Max Brooks Maxi Lange Popular Books

Max Brooks Maxi Lange Biography & Facts

"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. "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. 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. It topped the charts in more than 25 countries and was the best-selling single of 1998. 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. 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. Writing and recording Before the release of the film Titanic, studio executives worried that it would be a commercial failure. Sony had paid $800,000 for the rights to the soundtrack album and were hoping it would include a theme song. However, the director, James Cameron, felt that ending Titanic with a pop song would be inappropriate. Inspired by a 1979 song titled The Flying Dutchman by the progressive rock group Jethro Tull, James Horner initially composed the music for "My Heart Will Go On" as an instrumental motif for the film soundtrack. 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". The song was originally intended for the Norwegian singer Sissel Kyrkjebø.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. 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". However, her husband and producer, René Angélil, convinced her to record a demo. Horner waited until Cameron was in an appropriate mood before presenting him with the demo. 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". The producer Walter Afanasieff was not impressed with the demo, finding it meandering and dreary, but agreed to arrange and produce the studio version. He replaced every part of Horner's demo, and was upset that Horner was given a co-producer credit. 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. Composition "My Heart Will Go On" is in the key of E major. The verses follow the chord progression of E–Bsus4–Aadd9–E–B, while the chorus follows C♯m–B–A–B. The song modulates to A-flat major. It contains emphasis on the instrumental arranging. Usage of Tin Whistle is prominent, backed by melodic use of strings and rhythm guitars. The song features both acoustic and electronic instrumentation. Dion's vocal performance is described as "emotional" and "demanding" by Pandora Radio. The Horner-Franglen "demo" version of the ballad runs a little over five minutes and has an extended ending with longer, segmented vocalizations by Dion. Franglen mixed the final film and soundtrack version, expanding on the demo and adding orchestra to the final chorus. It is this version which appears on the Titanic soundtrack album and is also played over the ending credits of the film. When the single was to be released to radio, it was produced further by Walter Afanasieff who added string and electric guitar, as well as rearranged portions of the song. This version, which runs a little over four and a half minutes, appears on both the 4-track maxi single and Dion's album Let's Talk About Love. At the height of the song's popularity, some radio stations in the US and the UK played an edited version of the song, that had dramatic moments of dialogue from Jack and Rose, the lead characters in the film, inserted in between Dion's vocal lines. Sissel Kyrkjebø The Norwegian singer Sissel Kyrkjebø was scheduled to record the song for the film in 1997, but Dion's vocals were preferred due to Horner's decision to support Dion's career. In a December 2014 interview, Horner said: "When I had completed the Titanic [film], I had to decide for Celine Dion or Sissel['s] [vocals]. Sissel I am very close, while Celine I had known since she was 18, and I had already written three film songs for [her]. But that was before Celine was known and filmmakers and marketing people had not done what they should have done for Celine and [her] songs. So I felt I owed her a Titanic chance, but I could [still] have used Sissel there". Instead, Kyrkjebø completed much of the score for the soundtrack album, Titanic: Music from the Motion Picture. Dion accepted to sing a demo for the film, despite being initially hesitant to record as she had already done three film songs earlier. Years later, Horner chose Kyrkjebø to perform "My Heart Will Go On" on both world premieres of Titanic 3D (2012) and Titanic Live (2015). Critical reception 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. 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". 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 em.... Discover the Max Brooks Maxi Lange popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Max Brooks Maxi Lange books.