"I Drove All Night" is a song written and composed by American songwriters
Billy Steinberg and
Tom Kelly and originally intended for
Roy Orbison. Orbison recorded the song in 1987, the year before his death, but his version was not released until 1992.
Cyndi Lauper recorded the song and released it as a single for her A Night to Remember album. Her version became a top 10 hit on both sides of the Atlantic in 1989 and was also her final top 40 hit on the American pop charts. Lauper still regularly performs the song in her live concerts. The song has also been covered by Canadian singer
Celine Dion, whose version topped the
Canadian Singles Chart and reached number 7 on the US
Adult Contemporary chart in 2003.
"I Drove All Night" was recorded by American singer and songwriter
Cyndi Lauper for her third solo album, A Night to Remember (1989). Lauper said she wanted to do it because she liked the idea "of a woman driving, of a woman in control." The song was a top 10 pop hit in the United States—and was her 8th and last US top 10 single to date, peaking at number six on the
Billboard Hot 100, and also a hit in other countries. It received a
Grammy Award nomination for
Best Female Rock Vocal Performance. The
music video for "I Drove All Night", directed by Lauper and
Scott Kalvert, features the opening lines from the song "Kindred Spirit", shots of an antique car, Lauper's characteristically manic dancing, and movie film projected onto Lauper's naked body.
Critical reception
Billboard reviewer described the music of this work as "yearning crystalline pop/rock" and found Lauper's vocal mature.[1] Jerry Smith, reviewer of British music newspaper Music Week, called Lauper "American with good ear", praised her "assured and dramatic display", expressing an assurance that this "passionate ballad" is "destined to return her to the charts once more".[2] Tim Nicholson of Record Mirror described the song as being "a punchy stab at power-driven west coast rock".[3]
Jeff Lynne sampled
Roy Orbison's 1987 recordings for the 1992 posthumous album King of Hearts, on which "I Drove All Night" was one of the tracks. However, Orbison's version of the song first appeared on the 1991 Super Mario World-themed compilation album Nintendo: White Knuckle Scorin'.[28] Released as a single in June 1992, the song was a significant hit in the United Kingdom, reaching number 7 on the
UK Singles Chart, matching the peak position of Lauper's version three years earlier. King of Hearts and "I Drove All Night" were generally well received in the United States, returning Orbison to the Billboard charts and receiving a
Grammy Award. A music video featuring
Jason Priestley and
Jennifer Connelly was also made for the single, mixed with archive footage of Orbison and included a background reference to the
Mario series.[29][30] The song is featured in the film Paperback Hero, starring
Hugh Jackman.[31]
"I Drove All Night" was recorded by
Celine Dion for her eighth English-language studio album, One Heart (2003), and released as the
lead single on January 21, 2003. The song was featured in a promotional ad for
Chrysler. The "I Drove All Night" music video was directed by Peter Arnell and released in February 2003. It was included on the United Kingdom enhanced double A-side single "
One Heart/I Drove All Night". The song was commercially successful, reaching number 1 for five weeks in Canada, while also topping the charts in Belgium (Flanders) and Sweden.
Background
In 2003, Chrysler signed Dion to a $14 million deal to endorse their cars. They were looking for a song to use in the campaign and release as a single.
Billy Steinberg knew Dion and had written "
Falling into You," which was the title track of
her 1996 album. He sent a copy of Roy Orbison's version of "I Drove All Night" to her record company, who loved it and had Dion record it with Swedish producer
Peer Åström.[42] She used the song in her
Las Vegas show and it became the centerpiece of the Chrysler campaign. The commercials were great exposure for the song and helped sell many albums, but they did not sell enough cars.[43] Chrysler pulled out of the deal after many of their dealers complained and it became clear the ads were not working.[42]
In Dion's version, "I Drove All Night" is
dance-pop.[43] It was also considered "a little bit dance-club, a little bit
rock and roll."[44] In the second verse, Dion duplicates a line as it is heard in Orbison's original recording. Instead of singing, "no matter where I go I hear the beating of our heart," Dion sings, "our one heart," which is where the title of the album the song is featured on gets its name.[43] Like the original, the chorus is sung again twice, which ends the single.[43]
Composition
Dion's version of "I Drove All Night" is set in the key of
G♯ minor. It features a moderately fast
tempo of 135 beats per minute, and her vocals span from F♯3 to E5.[45]
Critical reception
The song received positive reviews from music critics.
AllMusic senior editor
Stephen Thomas Erlewine noticed that the song was "a tongue-in-cheek, neo-house cover" and picked it as one of the best tracks on the album, alongside
the title track and "
Have You Ever Been in Love."[46] Rebecca Wallwork wrote a positive review for
Amazon, calling it "the car-commercial-driven tempo,"[47] while
Jam!'s Darryl Sterdan named it "a
Cher-style
eurodisco."[48]Slant Magazine's Sal Cinquemani echoed the same thought, saying that "she gets the Cher treatment on the blazing cover."[49]People's Chuck Arnold wrote that in the song, Dion "shows surprising restraint for a diva who just had a coliseum custom-built for her."[50]
The Guardian's Betty Clarke wrote a negative review, saying: "Her cover of
Roy Orbison's "I Drove All Night" is full of reverberating notes and sultry asides, but reveals a fundamental lack of sincerity that renders her threatening when she is trying for tender."[51] David Browne of EW gave this cover C+, calling her delivery 'frigid' without over-singing it. He called the arrangement "blandly competent."[52]
Commercial performance
In Canada, the song debuted straight at number one on the
Canadian Hot 100 chart[53] and spent 5 consecutive weeks at the top.[54] "I Drove All Night" was Dion's third airplay-only single that charted on the
Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 45.[55] The commercial single was released five months later reaching number 26 on the
Hot 100 Singles Sales.[56] Because of several club remixes created mainly by
Hex Hector, the song peaked at number 2 on the
Hot Dance Club Play.[55]
In Australia, the song debuted and peaked at number 22 on the
ARIA Charts, on March 16, 2003.[57] The following week, the song dropped to number 35 and it kept fluctuating on the chart for the next two weeks, until it climbed from number 44 to number 43.[57] Later, the song fell to number 49, but it climbed to number 38, the following week.[57] It spent 10 weeks on the chart and it was certified gold.[57][58] In New Zealand, the song debuted at number 48 on the
RIANZ chart, on March 2, 2003.[59] The following week, the song climbed to number 46, while in its third week, it jumped to number 30.[59] After falling to number 32, in its fourth week, the song remained at number 31, for two consecutive weeks.[59] Finally, on April 20, 2003, the song rose and peaked at number 24.[59] The song spent 9 weeks on the chart.[59]
The song was even more successful on the
Belgian Flanders Singles Chart, where it debuted at number 14, on March 8, 2004.[60] The following week, the song jumped to number 4, while in its third week, the song topped the charts.[60] It remained at the top ten for ten consecutive weeks and fifteen overall weeks on the chart.[60] It was certified platinum, for selling 50,000 copies.[61] The song was also a big success in Sweden, debuting at the top of the
Swedish Singles Chart, on March 20, 2003.[62] However, the following week, the song fell to number 12 and in its third week, it fell to number 13.[62] In its fourth week, the song jumped to number 7, but it kept fluctuating on the chart for the next three weeks, until it climbed from number 22 to number 16.[62] It spent 17 weeks on the chart.[62] On the
Danish Singles Chart, the song debuted at number 2, where it remained for three consecutive weeks.[63] Later, it fell to number 5, while on the following week, it fell to number 6, where it remained for another week.[63]
In France, even not reaching the top twenty, the song proved to be strong on the
SNEP chart.[64] It debuted at number 89, however, it fell to number 94 in its second week and to number 97 in its third week.[64] Despite falling for two consecutive weeks and leaving the charts, the song re-entered at number 22, its peak position, on April 26, 2003.[64] It spent 11 non-consecutive weeks on the chart.[64]
Music video and promotion
The music video shot in
Las Vegas, USA on February 2, 2003, was directed by advertising executive Peter Arnell, cinematographed by Rolf Kestermann and edited by Bee Ottinger.[65] An arty little black and white number, it features Dion, some arm stretches and back bends whilst a couple somewhere else seem to be merrily getting their groove on.[66] It was included in the UK Enhanced CD Single of "One Heart". The music video was nominated for the
MuchMoreMusic Award in 2003.[67]
Dion appeared in four commercial spots—all scored with tracks from One Heart including "I Drove All Night"—for
Chrysler, also directed by Arnell and edited by Ottinger, while
Darius Khondji acted as director of photography on the ads.[65]
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