“My Heart Will Go On”
Although I fully realize the possibility of having my Canadian citizenship revoked (no laughing matter considering what is going on in the country where I now live), choosing this song for this series was, for me, a no-brainer. And it would appear that my buddy Randy (EclecticMusicLover), my partner in crime for this feature, is way ahead of me on that score considering his post #28 two weeks ago! As I am sure everyone is aware, my featured tune was used as the theme song for the 1997 film, Titanic, which, as Hollywood films go, was a huge success. It is regarded as “one of the greatest films ever made,” grossing in excess of 2.2 billion dollars on a production budget of 200 million! It won all kinds of awards, including 11 Academy Awards (nominated for 14), one of which was for best original song. It has been covered ad nauseum and was played in such a heavy rotation after the film came out, that by the end of the year I wanted to hurl every time I heard the first few bars being played on the radio. To this day, I still have a visceral reaction whenever I hear it.
Despite all of this, there is no doubt in my mind about the impact Céline Dion, born Céline Marie Claudette Dion in 1968, has had on popular music in both of Canada’s official languages. She is often referred to as the “Queen of Power Ballads” because of her “powerful, technically skilled vocals and commercially successful works, which have had a significant impact on popular music.” She was the youngest of 14 children and grew up wearing hand-me-downs and sharing a bed with several sisters. She was bullied at school and called a “vampire” because of her teeth and skinny frame. Dion epitomizes the clichéd “rags to riches” story, and there is no denying her talent and impact. I just can’t stand this song!
The song was composed by James Horner, with lyrics by Will Jennings, and produced by Horner, Walter Afanaiseff, and Simon Franglen. It was released as a single internationally by Columbia and Epic in 1997 and was included on Dion’s 1997 album, Let’s Talk About Love, as well as on the Titanic soundtrack. Given the movie’s and song’s success, it comes as no surprise that “My Heart Will Go On” is considered Dion’s “signature” song, and we all know what that means! When I first started thinking about doing this, I was sure that I would not find anything negative about the song. Well, I was wrong. For whatever it’s worth, in 2011 Rolling Stone readers ranked it as the seventh worst song of the 1990’s, with the magazine chiming in that “Celine Dion’s song and the movie have aged very poorly…Now (the song) probably makes you cringe.” There were other critiques as well, but my favorite has got to be this gem from Maxim, which deemed it “the second most tragic event ever to result from that fabled ocean liner.” Enough said.
Since much of the criticism of the song has to do with the fact that it has not aged well, I wanted to find a recent cover that could stand as an example of that criticism and even manage to outdo the over-wrought emotion (some might say that is not possible) of Dion’s original. I will, as usual, let you be the judge if my choice did just that, but I feel I nailed this one! I will grant you that Italian singer-songwriter, Benedetta Caretta, has a very beautiful voice, and has become, as some say, one of Italy’s beloved artists. Perhaps if her cover was in a small room with just a chair and a microphone, I might be able to forgive the song choice and concentrate on the vocals, but the visuals and the camera work in this 2021 video…again, I will let you be the judge. Enjoy!
Céline Dion. “My Heart Will Go On.” (Official music video HD) 1997.
Céline Dion. “My Heart Will Go On.” (Official 25th Anniversary Alternate Music Video) 2023.
Benedetta Caretta. “My Heart Will Go On” cover 2021.
Los Angeles 2025