind on drugs right now that you can't even stand?" Foster composed the song using the Logic Pro software; the original project file for "Helena Beat" is included in new copies of the application.{{cite web|url=https://images.apple.com/logicpro/in-action/fosterthepeople/|title=Foster the People: Pumped Up Hits|publisher=Apple Inc.|accessdate=2012-07-05}} "Helena Beat" is an alternative rock song written in F minor with a tempo of 127 beats per minute.

A music video, directed by Ace Norton, to accompany the release of "Helena Beat" was released onto YouTube on July 18, 2011.{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABzh6hTYpb8&ob=av2n|title=Foster the People - Helena Beat|publisher=YouTube|date=July 18, 2011 | accessdate=December 25, 2011}}

The video begins with singer Mark Foster fleeing from a destroyed Los Angeles in a dystopian future along with his dog – inspired by the film Mad Max. On the road out of the city, he finds a baby carriage and goes to investigate. When he gets out of the van, a gang of violent, rebellious children attacks him and takes him hostage while his dog flees. The other members of the band are taken hostage as well. They are then taken to the children's headquarters, where they are tortured, beaten, and abused. Foster is then seated and restrained, he's joined to a strange machine that's also attached to an older man seated opposite him. When the machine powers on, bright bolts of electricity arc back and forth, and the machine looks as if it is going to transform the older man into someone young again by stealing Foster's youth. Instead, it works quite the opposite and when the device is turned off, alternately most of the life is drained from the man (now very old) and Foster is turned into a young boy. After being turned into a child, he is now accepted as one of them.

The song was used in the films 21 Jump Street and Boyhood, as well as the TV series Late Show with David Letterman and The Vampire Diaries

{{Track listing

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| title1 = Helena Beat

| length1 = 4:36

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• Mark Foster – vocals, guitar, synthesizer, percussion, programming, song writer
• Mark Pontius – drums and extra percussion
• Cubbie Fink – bass
• Greg Kurstin – synthesizer, programming

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{{Certification Table Entry|region=Canada|type=single|artist=Foster the People|title=Call It What You Want|award=Gold|relyear=2011|certyear=2012|digital=true}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United States|artist=Foster the People|award=Platinum|number=2|type=single|relyear=2011|certyear=2023|title=Helena Beat|access-date=September 1, 2023}}

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{{reflist|30em}}

• {{YouTube|ABzh6hTYpb8|"Helena Beat" Official music video}}

{{Foster the People}}

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Category:2011 songs

Category:2011 singles

Category:Columbia Records singles

Category:Foster the People songs

Category:American psychedelic rock songs

Category:Song recordings produced by Greg Kurstin

Category:Songs about drugs

Category:Songs written by Mark Foster (singer)