Wikipedia

Forever and for Always

Not to be confused with Forever and Always.

"Forever and for Always" is a song by Canadian country music singer Shania Twain. The song was released as the fourth single from her fourth studio album Up! (2002), on April 7, 2003; it was also the third to be sent to country radio. The song was written by her then-husband Robert John "Mutt" Lange and Twain. The song is about two people who fall in love as children and are still with each other even as they grow older. "Forever and for Always" was certified gold for 500,000 digital downloads by the RIAA in 2006.[2]

"Forever and for Always"
Alternate UK and European cover, Australian single cover
Single by Shania Twain
from the album Up!
B-side"Nah!"[1]
ReleasedApril 7, 2003
GenreCountry pop
Length4:04
LabelMercury Nashville
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Robert John "Mutt" Lange
Shania Twain singles chronology
"Ka-Ching!"
(2003) 		"Forever and for Always"
(2003) 		"Thank You Baby! (For Makin' Someday Come So Soon)"
(2003)
Music videos

The song received positive reviews, with some reviewers comparing it to her 1998 single "You're Still the One". The song was the best performing single from Up! on country radio, peaking at number four on the Hot Country Songs chart, and was also a number-one hit on the Adult Contemporary chart. The song peaked within the top ten in six countries and peaked at number twenty on the Billboard Hot 100. "Forever and for Always" was later nominated at the 46th Annual Grammy Awards for Best Country Song and Best Female Country Vocal Performance.

The music video for "Forever and for Always" premiered on April 26, 2003 to Country Music Television, which portrayed a couple throughout their life as children, teens, and elders. The video later won the 2004 CMT Flameworthy Video Awards for Female Video of the Year. Twain performed the song on the Up! Tour, her Let's Go! residency, Queen of Me Tour, and her Come On Over residency, while elements of the song were include in a video interlude for "The Woman in Me (Needs the Man in You)" on the Now Tour. The song was later named Song of the Year at both the 2004 BMI Country Songwriter Awards and 2004 European BMI Awards.[3]

Background

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Twain said there is something inspirational to her about people who start relationships when they are kids, and are still in love when they are older.[4] Twain really enjoyed doing the video for the song, because she was able to realize that visually.[4] She said it is one of her favorite songs.[4]

In December 2019, during the Let's Go! residency in Las Vegas, Twain revealed for the first time that the song had been recorded by her friend Prince, but that his version was never released and instead remained part of his private collection. The performance was Twain's first of "Forever And For Always" in over 15 years and was dedicated to the late singer.[5]

Composition

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"Forever and for Always" is performed in the key of G♭ major in 2
2 time following a chord progression of G♭–G♭2–C♭–D♭, and Twain's vocals span from G♭3 to E♭5.[6] The song moves at a tempo of 86 beats per minute.[7]

Music video

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The music video for "Forever and for Always" was shot at Bethells Beach in New Zealand in March 2003. It was directed by Paul Boyd, who shot her "When You Kiss Me" video around the same time also in New Zealand. It debuted on Country Music Television (CMT) on April 26, 2003. The video shows two children at the beach together, then it shows them as teens, and eventually seniors, visualizing the theme of the song of staying together forever. Scenes of Twain at the beach are intercut throughout the video. The video was released with both the 'red' and 'green' versions, with each also having an 'all performance' video of only Twain at the beach. The video released a 'blue' version internationally as well. The video won the Female Video of the Year Award at the 2004 CMT Flameworthy Awards, and was nominated for Video of the Year at the 2003 Canadian Country Music Awards, but lost to another song by Twain, "I'm Gonna Getcha Good!". The video is available on select singles, and the DVD-Audio version of Up!.

Critical reception

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Billboard magazine contrasted the song against the previous two singles, saying it "relies less on cutesy gimmicks (and exclamation marks) and focuses thematically on steadfast love," while comparing it to Shania's earlier singles "From This Moment On" and "You're Still the One".[8] About.com ranked the song 95th for the top 100 pop songs of 2003.[9]

Chart performance

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"Forever and for Always" debuted on the US Billboard Hot Country Songs chart the week of April 12, 2003 at number 60, one of Twain's lowest debuts for a single. It quickly rose up the chart and was a notable hit in a male-dominated year for the genre. Notably for the week of July 5, 2003, Billboard magazine noted that "Forever and for Always" was the only single by a female artist in the top ten of the Hot Country Songs chart that week. She was compared to peers such as Faith Hill and LeAnn Rimes in that they tried to do a crossover to pop music only to be met with mediocre success from both pop and country audiences.[10] The single peaked at number four on the chart for the week of September 6, 2003 where it stayed for one week, becoming the highest peaking single from Up! on the country charts. It stayed 26 total weeks on the chart, one of Twain's longest running singles on the chart and became her 14th top ten single.

On the adult contemporary chart, "Forever and for Always" debuted at number 30 the week of May 10, 2003. The single spent 77 weeks on the chart and slowly climbed to a peak position of number one on November 15, 2003, where it remained for six non-consecutive weeks. "Forever and for Always" became Twain's third number one, sixth top-10 single and seventh consecutive top-20 single.[11]

"Forever and for Always" debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 on May 24, 2003, at number 75. It spent 23 weeks on the chart and peaked at number 20 on September 6, 2003, becoming Twain's fourth-most-successful single on the chart. The single reached number 17 on the airplay chart. "Forever and for Always" became Twain's fourth top-20 single and ninth top-40 single.[12]

"Forever and for Always" proved to be successful internationally, becoming Twain's fifth biggest single in the UK. It debuted on June 14, 2003, at its peak at number six. This made it her seventh consecutive, eighth overall, top-10 single. It remained on the entire chart for 10 weeks.[13] In all, "Forever and for Always" hit the top-10 in six countries: Austria, Canada, Germany, Ireland, Romania, and the UK.

Track listings

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Charts

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Certifications

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Region Certification Certified units/sales
United Kingdom — 91,410[42]
United States (RIAA)[43] Platinum 1,000,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Release history

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Release dates and formats for "Forever and for Always"
Region Date Format Label Ref.
United States April 7, 2003 Country radio Mercury [44]
April 14, 2003 Adult contemporary radio [45]
April 21, 2003 [46]
United Kingdom June 2, 2003
[47]
Canada June 24, 2003 CD [48]
Australia July 7, 2003 CD single [49]
United States August 4, 2003 Contemporary hit radio [50]

References

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  1. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2008). Hot Country Songs 1944 to 2008. Record Research, Inc. p. 196. ISBN 978-0-89820-177-2.
  2. ^ "RIAA website". Recording Industry Association of America. Archived from the original on February 28, 2007. Retrieved March 20, 2022.
  3. ^ "About Shania Twain - the Official Web Site - Awards". Archived from the original on June 16, 2009. Retrieved June 26, 2012. Shania Twain awards
  4. ^ a b c Twain, Shania (2004). Up! Close and Personal (DVD). Universal Music Group Nashville.
  5. ^ Gray, Mark (December 8, 2019). "Shania Twain's 'Let's Go!' Las Vegas Residency: 5 Takeaways From Star's New Show". RollingStone.com. Retrieved December 20, 2021.
  6. ^ Lange, Robert John 'Mutt' (March 10, 2003). "Shania Twain "Forever and for Always" Sheet Music in Gb Major (transposable) - Download & Print". Musicnotes.com. Retrieved August 27, 2016.
  7. ^ "BPM for 'forever' by shania". Songbpm.com. Retrieved August 27, 2016.
  8. ^ Billboard, May 3, 2003
  9. ^ Lamb, Bill. "Top 100 Pop Songs 2003". About.com. Archived from the original on February 3, 2009. Retrieved October 16, 2009.
  10. ^ "Country Women Fall Off Chart" (PDF). Billboard. July 5, 2003. pp. 1, 73.
  11. ^ a b "Shania Twain Chart History (Adult Contemporary)". Billboard. Retrieved April 29, 2017.
  12. ^ a b "Shania Twain Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved April 29, 2017.
  13. ^ "sleep on the left side | full Official Chart History". Officialcharts.com. Retrieved March 20, 2022.
  14. ^ "Shania Twain – Forever and for Always". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved April 29, 2017.
  15. ^ "Shania Twain – Forever and for Always" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved April 29, 2017.
  16. ^ "Shania Twain – Forever and for Always" (in French). Ultratip. Retrieved April 29, 2017.
  17. ^ "Hits of the World" (PDF). Billboard. September 6, 2003. p. 50. Retrieved April 29, 2017.
  18. ^ "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 21, no. 26. June 21, 2003. p. 15. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
  19. ^ "Shania Twain – Forever and for Always" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved April 29, 2017.
  20. ^ "Archívum – Slágerlisták – MAHASZ" (in Hungarian). Single (track) Top 40 lista. Magyar Hanglemezkiadók Szövetsége. Retrieved April 29, 2017.
  21. ^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Forever and for Always". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved April 29, 2017.
  22. ^ "Shania Twain – Forever and for Always" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved April 29, 2017.
  23. ^ "Shania Twain – Forever and for Always". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved April 29, 2017.
  24. ^ "Airplay Chart Top 30" (in Polish). PiF PaF Production. Archived from the original on October 26, 2007. Retrieved April 29, 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  25. ^ "Arhiva romanian top 100 – Editia 37, saptamina 29.09–05-10, 2003" (in Romanian). Romanian Top 100. Archived from the original on May 14, 2005. Retrieved April 29, 2017.
  26. ^ "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved April 29, 2017.
  27. ^ "Shania Twain – Forever and for Always". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved April 29, 2017.
  28. ^ "Shania Twain: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 25, 2021.
  29. ^ "Shania Twain Chart History (Adult Pop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved April 29, 2017.
  30. ^ "Shania Twain Chart History (Hot Country Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved April 29, 2017.
  31. ^ "Jahreshitparade 2003" (in German). Retrieved May 2, 2017.
  32. ^ "Top 100 Single–Jahrescharts 2003" (in German). GfK Entertainment. Retrieved May 2, 2017.
  33. ^ "Top 100 Songs of 2003". Raidió Teilifís Éireann. 2003. Archived from the original on June 2, 2004. Retrieved March 16, 2022.
  34. ^ "Romanian Top 100 – Top of the Year 2003" (in Romanian). Romanian Top 100. Archived from the original on January 22, 2005. Retrieved January 22, 2005.
  35. ^ "The Official UK Albums Chart 2003" (PDF). OCC. Retrieved May 2, 2017.
  36. ^ a b c "The Year in Music" (PDF). Billboard. December 27, 2003. Retrieved May 2, 2017.
  37. ^ "The Year in Charts 2003: Most-Played Adult Top 40 Songs". Airplay Monitor. Vol. 11, no. 51. December 19, 2003. p. 22.
  38. ^ "The Year in Music" (PDF). Billboard. December 25, 2004. Retrieved May 2, 2017.
  39. ^ "Best of the 2000s". Billboard. Archived from the original on November 11, 2010. Retrieved May 4, 2017.
  40. ^ "Billboard's Top 50 Adult Contemporary Songs of the 2000s". August 2011. Archived from the original on December 21, 2021. Retrieved December 10, 2017 – via YouTube.
  41. ^ "The Top 100 Adult Contemporary Songs Ever". Billboard. July 15, 2011. Retrieved July 15, 2011.
  42. ^ James Hanley (July 31, 2017). "World Exclusive: Shania Twain". Music Week. Retrieved July 31, 2017.
  43. ^ "American single certifications – Shania Twain – Forever and for Always". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved May 2, 2017.
  44. ^ "Radio & Records" (PDF). Worldradiohistory.com. April 4, 2003. Retrieved March 20, 2022.
  45. ^ "Radio & Records" (PDF). Worldradiohistory.com. April 11, 2003. Retrieved March 20, 2022.
  46. ^ "Radio & Records" (PDF). Worldradiohistory.com. April 18, 2003. Retrieved March 20, 2022.
  47. ^ "New Releases – For Week Starting 2 June 2003: Singles" (PDF). Music Week. May 31, 2003. p. 21. Retrieved September 5, 2021.
  48. ^ ""Forever and for Always" (2 Track)". CDPlus.com. Archived from the original on April 27, 2005.
  49. ^ "The ARIA Report: New Releases Singles – Week Commencing 7th July 2003" (PDF). ARIA. July 7, 2003. p. 25. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 6, 2003. Retrieved May 12, 2021.
  50. ^ "Radio & Records" (PDF). Worldradiohistory.com. August 1, 2003. Retrieved March 20, 2022.

See also

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