Kiss from a Rose
"Kiss from a Rose" is a song from Seal's second eponymous album Seal (aka Seal II). The song was first released as a single in July 1994. Re-released in 1995, it was included on the Batman Forever film soundtrack, helping it top the charts in the U.S. and Australia. It took the 1996 Grammy Awards for both Record of the Year and Song of the Year. Seal also won Best Male Pop Vocal Performance.
Description
Written by Seal, the single "Kiss from a Rose", the second taken from the Batman Forever film soundtrack, topped the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 for one week in August 1995. It also went to number four on the UK Singles Chart. The single originally made it to #20 in 1994, but upon being re-released after being featured in the film, it reached the top position. It was also nominated for a 1996 MTV Movie Award.[1] Seal talked about the long, strange journey that the song went through on The Brian McKnight Show season finale that aired Sunday, 12:30 A.M., 30 May 2010. He said the song first arrived on the charts at #60 and then got dropped off the charts. It wasn't until he got a call from Joel Schumacher that he wanted to use the song to play over a love scene between the characters played by Nicole Kidman and Val Kilmer. It wound up being moved to play over the end credits and, as Seal said, many people that saw the movie recalled the song and loved it which he admitted wasn't commercial. He also pointed out that the song is a waltz done in 3/4 time.
Music video
Two versions of the music video were produced:
- The original version is set in a photographic studio and was directed by Matthew Rolston.
- The second version was directed by Joel Schumacher and has Seal performing the song beside the Bat-Signal, interspersed with clips from the film Batman Forever. This is the more popular video of the song. The director of photography of this version of the music video was Neil Abramson, backing vocals by several singers including Kelly Parkins an up and coming singer from Plymouth. Oddly enough, the song was scrapped from appearing in the movie (it does appear in the end credits).
Track listing
Between all the formats of the single release, bonus tracks include the non-album tracks "The Wind Cries Mary" (a Jimi Hendrix cover) and "Blues in 'E'"; remixes of "Kiss from a Rose" by Adamski (who produced the original version of "Killer"); and remixes of album track "I'm Alive" by Steve Fitzmaurice and Sasha with BT.
- "Kiss from a Rose" (radio edit) — 3:38
- "Kiss from a Rose" (album version) — 4:47
Cover versions
- Grammy Winning vocalist, Darlene Koldenhoven, recorded her arrangement of Kiss From a Rose on her 2011 CD, Solitary Treasures.
- Guitarist John Williams performed an instrumental version for his album "John Williams Plays The Movies"
- Irish vocal trio Trinití have recorded cover versions of the song.
- Lee DeWyze performed a cover version as his "Songs from the Movies" category entry in the ninth season of the American Idol. DeWyze went on to become the winner in the competition.
- Jack Black performed a cover version on an American Idol charity special in 2007.[2] The judges (Randy Jackson, Paula Abdul, and Simon Cowell) each gave mixed reviews of the performance (Randy said he wasn't feeling it, but that it would help if Black got better pants, Paula gave a negative review, while Simon said that Black sounded better than Sanjaya Malakar). However Seal, being the original artist who wrote and sang the song, had stood up for Black and said it was "the best rendition of Kiss from a Rose [he] ever heard".
- Head Control System released a cover version of the song on their official Myspace.
- The King's Singers recorded a version of the song on their 1999 album Circle of Life.
- Katherine Jenkins recorded her version of the track in her 2007 album Rejoice.
- Finnish symphonic metal Northern Kings recorded a cover version as a track on their second album Rethroned, which was also released as a single.
- Welsh male voice choir Only Men Aloud! also sang an arrangement by Tim Rhys-Evans & Jeffrey Howard on the BBC 1 Show Last Choir Standing in 2008. They subsequently released it on their self-titled début album.
- US soul singer Jazmine Sullivan covered the song for French TV show Taratata. Her performance first aired on 15 May 2009, on French TV and is also available online on Taratata's official website.[3]
- Hank Marvin covered the song on his 2000 album Marvin at the Movies.
- Idina Menzel covered the song during her 2008 Fall tour promoting her album I Stand.[4]
- Japanese artist Angela Aki rendition included Japanese lyrics on her fourth single This Love.
- French Canadian singer Bruno Pelletier covered the song for his 2007 tour of Bruno Pelletier et le GrosZorchestre.
- The song was featured in an episode of the third season of the popular NBC television series Community titled Studies in Modern Movement
Video games
The Batman Forever film edit version of the song is featured in Backyard Football '09.
Charts and sales
Peak positions
| Chart (1994) |
Peak
position |
| Australian Singles Chart |
87 |
| Canadian Singles Chart |
22 |
| New Zealand RIANZ Singles Chart[5] |
24 |
| UK Singles Chart[6] |
20 |
| Chart (1995) |
Peak
position |
| Australian ARIA Singles Chart[7] |
1 |
| Austrian Singles Chart[7] |
3 |
| Belgian (Flanders) Singles Chart[7] |
36 |
| Belgian (Wallonia) Singles Chart[7] |
11 |
| Canadian Singles Chart |
2 |
| Danish Singles Chart[7] |
6 |
| Dutch Top 40[8] |
4 |
| French SNEP Singles Chart[7] |
8 |
| German Singles Chart[9] |
11 |
| Irish Singles Chart[10] |
4 |
| New Zealand RIANZ Singles Chart[5] |
16 |
| Norwegian Singles Chart[7] |
3 |
| Swedish Singles Chart[7] |
8 |
| Swiss Singles Chart[7] |
7 |
| UK Singles Chart[6] |
4 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100[11] |
1 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks[11] |
1 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Top 40 Tracks[11] |
1 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip Hop Songs[11] |
52 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Modern Rock Tracks[11] |
35 |
| U.S. Billboard Rhythmic Top 40[11] |
5 |
| U.S. Billboard Top 40 Mainstream[11] |
1 |
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End of year charts
| End of year chart (1995) |
Position |
| Austrian Singles Chart[12] |
39 |
| Belgian (Wallonia) Singles Chart[13] |
71 |
| Dutch Top 40[8] |
36 |
| French Singles Chart[14] |
41 |
| Swiss Singles Chart[15] |
47 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100[16] |
4 |
End of decade charts
| Chart (1990–1999) |
Position |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100[17] |
58 |
Certifications
| Country |
Certification |
Date |
Sales certified |
| France[18] |
Gold |
1996 |
125,000 |
| UK[19] |
Silver |
1 August 1995 |
200,000 |
| U.S.[20] |
Gold |
25 August 1995 |
500,000 |
|
See also
References
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| Related articles |
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- Complete list
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- Complete list
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