"Pour que tu m'aimes encore" is a French-language song by Canadian singer Celine Dion, recorded for her French studio album, D'eux. It was released as the lead single on 13 March 1995 in Francophone countries and in September 1995 in other European countries. In Canada it was a radio only release. The song was also released in Japan in October 1996. According to Dion, it is the biggest song of her French career. She also recorded it in English as "If That's What it Takes" and included it on her 1996 album, Falling into You.
Background and release
"Pour que tu m'aimes encore" was written and produced by Jean-Jacques Goldman and became one of Dion's signature songs. The lyrics are sung from the viewpoint of a woman who is pleading with her ex-lover that she would do anything for him to love her again. The music video was directed by Michel Meyer and can be found on Dion's DVD On ne change pas. On 27 March 2020, the music video has been remastered in HD quality.
Commercial performance and awards
"Pour que tu m'aimes encore" became a smash hit in France, where it topped the singles chart for 12 weeks, sold one million copies, and became 1995's best-selling single and 1995's number-one airplay song. It spent 15 weeks at the top in Belgium Wallonia and 4 weeks in Quebec. It was certified Platinum in Belgium. "Pour que tu m'aimes encore" also reached top 10 in the United Kingdom and Ireland, which was an exceptional achievement for a French song. According to Virgin17, the single has sold more than 4,000,000 copies, worldwide. In Germany, Austria and Switzerland, "Pour que tu m'aimes encore" charted in 2011, 2012 and 2013, after it was performed on the German Show Das Supertalent by Juliette Schoppmann. The song received a Félix Award for Song of the Year, as well as an award from Trophée Radio France Internationale for " Conseil Francophone de la Chanson". The song also won an award by the Victoires de la Musique for "Best Song of the Year". Since 2012, "Pour que tu m'aimes encore" enters the Belgium Wallonia Back Catalogue Year-end Chart every year.
Other versions and covers
The song was later included in four of Dion's live albums, Live à Paris,Au cœur du stade,', and Céline une seule fois / Live 2013. The song was also featured on three compilation albums including, The Collector's Series, Volume One, On ne change pas, and '.
Live performances
Dion performed the song during her D'eux Tour in 1995, her 1996-97 Falling Into You Around the World Tour, her Let's Talk About Love World Tour in 1998-99, during her first Las Vegas residency show A New Day... at Caesars Palace, Las Vegas 2003/2007 and as well as during her 2008-09 Taking Chances World Tour. She also performed the song at Céline sur les Plaines, which was a concert for Quebec City's 400th anniversary. In 2005, Dion recorded a live version with 500 choristers for the album 500 Choristes avec.... Dion also performed this song during her Summer Tour 2016, in the 2017 European tour, the 2018 tour, and the final year of her Las Vegas residency show, Celine. Dion performed "Pour que tu m'aimes encore" during her BST Hyde Park concert in London on July 5th 2019 and select dates of her Courage World Tour. "Pour que tu m'aimes encore" was covered in 2000 by Elsa Lunghini, Liane Foly and Hélène Segara on the number-on album Les Enfoirés en 2000. Nigerian singer Funke Olayode recorded a Yoruba version re-entitled "To ba J’oun To Gba" in 2001. It was also covered by the operatic pop group Il Divo in November 2005, on their second album Ancora. In November 2006, the music producer Antonis Karalis released his debut worldwide single "To Be Continued" with the Greek version of "Pour que tu m'aimes encore", called "S'Agapo Sa Trelos". The tune has a rock arrangement that combines baglamas and electric guitars. In May 2007, Elena Paparizou released her new single "Fos" with another Greek version of the song called "An Esy M'agapas". Les Sœurs Boulay released an acoustic cover in 2016.
