About the 'indispensable' song of Valentine's season

“You were my support when I was weak/You spoke for me when I couldn't speak/You led me when I couldn't see/You saw the best in me”… Every Valentine's season, the song Because You Loved Me continues to resound with Celine Dion's sweet voice.

This is the song that helped launch the careers of singer Celine Dion and its composer, Diane Warren.

It can only be Diane Warren

To this day, director Jon Avnet still believes he was very lucky to have a great song like Because You Loved Me. This is the theme song of the movie Up Close & Personal released in 1996.

Before, in each of his films, this director always had the habit of giving many musicians a topic and choosing one. This time, he asked Kathy Nelson, Walt Disney's music director, to recruit talent. "It must be a love song that fully expresses the vivid emotions of the film's content and if necessary, just listening to the song is enough to move the film's content" - director Avnet told Kathy Nelson - it was not an easy request.

Celine Dion and the single “Because You Loved Me”

A number of composers were invited, but none met the initial criteria. Finally, Nelson remembered the name Diane Warren, who had a good hand with many popular movie soundtracks. But Warren was also a difficult person.

After a few phone calls, Warren finally agreed to Nelson on the condition that she be shown the ending of the film, even though she already had the script in her hand. The story reached Avnet, and the director finally agreed.

The two sat down to watch the end of the film together as Michelle Pfeiffer, in her touching performance, looked at Robert Redford with tears in her eyes for what he believed in her for.

It was a gentle Saturday afternoon, the last scene of the movie made Warren cry many times. After watching, only 4 words echoed in her mind: Love and faith.

When she got home that same afternoon, Diane Warren finished writing Because You Loved Me. The first inspiration came from the chorus, then the lyrics, then the rest of the melody, and finally the song title.”

“I wrote passionately for an hour and a half and when I finished it was like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. When I finished it, I believed it would be one of the most important songs of my life.”

Because You Loved Me is written in the form of a love song, gentle and profound. It is the story of a girl who has in her life a man who does everything for her. His sincerity, trust and thoughtfulness melt her and help her overcome all difficulties in life.

After the song was sent, the producer texted back immediately. The song was chosen. Now it was time to find a performer.

Diane Warren, the woman behind many legendary hits

Toni Braxton's unfortunate miss

When asked who should sing the song, Diane Warren was at a loss. She had no idea who would sing it because she had no idea. Finally, Kathy Nelson, Walt Disney's music director, decided on Toni Braxton.

At that time, Toni Braxton was starting to gain popularity with her strong and seductive R&B voice. Toni Braxton immediately agreed to have Nelson perform this song because she really liked the melody of Because You Loved Me. But a few days later, Toni Braxton's producer informed her that she could not sing it because she was finishing an upcoming album and this song had a pop color that was quite different from the R&B that Toni Braxton was aiming for.

This was certainly a sad moment for Toni Braxton as she (later) said that it was a song she liked very much, much better than Un-Break My Heart which songwriter Diane Warren later “compensated” her for. And the sadness was even greater when Toni Braxton learned that the song was soon given to Celine Dion, her biggest rival at the time.

Because You Loved Me fell into Celine Dion's hands almost by fate. At that time, she was preparing to release the album Falling Into You. Everything was done, the release date was set and even the first single was ready. But suddenly Celine Dion heard the demo Because You Loved Me that the head of 550 Music, Polly Anthony, gave her.

After listening to it, Celine Dion insisted on singing this song because she liked it so much. And the person who composed it, Diane Warren, was none other than the person who had composed many songs for Dion on her previous album.

And finally, Because You Loved Me went to Celine Dion. The film's producers also approved of this choice and invited famous producer David Foster to arrange the song.

The result was hardly surprising. After the recording, everyone stood up and applauded. “When you have Celine Dion singing and David Foster behind you, you know it’s going to be a hit,” says Warren. “It was more perfect than I could have imagined.”

And Because You Loved Me was “more perfect” than many people expected. The song reached number one in many countries. In the US, it set a record for being on Billboard for 6 consecutive weeks and sold 2 million copies in a very short time. After that, Because You Loved Me continued to win the Grammy Award for Best Song Written for a Motion Picture and a series of nominations at the Oscars, Grammys and Golden Globes.

And more importantly, this song took Celine Dion and Diane Warren to a higher level in their careers. Celine Dion began to be praised as a diva and Warren was considered a bright hit-maker of American music.

Since then, Because You Loved Me itself has escaped the shadow of the movie and independently become one of the most beloved love songs, especially every Valentine's Day.

According to TT&VH