Celine Dion - My Heart Will Go On

[johnm1120]

No thread found after 4 searches.

With Titanic being re-released this week, might as well look back on (by most standards) Celine's biggest hit.

The song probably would have been even bigger on the Hot 100 had Sony not discontinued the single after 2 weeks.

Billboard Peaks:

Hot 100: #1 (2 weeks)
Hot 100 Airplay: #1 (10 weeks)
Pop: #1 (10 weeks)
AC: #1 (10 weeks)
Hot AC: #3
Rhythmic: #3
Hot Single Sales: #1
Latin Airplay: #2
Latin Pop: #1
Latin Songs: #1

[Stefan85]

I'm still baffled as to how it did so well on the Latin formats. Maybe the latino adults who grew on 80s music missed that sound?

[Deleted]

It's really just not very good is it? It is fun in a camp way and the melody is strong and everything, but it's essentially crap. The only Celine songs I like in any real way are "Because You Loved Me" and "Falling Into You".

[Deleted]

Kate Winslet last week: "I feel like throwing up when I hear it. No, I shouldn't say that. No, actually, I do feel like throwing up."

Yeah.

[allow that]

Apr 4, 2012 16:29:59 GMT -5 Stefan85 said:

I'm still baffled as to how it did so well on the Latin formats. Maybe the latino adults who grew on 80s music missed that sound?

That's nothing compared to my fondest memory of the song. I remember being in Curacao when the song was at its peak and these rasta men were blasting this like it actually had bass and moving to the imaginary beat in their car. It's funny that a song that sounds like pure schlock now was so transcendental in its day.

[Verisimilitude]

Apr 4, 2012 16:29:59 GMT -5 Stefan85 said:

I'm still baffled as to how it did so well on the Latin formats. Maybe the latino adults who grew on 80s music missed that sound?

That and the "Titanic" movie really WAS everywhere. Even 7 year olds had seen the movie more than once.

[Lozzy]

I absolutely love this song.

[Stefan85]

Apr 4, 2012 17:50:37 GMT -5 allow that said:

Apr 4, 2012 16:29:59 GMT -5 Stefan85 said:

I'm still baffled as to how it did so well on the Latin formats. Maybe the latino adults who grew on 80s music missed that sound?

That's nothing compared to my fondest memory of the song. I remember being in Curacao when the song was at its peak and these rasta men were blasting this like it actually had bass and moving to the imaginary beat in their car. It's funny that a song that sounds like pure schlock now was so transcendental in its day.

I'm latino so that's why I ask that question. ;) The adults in my family who loved 80s American pop music didn't think too fondly of 90s music, but when "My Heart Will Go On" came out, I heard it AT EVERY GATHERING during that 98/99 period as a kid. After they finished dancing to their ridiculous cumbias and salsa, they would try to belt out this song. Some of them had never even seen Titanic believe it or not, but they just loved the "big anthem" vibe of the song.

[horchata]

I never have to hear this song again, though that will never be the reality. I mean... It's alright, but I can think of many other songs by her I like so much more. I still think her self titled era is my favorite from a material pov.

[esoteric76]

It's a classic, will be one of those songs that will go on for generations. Celine was very fortunate to record it and she's expressed her sincere appreciation for that opportunity constantly. It's really nice to hear it when you haven't heard it in a while. Oh, and it works great at funerals too!

[Almost Honest]

I think this song gets a bad rap. It really is a great song, the problem is it had a lot of overexposure. Anyone who says it's crap, well IMHO you don't have very good taste in music.

[Cerbius]

One of the first English songs I listened to as a child. Still love it to this day.

[Soulsista]

It may be her signature song, but it's not even close to being her best.

[JCMF3]

As some have said, this is a song that defined an era or even a generation. You could not go ANYWHERE without seeing or hearing about Titanic in late 1997 and for a couple of years after. The movie was iconic and an absolute monster at the box office and in VHS/DVD sales. The soundtrack was enormously successful (only just recently surpassed for its record of weeks at #1 on BB200). The song also hit during a time when it seems like movie soundtrack hits were just overflowing on radio (in 1998, this, Iris, Uninvited, and I Don't Wanna Miss A Thing all hit #1 on pop, the last 3 in order).

Back to the song - I loved the song (the 'original' and the 'remix' with the movie clips in it). And when I hear it today, I am instantly taken back to the first time I saw the movie and all of the memories of 1998. That feeling, I imagine, is very common for people who hear this song.

[esoteric76]

^ My absolute favorite MHWGO memory (and I have many since I've seen this woman in concert several times), is definitely when she did it live on NYE, broadcast from Canada, right before she took her two year sabbatical. She sang it on a heart-shaped stage, in the round, and everyone had lighters on, and she basically said "goodbye" to everyone (at least for a little while). I was a mess that night.

[Soldado de Juguete]

OMG! I love this song :') it's beautiful <3 it makes me cry :'(

[Deleted]

I will NEVER understand the hate for this. This is one of the very first songs I loved as a kid and I still love it now.

[jenglisbe]

In terms of the production and melody/structure, it sounds like a classic. The lyric is truly terrible, though. "Love was when I loved you"...WTF?

[Ling-Ling]

I mean, you can't deny this is a classic. And probably one of the most well-known songs of my generation. That movie was such a huge moment and gave the song so much more life than it would have ever had on it's own and kind of solidified it's place in pop culture eternally.

That being said, I don't care for it and about 99% of her discography.

[Dreams]

A classic no doubt about it.

I like it just fine, it's far from a favorite of mine by Céline though.

[Choco]

Not a huge Celine fan, or this song, but it's a classic and it really worked well with that film.

Will end up as her signature song, even if commercial availability for the single resulted in only 2 weeks at #1.

[toomuchboy]

It doesn't bother me as much as it apparently does other people, lol. Not my favorite of hers, but I've always been fond of it. I guess maybe it depends on whether or not you hated Titanic at the time, too.

[jenglisbe]

Apr 24, 2017 15:42:04 GMT -5 toomuchboy said:

It doesn't bother me as much as it apparently does other people, lol. Not my favorite of hers, but I've always been fond of it. I guess maybe it depends on whether or not you hated Titanic at the time, too.

I like Titanic and thing the score is amazing, and in terms of the music, I love "MHWGO." Those lyrics are just terrible, though, and keep me from loving the song overall.

[Deleted]

I strongly dislike this song though it’s probably because how personal this was in my life at the time. I’m not shocked that it performed so well however.

[𝓲𝓽'𝓼.𝓰𝓿]

Seriously love this song. I may not born in the 90s but growing up I've been listening to songs like this and they are beautiful. I still listen to this today.

[🇯🇲 dollybaby 🇯🇲]

Apr 24, 2017 15:06:35 GMT -5 Dreams said:

A classic no doubt about it.

I like it just fine, it's far from a favorite of mine by Céline though.

Same. It's really sad that her other hits get overshadowed by this, like it's the only song she had ever put out.

[Deleted]

[disman00911]

I hated this song with a passion when I was younger.  Titanic mania all over the AC stations and on B96 in my market.  There was also a dance version of this song that I think got airplay on the B96 lunch party/traffic jam mixes then.  I can now tolerate most Celine songs but this one still drives me crazy due to overplay and the last part of the song.

On a side note, there was a song on the Metal Gear Solid series (though I heard it playing Super Smash Bros Brawl back then as Snake was a playable erd Party character) "Calling to the Night" sung by Natasha Farrow that sounds remarkably similar to "My Heart Will Go On".  Such an unfitting song to play while Mario, Link, Pikachu and Donkey Kong are fighting to the death.  There was a mashup of the two songs on YouTube but it must had been removed.  The songs actually blended well together.

Metal Gear Solid soundtrack - "Calling To the Night"
www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrdCwcdf34g

[🅳🅸🆂🅲🅾]

Loved it then and I still love it now. I was a fan of club mixes by Richie Jones, Soul Solution, and Tony Moran. Tony's remix has additional backing vocals he had some of his in-house vocalists (Cindy Mizelle, Michelle Weeks, Nicki Richards, etc.) do to further enhance the mix.

---

Some info about the song that many may not know.

Celine didn't want to record the song. She didn't see the appeal of it at the time. Her husband Rene suggested she should just do a quick demo just to see how it turns out. She only sang it one time and the vocals from that demo were what was used in the released version. The soundtrack version is a finished version of the demo. Then that was fully produced for the album version with an orchestra and backing vocalists.

The official club remix package with mixes by Matt Piso & Vito DeLaura, Richie Jones, Soul Solution, and Tony Moran were commissioned by the label only after a whole slew of Dance covers were produced and flooded the market. They had not planned to order mixes but felt it was necessary because those covers were just not that good and it would be a wasted opportunity if they didn't. The remixes were released some time after the song had begun to complete its run on the chart, but that didn't hinder the success of the mixes.

[someguy]

One of the best from one of the best. This was inescapable in 1998, and really did overshadow a lot of her output, but is such a memorable song. It will always be one of the defining songs of that time period for me.