Kissing You (Des'ree song)

"Kissing You" (or "I'm Kissing You") is a song by British singer Des'ree. It was written by the singer with Timothy Atack for Baz Luhrmann's 1996 film Romeo + Juliet. The song was included on the film's soundtrack album and Des'ree's third studio album, Supernatural (1998). A pop ballad set in the key of A minor, the record uses a simple instrumentation consisting only of piano and string instruments. "Kissing You" featured in Romeo + Juliet when the title characters meet at a ball. The song was well received by critics for its emotional melody and toned-down production. First released as a single in Australia on 24 February 1997, it appeared on the ARIA Singles Chart and the UK Singles Chart. A music video accompanied the single, which included scenes from Romeo + Juliet.

"Kissing You"
Single by Des'ree
from the album William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet:
Music from the Motion Picture
B-side"You Gotta Be"
Released24 February 1997
GenreR&B
Length4:57
LabelSony Music
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Nellee Hooper
Des'ree singles chronology
"You Gotta Be"
(1995)		 "Kissing You"
(1997)		 "Fire"
(1998)

"Kissing You" has been covered by Beyoncé (2007), Taylor Dayne (2008), Stan Walker (2010) and Luke Evans (2019). Beyoncé filmed a music video for her rendition, which she retitled "Still in Love (Kissing You)". The change of title and music video went against copyright terms, and thus Des'ree's publishers filed a lawsuit against Beyoncé and her representatives. Infringing albums were recalled, and both sides agreed that the case be settled out of court.

In January 2019, Atack announced that Des'ree would be re-recording "I'm Kissing You" with conductor Matt Dunkley and engineer Geoff Foster.[1]

Background and composition

"Kissing You" was written by Des'ree and Timothy Atack, and was produced by Nellee Hooper. The string instruments were arranged by Craig Armstrong, while Andy Todd and Jim Abbiss engineered the record.[2] The pop ballad[3] uses only piano and string instrumentation.[4] According to the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com by T C F Music Publishing, Inc., "Kissing You" is set in 12/8 time with a moderately slow tempo of 112 beats per minute. Written in the key of A minor, it has a sequence of Dm7–Am7–G/B–C–G/B–Am7–C/G as its chord progression. Des'ree's voice spans from the low note of A3 to the high note of D5.[3]

"Kissing You" is featured during Romeo + Juliet, directed by Baz Luhrmann, when Romeo (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Juliet (Claire Danes) first meet at a ball at the Capulets' mansion; Des'ree also appears in the scene performing the song.[5][6] The song was featured on the film's soundtrack album,[7] and was included on Des'ree's third studio album, Supernatural (1998).[8] Sony Music released the single via compact disc on 18 June 1997.[9] "Kissing You" was also sold as the B-side to "Life" (1998) in the UK.[10] The musical interlude in the middle of "Kissing You" was used to promote the UEFA Euro 2004.[11]

Reception

New Statesman's Lisa Jardine noted "Kissing You" as "a high point" of the film.[12] J. D. Considine wrote for The Baltimore Sun that "the tremulous intensity of Des'ree's 'Kissing You' has more emotional impact than many films".[13] In a review of Supernatural for Entertainment Weekly, Considine later commended the "throaty emotionalism" with which Des'ree sang "Kissing You".[14] Jim Farber from the Daily News noted the song as the standout track from Supernatural and claimed that it "stands as the only track to deepen the mood, bringing out the indigo pleasures of her voice."[15] The Richmond Times-Dispatch's Kate Lipper called the record "an excellent slow song that you can play nonstop".[16] However, Ann Powers from The New York Times wrote that Des'ree is too melodramatic on "Kissing You".[17] In an interview with The Sunday Telegraph, Charlotte Church described the song as one of her favourites: "This is one of the most beautiful songs I've ever heard. It's an original sound and they sing it so well. There's no beat, it's just a lovely, lulling song."[18]

"Kissing You" debuted on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart at number 42 on the week ending 9 March 1997.[19] It rose to its peak position of number 17 on 20 April 1997, and slipped of the chart in June, having spent 13 weeks on the chart.[19] In December 2010, "Kissing You" entered the UK Singles Chart at number 137.[20] In 2013 Abbey Clancy waltzed to "Kissing You" on the 11th series of Strictly Come Dancing,[21] and the song reentered the UK Singles Chart at number 91.[22]

Music video

The music video for "Kissing You" features scenes of Romeo + Juliet, mainly those when Romeo and Juliet first meet at the Capulets' ball. Interspersed are clips of Des'ree singing the song in an empty building, with water on the floor. Towards the end of the video, some of the final scenes of the film are displayed, and the building that Des'ree is in is illuminated through the windows. The video was included on the film's special edition DVD, released in 2002.[23]

Beyoncé lawsuit

"Kissing You" was covered by American R&B singer Beyoncé, included on the 2007 deluxe edition of her second studio album, B'Day. Beyoncé contributed to the writing and production.[24][25][26] She called the song "a beautiful ballad".[27][28] Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine wrote that the song "sound[s] downright subtle".[29]

A music video for the song was shot and directed by Cliff Watts, who had also shot Beyoncé's Sports Illustrated cover.[25] Filmed on Super 8 in Miami, the video was included on the B'Day Anthology Video Album.[25]

Des'ree's publishers, the Royalty Network, filed a lawsuit against Sony BMG, Sony BMG Sales Enterprise, Beyoncé, B-Day Publishing and EMI April Music, claiming that Beyoncé's cover of the song infringed copyright conditions.[30] On 13 February 2007, Beyoncé's representatives had sought permission to use interpolations of "Kissing You". The Royalty Network offered Beyoncé the use of the song under certain terms. Two of the conditions of the proposal were that the song's title remain the same, and that the song was not published in video form.[26] Beyoncé made no further contact with the Royalty Network, and planned to release "Still in Love (Kissing You)" and its video, regardless of the two requested conditions, which the Royalty Network called "completely unacceptable".[26] The publishing company requested that Sony Music Entertainment (SME)—the parent company of Columbia Records—halt distribution of B'Day with the retitled song. Nevertheless, the album was released on 3 April 2007; the Royalty Network considered the action "willful disregard", and retracted their permission to use the song.[26] The lawsuit, filed on 16 April 2007 in the District Court for the Southern District of New York, sought US$150,000 in damages and a recall of the infringing material. The same day, SME ceased distribution of both the deluxe edition of B'Day and the anthology video album,[26] although the editions had sold over 214,000 copies before the recall.[30] Later reissues of the albums did not include "Still in Love (Kissing You)" and its video, with "If" replacing the track on the B'Day deluxe edition.[31] An injunction hearing was scheduled for 4 May,[26] and later postponed until 14 May 2007.[32] On 12 October 2007, the case was dismissed with prejudice, by agreement of all parties.[33] Beyoncé's father and manager, Mathew Knowles, stated that his daughter did not know about the copyright issues prior to the legal action, and that recording artists rarely involve themselves with such matters.[31]

Track listing
  1. "Kissing You" – 4:56
  2. "You Gotta Be" – 4:06
  3. "Warm Hands, Cold Heart" – 4:35
  4. "Sword of Love" – 4:03
  5. "Livin' in the City" (Meme's Extended Club Mix) – 7:46

Charts
Chart (1997) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[19] 17
Chart (2012) Peak
position
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[35] 83
Chart (2016) Peak
position
France (SNEP)[36] 90
gollark: Integration roles?
gollark: https://discord.com/oauth2/authorize?client_id=509849474647064576&scope=bot&permissions=68608
gollark: ++about
gollark: Also, they have native async/await syntax, although if the ES team were *cool* they would just implement do notation.
gollark: Yes, that's right. Promises are a monoid in the category of endofunctors.

References
  1. Atack, Tim (23 January 2019). "Looking forward to recording strings nxt week in Berlin with Matt Dunkley and Geoff Foster!. Working on a very special new version of a song with singer Des'ree. Watch this space for more details !". @tatackfilmmusic. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
  2. Romeo + Juliet (CD liner). various artists. Capitol Records. 1996.CS1 maint: others (link)
  3. "Des'ree – Kissing You Sheet Music". T C F Music Publishing, Inc. Musicnotes.com. Retrieved 6 January 2011.
  4. Ruggieri, Melissa; Fountain, Leigh Buckley; Bridges, Alex (27 August 1998). "Dishwalla's Now Counting Sheep". Richmond Times-Dispatch. Media General. p. D14.
  5. "Des'ree – Biography". TV.com. Retrieved 26 January 2011.
  6. Yamato, Jen (15 July 2010). "My Movie Crush: Leonardo DiCaprio in 'Romeo + Juliet'". Moviefone. Archived from the original on 9 March 2012. Retrieved 26 January 2011.
  7. "William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet: Music From The Motion Picture (1996 Version) [Enhanced CD]". Retrieved 2 February 2011.
  8. "Supernatural". iTunes Store. Archived from the original on 11 November 2012. Retrieved 2 February 2011.
  9. "キッスィング・ユー [Maxi]". Amazon.co.jp. Retrieved 29 December 2011.
  10. "Life [CD 1]". Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 2 February 2011.
  11. "Craig Armstrong – bridging the music divide". mfiles. Retrieved 28 February 2011.
  12. Jardine, Lisa (18 February 2002). "Labour of love". New Statesman. Retrieved 26 January 2011.
  13. Considine, J. D. (7 November 1996). "CD Reviews – William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet Music from the Motion Picture". The Baltimore Sun (Final ed.). p. 7.
  14. Considine, J.D. (21 August 1998). "Music Review: 'Supernatural'". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 26 January 2011.
  15. Farber, Jim (2 August 1998). "Dull & Daft With Des'ree". Daily News. Retrieved 6 April 2012.
  16. Lipper, Kate (13 December 1996). "'Romeo & Juliet' Soundtrack". Richmond Times-Dispatch. p. F9.
  17. Powers, Ann (2 September 1998). "Critic's Choice: Pop CD's; The Year of the Black Auteur, Soulfully and Seductively". The New York Times. Retrieved 2 February 2011.
  18. Church, Charlotte (11 September 2005). "Load-down – The singer with the 'voice of an angel' picks her favourite downloads". The Sunday Telegraph.
  19. "Australian-charts.com – Des'ree – I'm Kissing You". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
  20. "Chart: CLUK Update 25.12.2010 (wk50)". Zobbel.de. 25 December 2010. Retrieved 2 February 2011.
  21. "Strictly Come Dancing: stunning Abbey Clancy performs 'dance of the night'". Hellomagazine.com. 29 September 2013. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  22. "Official Singles Chart UK Top 100". Official Charts Company. 12 October 2013. Archived from the original on 6 October 2013.
  23. Cinquemani, Sal (29 March 2002). "William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet". Slant Magazine. Archived from the original on 11 January 2011. Retrieved 28 February 2011.
  24. B'Day deluxe edition (Media notes). Sony Music BMG Entertainment. 2007.
  25. Vineyard, Jennifer. "Beyoncé: Backstage at the B'Day Videos". MTV. Archived from the original on 24 June 2011. Retrieved 2 February 2011.
  26. Vineyard, Jennifer (24 April 2007). "Beyonce's B'Day Over? Singer Pulls Deluxe Editions Due To Lawsuit". MTV News. Retrieved 4 February 2011.
  27. "Get To Poppin'". Vibe: 89. June 2007. Retrieved 3 February 2011.
  28. Vineyard, Jennifer. "Beyoncé: Behind The B'Day Videos". MTV News. Archived from the original on 14 December 2007. Retrieved 2 February 2011.
  29. Cinquemani, Sal (7 April 2007). "Upgrade B". Slant Magazine. Retrieved 1 December 2013.
  30. Garrity, Brian; Christman, Ed (27 April 2007). "Beyonce's 'B-Day' Hits Copyright Snag". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media. Archived from the original on 6 July 2014.
  31. Collis, Clark (4 May 2007). "'B'Day' Blues". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 27 February 2011.
  32. "Avril's Merch-Model Search, Plus Nick Cannon, 'NSYNC, Busta, MCR, Fergie, John Mayer, Harry Potter & More In For The Record". MTV News. 8 May 2007. Retrieved 27 February 2011.
  33. The Royalty Network Inc. v. Columbia Recording Corporation et al (S.D.N.Y. 12 October 2007). Text
  34. "Kissing You". Retrieved 26 January 2011.
  35. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
  36. "Lescharts.com – Des'ree – I'm Kissing You" (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved 25 March 2020.

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