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My Heart Will Go On

"My Heart Will Go On" is a song recorded by the Canadian singer Celine Dion as the theme for the 1997 film Titanic. It was composed by James Horner, with lyrics by Will Jennings, and produced by Horner, Walter Afanasieff and Simon Franglen.[1][2] "My Heart Will Go On" was released as a single internationally by Columbia and Epic on November 24, 1997, and was included on Dion's fifth English-language album, Let's Talk About Love (1997), and the Titanic soundtrack.

"My Heart Will Go On"

November 24, 1997

1997

  • 4:40 (album version)
  • 5:11 (soundtrack version)

Horner composed the basis of "My Heart Will Go On" as a motif used in the Titanic soundtrack, and suggested developing it into a song. The director, James Cameron, felt a pop song would be inappropriate for the film, but agreed after hearing the demo. The final version was arranged by Afanasieff. The music video was directed by Bille Woodruff.


"My Heart Will Go On" is considered Dion's signature song.[3] It topped the charts in more than 25 countries and was the best-selling single of 1998.[4] With worldwide sales estimated at more than 18 million, it is the second-best-selling single by a woman in music history and one of the best-selling singles of all time.[5][6] It was included in the list of Songs of the Century by the Recording Industry Association of America and the National Endowment for the Arts. Dion performed the song to honour the 20th anniversary of the film at the 2017 Billboard Music Awards.[7]

Writing and recording[edit]

Before the release of the film Titanic, studio executives worried that it would be a commercial failure.[8] Sony had paid $800,000 for the rights to the soundtrack album and were hoping it would include a theme song.[8] However, the director, James Cameron, felt that ending Titanic with a pop song would be inappropriate.[8]


James Horner initially composed the music for "My Heart Will Go On" as an instrumental motif for the film soundtrack.[8] Wanting to prepare a vocal version to use during the end credits, he enlisted the lyricist Will Jennings, who wrote the lyrics "from the point of view of a person of a great age looking back so many years".[9]


The song was originally intended for the Norwegian singer Sissel Kyrkjebø.[10][11][12]Simon Franglen, who was working with Horner on electronic textures and synthesizers for the film score, suggested Céline Dion, with whom he had worked on many of her hits.[13] Dion initially did not want to record it, as she had already recorded the film songs "Beauty and the Beast" and "Because You Loved Me".[9] However, her husband and producer, René Angélil, convinced her to record a demo.[8]


Horner waited until Cameron was in an appropriate mood before presenting him with the demo.[8] After listening several times, Cameron approved it, but worried that he might be criticized for "going commercial at the end of the movie". Cameron also wanted to appease the anxious studio executives and "saw that a hit song from his movie could only be a positive factor in guaranteeing its completion".[14]


The producer Walter Afanasieff was not impressed with the demo, finding it meandering and dreary, but agreed to arrange and produce the studio version.[8] He replaced every part of Horner's demo, and was upset that Horner was given a co-producer credit.[8]


According to the music executive Tommy Mottola, Dion recorded her vocal in one take, and that demo is what was released in the film. However, Dion re-recorded the song for her album release after the film's release and its success. This was an edited version with a few note changes at the end of the song.[8]

Critical reception[edit]

AllMusic senior editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote that the song "shines the most brilliantly" and marked it as a standout track from the Let's Talk About Love album.[23] Another AllMusic reviewer, single editor Heather Phares, who rated the single 4 out of 5 stars, wrote, "Indeed, her performances of it on VH1 Divas, the 1998 Academy Awards (wearing the film's 'Heart of the Ocean' pendant, no less), and on her 1997 album Let's Talk About Love have cemented 'My Heart Will Go On' as the quintessence of Dion's sweeping, romantic style".[24] Larry Flick from Billboard called it a "stately ballad", noting that the song "woos with romantic lyrics and a melancholy melody that is fleshed out with a weeping flute solo." He added, "There's no denying that Dion can hit notes that shatter glass—and she does so here—but it's a pleasure to hear her build slowly and remind listeners of her ability to pack volumes of emotion in a whisper. A fine single that will add a much-needed touch of class to every station it graces."[25]


Music Week named it 'Single of the Week' and gave it five out of five, writing that "Dion delivers another stunning vocal on an Irish-style production".[26] The magazine's Alan Jones felt the Celtic stylings "help the record build from quiet beginnings into a most powerful, stirring ballad, with Dion's voice adapting to whatever is required, from gentle breathiness to full throttle."[27] People Magazine stated that "the dramatics are fitting when she sings "My Heart Will Go On" as a survivor mourning the lover she lost when the big ship went down."[28] Yahoo.com described it as an "emotional power ballad that perfectly captured [Titanic's] romantic yearning".[9] Vulture said that it is a powerful song and has "one of the most glorious key changes in recorded music history", and that "its legacy is eclipsed only by" Whitney Houston's "admittedly far superior" song "I Will Always Love You".[29] Washington Post appreciated how the song was not just tagged on the end of the three-hour film, but has a lyrical motif that was already placed throughout the key moments of the film's love story in order to create a musical narrative.[30]


The song has also received some criticism. In 2011, Rolling Stone readers ranked it the seventh worst song of the 1990s, with the magazine writing, "Celine Dion's song and the movie have aged very poorly...Now [the song] probably just makes you cringe."[31] The Atlantic attributed the song's decline in popularity to its overexposure and added that over the years there have been many jokes that parody the song's lyrics by claiming "My Heart Will Go On" goes "on and on and on".[32] Vulture reasoned that it has become fashionable to dislike the song because it "encapsulates most everything that once-enthusiastic moviegoers now dislike about Titanic: it's outdated, cheesy, and overly dramatic".[29] Maxim deemed it "the second most tragic event ever to result from that fabled ocean liner".[32]

Cultural impact[edit]

The song became "imprinted on the movie's legacy", and every listen prompts a reminder of the blockbuster and the hype surrounding it.[32] USA Today agreed that the song will be forever tied to Titanic.[56] The Washington Post says it is the marriage of music and image that make both the song and film greater than the sum of their parts.[30]


Los Angeles Times stated that: "My Heart Will Go On helped make 1998 an amazing year for big pop ballads."[57] The Atlantic stated that its popularity did not stem from being played at events such as high school proms, weddings, and funerals, but by being indelibly placed into pop culture through numerous plays on the radio station, speakers, and passing cars.[32] Anne T. Donahue from TrackRecord called it "The Greatest Movie Ballad Of All Time" stating: "It changed the game for movie ballads altogether, and the impact was felt immediately."[58] MTV listed "My Heart Will Go On" as the sixth biggest song of the '90s.[59]


In New Zealand, "My Heart Will Go On", along with Dion's rendition of "The Power of Love", are favorites of siren kings, a Pasifika youth subculture originating in South Auckland who stage modified vehicle public address system loudspeaker competitions. The song is a staple of the competitions, due to the purity and clarity of Dion's voice suiting the audio range for public address systems.[60][61] The song is played at full volume through speakers attached to cars in the small hours of the morning, in a contest by siren kings to produce the loudest sound.[62][63]


In the late 2010s, a pop culture trend emerged on platforms such as YouTube in which the song's iconic key change would be edited in as the soundtrack to a dramatic moment from a sporting match, such as a match winning shot.[64][65] During the COVID-19 pandemic, Barcelona pianist Alberto Gestoso performed "My Heart Will Go On" for his quarantined neighbors.[66] In 2021, the DJ at the January 6 Trump rally in Washington, D.C. played "My Heart Will Go On" to the crowd.[67]


The film Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar (2021) featured a remix of the song.[68] Bruno Mars opened his first show since early 2020 at MGM, in continuation of his Las Vegas residency and did a rendition of the song.[69] Ariana Grande sang the song with James Corden on a segment at The Late Late Show with James Corden.[70]

Music video[edit]

The accompanying music video for "My Heart Will Go On" was directed by Bille Woodruff and shows Dion singing at the bow of the ship while scenes from the film are inter-cut in between.[71] It was filmed in front of a green screen in Los Angeles. Titanic computer artists filled in the background. On set, Celine provided one special effect, it required her to sing a high speed version of the signature song.[72] In January 2018 the director's cut of the music video appeared on YouTube.[73] It contains unseen footage of Celine including her walking to the bow and a segment which puts her right into the movie.[74]


On March 23, 2023, a new music video was released to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Dion's performance of the song at the 70th Academy Awards. The video features alternate never-before-seen footage from the video shoot and was restored from its original 35mm elements to 4K resolution.[75][76]

Album appearances[edit]

The music video was included on the All the Way... A Decade of Song & Video DVD and on the Titanic (Three-Disc Special Collector's Edition) DVD release on October 25, 2005. In addition to Dion's Let's Talk About Love and the Titanic soundtrack, "My Heart Will Go On" appears on several other albums, including VH1 Divas Live, Au cœur du stade, All the Way... A Decade of Song, A New Day... Live in Las Vegas, Complete Best, My Love: Essential Collection, Taking Chances World Tour: The Concert, and Céline... une seule fois / Live 2013. It was also included on the DVDs for Au cœur du stade, All the Way... A Decade of Song & Video, Live in Las Vegas: A New Day..., and Celine: Through the Eyes of the World.


It was included later on the Back to Titanic second soundtrack album, but it does not appear on the 20th anniversary edition. In France, "My Heart Will Go On" was released as a double A-side single with "The Reason". In the Let's Talk about Love album booklet, the lyrics of the song contain an additional line between a second chorus and the final verse. The words "There is some love that will not go away" are not performed by Dion in any available version of the song, however, they are still included on Dion's official site.

– vocals

Celine Dion

– arrangements, keyboards, drum programmer, Hammond B-3 Organ, synth bass, producer

Walter Afanasieff

Leslie Ellis, Jeanie Tracy, Konesha Owens and Claytoven Richardson – background vocals

Skyler Jett

– composer

William Ross

Tony Hinnigan –

pennywhistle

Paul Peabody –

Irish fiddle

– keyboards, drum and computer programmer, sound designer

Dan Shea

– guitar

Dann Huff

David Gleeson, – recording engineering

Humberto Gatica

Chris Brooke, Ethan Schofer, Glen Marchese, Greg Thompson, Tony Gonzalez and Tyson Leeper – assistant engineer

Emile Charlap – contractor

– music, producer

James Horner

– lyrics

Will Jennings

– producer

Simon Franglen

Rapkin, Mickey (May 18, 2017). . Billboard. Billboard. Retrieved May 22, 2017.

"The Oral History of Celine Dion's 'My Heart Will Go On': Controversies, Doubts & 'Belly Pains' in the Studio"

on YouTube

Céline Dion – My Heart Will Go On (Official Audio)