My Heart Will Go On - History

History

James Horner had originally composed the song as an instrumental motif that is used in several scenes during Titanic. He then wanted to make a full vocal song out of it, for use in the end credits of the film. Director James Cameron did not want such a song, but Will Jennings went ahead anyway and wrote the lyrics. When Dion originally heard the song, she did not want to record it. Horner showed the piano sketch to Simon Franglen, who was working with him on electronic textures and synthesizers for the film score. Franglen had worked with Celine Dion for several years on many of her major hits to date. He programmed and arranged an extensive demo to take to Dion. Her manager and husband René Angélil convinced her to sing on this demo version, which was something she hadn't done for many years. Horner waited until Cameron was in an appropriate mood before presenting him with the song. After playing it several times, Cameron declared his approval, although worried that he might be criticised for "going commercial at the end of the movie." Cameron also wanted to appease anxious studio executives and "saw that a hit song from his movie could only be a positive factor in guaranteeing its completion."

The original Horner/Franglen produced version of the ballad appears on the Titanic soundtrack 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. The single 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 appears on the 4-track maxi single as well as on Dion's album, Let's Talk About Love. 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.

The music video was directed by Bille Woodruff and released at the end of 1997. It was included later on the All the Way… A Decade of Song & Video DVD. 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 Au cœur du stade, All the Way… A Decade of Song, A New Day... Live in Las Vegas, Complete Best, My Love: Essential Collection, and Taking Chances World Tour: The Concert. It was also included on the following DVDs: Au cœur du stade, All the Way… A Decade of Song & Video and Live in Las Vegas - A New Day....

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 dialog from the Jack and Rose lead characters in the film inserted in between Dion's vocal lines. It was included later on the Back to Titanic second soundtrack album. In France, "My Heart Will Go On" was released as a double A-side single with "The Reason."

Coincidentally, some survivors of the Costa Concordia disaster, which has drawn comparisons to the Titanic disaster, have claimed that the song was playing in a restaurant when Italian cruise ship Costa Concordia first made impact with a rock, which eventually caused the ship to partially sink on the night of January 13, 2012.