When I Fall in Love


"When I Fall in Love" is a popular song, written by Victor Young and Edward Heyman. It was introduced in Howard Hughes' last film One Minute to Zero as the instrumental titled "Theme from One Minute to Zero". Jeri Southern sang on the first vocal recording released in April 1952 with the song's composer, Victor Young, handling the arranging and conducting duties. The song has become a standard, with many artists recording it; the first hit version was sung by Doris Day released in July 1952.
Day's recording was made on June 5, 1952. It was released by Columbia Records as catalog number 39786 and issued with the flip side "Take Me in Your Arms". The song reached number 20 on the Billboard chart.
A 1996 recording by Natalie Cole, sung as a duet with her father Nat King Cole using vocals from his 1956 version, won 1996 Grammys for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals and Best Instrumental Arrangement with Accompanying Vocal.

Notable recordings

The version of "When I Fall in Love" by English singer-songwriter Rick Astley was released on November 30, 1987, coinciding with the 30th anniversary of the release of Nat King Cole's version of the song. This single is mainly remembered for a closely fought contest for UK Christmas number one. Rivals EMI, hoping to see their act, Pet Shop Boys, reach number one with "Always on My Mind", re-released the version by Nat King Cole. This led to a slow down of purchases of Astley's version, allowing Pet Shop Boys to reach the coveted top spot. Despite selling over 250,000 copies and gaining a Silver certification from the BPI, it peaked in the UK at number 2 for two weeks. The re-release by Nat King Cole reached number 4. Since the single was released as a double A-side, the other half of the single was "My Arms Keep Missing You", which was successful in its own right in Europe. In 2019, Astley recorded and released a "reimagined" version of the song for his album The [Best of Me |The Best of Me], which features a new piano arrangement. On November 24, 2022, the original music video was remastered to 1080p HD for a limited edition 12" double A-side red vinyl issue of the "Love This Christmas" single.

Critical reception

A review in Pan-European magazine Music & Media considered that Astley's cover version as "surprisingly matching the original" and added: "With the romantic string arrangements and Astley's mature vocals, the perfect seasonal single, bound for a no. 1 in the UK". When reviewing the parent album, British magazine Music Week underlined the track, adding that Astley "stretches his vocal chords on a credible and reverent recreation" of Cole's song. In the same magazine, Jerry Smith deemed it a potential hit in spite of "the cloying strings arrangement", and added that this cover was "not a patch" on Cole's original version. Chris Heath of Smash Hits praised the song as "brilliantly effective" with a "plinkety-plonkety orchestration and Rick crooning away, sounding uncannily like a 50 year old Frank Sinatra type". In another issue of the same magazine, Lola Borg considered it as "truly splendid" and added that Astley "ably croons a slushy lump of woefulness" and that this version is similar to the original since "the sweeping strings are exactly the same, note for note".

Track listing

CD single
  1. "When I Fall in Love" – 3:03
  2. "My Arms Keep Missing You" – 6:48
  3. "My Arms Keep Missing You" – 4:58
7-inch single
  1. "My Arms Keep Missing You" – 3:14
  2. "When I Fall in Love" – 3:03
12-inch maxi-single
  1. "When I Fall in Love" – 3:00
  2. "My Arms Keep Missing You" – 6:04
  3. "My Arms Keep Missing You" – 6:43

    Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Chart Position
Belgium 31

Certifications

Celine Dion and Clive Griffin version

The cover version of "When I Fall in Love" by Canadian singer Celine Dion and British singer Clive Griffin was featured in the 1993 romantic comedy Sleepless in Seattle, starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan, and released as a single in July same year. The song was recorded expressly for the soundtrack and was originally intended as a duet between Dion and Stevie Wonder, but according to Dion when she heard the demo performed by Warren Wiebe she preferred that would be her duet with Wiebe. It was nominated for a Grammy Award for [Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal] in 1994, and won a Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist. The award went to David Foster and Jeremy Lubbock. The song appears on both, the Sleepless in Seattle soundtrack, and later on Dion's album The Colour of My Love, released in November 1993. The song was also included on the japanese edition of Dion's compilation The Collector's Series, Volume One, released in October 23, 2000, on the greatest hits Complete Best, released in February 27, 2008, on the 3CD north american edition of the greatest hits My Love: Essential Collection, renamed "The Essential 3.0", released in August 29, 2011, and on the compilation The Best of Celine Dion & David Foster, released in October 19, 2012. The accompanying music video was directed by Dominic Orlando in Hollywood, Los Angeles.

Critical reception

senior editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine remarked that Dion's album, The Colour of My Love, which featured the song, had "careful production, professional songwriting #Celine Dion version|The Power of Love]", and "Think Twice. [J.D. Considine from The Baltimore Sun wrote that "it's no accident that Celine Dion keeps recording all those movie-theme duets -- she's got the perfect voice for wide-screen romance, all unbridled power and telegraphed emotion." He added that "she sounds great, demonstrating the kind of vocal confidence that originally made Whitney Houston a star." Larry Flick from Billboard magazine felt that Dion "is at home within an arrangement of delicate rhythms and sweeping orchestration", while also noting that Griffin's voice "is a pure thrill." Christopher Smith of Talk About Pop Music said that the singers "do credible justice to Nat's signature tune as she remains in subdued and romantic mood for the entire length" of the song.

Commercial performance

"When I Fall in Love" reached top forty in several countries, including number 21 in Canada, number 22 in New Zealand, number 23 in the United States, and number 37 in the Netherlands. It was popular on the Canadian Adult Contemporary chart and the US [Adult Contemporary |Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks], peaking at numbers two and six, respectively.

Live performances

Dion performed "When I Fall in Love" during her The Colour of My Love Tour, Falling Into You [Around the World Tour] and Let's [Talk About Love World Tour|Millenium Concert] in Montreal in 1999. In 1998, Anne Murray performed "When I Fall in Love" with Dion live and included it on her DVD called An Intimate Evening with Anne Murray...Live. Later, this version appeared on Murray's 2007 album Anne Murray Duets: Friends & Legends.

Formats and track listings

Australian and European CD, Japanese mini CD, and US cassette and 7-inch single
  1. "When I Fall in Love" – 4:20
  2. "If I Were You" – 5:07
European CD maxi-single
  1. "When I Fall in Love" – 4:20
  2. "If You Asked Me To" – 3:55
  3. "An Affair to Remember" – 2:30

    Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Release history