Decades Later, No Movie Theme Song Has Topped Titanic And Celine Dion
Let's be honest: James Cameron's "Titanic" was sold off the back of the Celine Dion music truck. Sure, "Titanic" remains the third highest-grossing film ever, behind only "Avengers: Endgame" and Cameron's own "Avatar." And yes, the movie did receive 14 Academy Award nominations, winning 11 of those awards so that it's still tied with "Ben-Hur" and "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" for the most wins in Oscar history. But of all the categories "Titanic" was nominated in, writing wasn't one of them. The secret to its success sure as heck wasn't lines of questionable, Cameron-penned romance dialogue like:
"Rose, you're no picnic, alright? You're a spoiled little brat, even, but under that, you're the most amazingly astounding, wonderful girl — woman — that I've ever known."
In 2023, ahead of the 25th-anniversary theatrical rerelease of "Titanic," Cameron himself acknowledged that it was at least "cringe-worthy" of him to quote his own dialogue in his 1998 Oscar acceptance speech, where he infamously declared himself, not only the year's best director, but "the king of the world." Say what you will about his technical prowess as a filmmaker, but Cameron's writing skills outside the '80s and '90s action genre aren't necessarily his strong suit.
"My Heart Will Go On," on the other hand, is an expertly written pop song.
My box office will go on
With music by the late film composer James Horner (based on his soundtrack motif for "Titanic") and lyrics by William Jennings (who also wrote the lyrics to Eric Clapton's "Tears in Heaven"), "My Heart Will Go On" took the radio by storm and won both a Grammy and an Oscar. That's half an EGOT, right there.
Celine Dion was no stranger to hit movie themes, having ridden her pop duet of "Beauty and the Beast" with Peabo Bryson to the top of the Billboard charts. Yet, it's still amazing to think Dion recorded her vocals for the film demo of "My Heart Will Go On" in one take, only later going back to re-record some of them for the album version.
While Dion herself didn't write the ballad, it remains her signature song and is second only to Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You" (from "The Bodyguard" soundtrack) as the all-time best-selling physical single by a female artist. FYI: "The Bodyguard" came out in 1992, and since 1997, when "My Heart Will Go On" first lit up the charts, no movie theme song has ever been able to top it.
Music can sometimes be manipulative in movies, giving the viewer emotional cues, telling them how to feel, but in "Titanic," that was an asset, since it was really the music that left moviegoers weeping profusely.
Going on past death
For some people, "My Heart Will Go On" may have been one of those treacly love songs that got overplayed till you got sick of hearing it. However, its sheer, unstoppable tenacity as an earworm reflects the song's own lyrical concerns.
In "The Bodyguard," the poignancy of the theme song derives from Whitney Houston and Kevin Costner's characters going their separate ways at the end of the movie. They say their goodbyes, but she'll always love him and he'll at least live to guard bodies somewhere else.
"Titanic" twists the knife a little further by having Jack, played by heartthrob-turned-serious-dramatic-actor Leonardo DiCaprio, die a cold, shivering death in icy waters. He sacrifices himself to save Rose (Kate Winslet), and so the idea of the heart going on becomes a statement of the power of love to conquer not only distance, but also death and the gulf of time (keeping in mind that Dion had another hit song that was a testament to "The Power of Love"). It's an idea not dissimilar from the one put forth in the Dylan Thomas poem, "And death shall have no dominion," which George Clooney quoted in the 2002 remake of "Solaris," co-produced by Cameron.
In my heart of hearts (which I hope will go on), I'll always believe "L.A. Confidential" should have won the Oscar for Best Picture over "Titanic" back in 1998. And even as a fan of movies like "Aliens" and "Terminator 2: Judgment Day," I couldn't give two figs about anything James Cameron has directed since "Titanic." If he wants to make "Avatar" movies until the day he dies, so be it.
As for me and my house, we'll be at karaoke, singing and indeed fully emoting, "My Heart Will Go On."