"Can't Help Falling in Love" is a song written by Hugo Peretti, Luigi Creatore, and George David Weiss and published by Gladys Music, Inc.[2] The melody is based on "Plaisir d'amour",[4] a popular French love song composed in 1784 by Jean-Paul-Égide Martini. The song was initially written from the perspective of a woman as "Can't Help Falling in Love with Him", which explains the first and third line ending on "in" and "sin" rather than words rhyming with "you".[5]
Elvis Presley's version of the song topped the British charts in 1962, spending four weeks at no. 1. The single is certified Platinum by the RIAA, for US sales in excess of one million copies. In the United States, the song peaked at No. 2 on the US BillboardHot 100 behind Joey Dee and the Starliters' "Peppermint Twist"[9] and went to No. 1 on the Adult Contemporary chart for six weeks.[10][11]
During Presley's late 1960s and 1970s live performances, the song was performed as the shows' finales. Most notably, it was also sung in the live segment of his 1968 NBC television special, and as the closer for his 1973 Global telecast Aloha from Hawaii. A version with a faster arrangement was the closing number in Presley's final TV special, Elvis in Concert. "Can't Help Falling in Love" was also the last song he performed live, at his concert in Indianapolis at Market Square Arena on June 26, 1977.[12]
The recording appeared on the 1997 CD re-issue Elvis' Golden Records Volume 3 as a bonus track and on the 2002 career retrospective collection ELV1S: 30 No. 1 Hits. In 2010, the song was included on the Viva Elvis: The Album. This is a remixed version that features Canadian singer Sherry St-Germain. Interestingly the track fades out with Elvis repeating part of the 1956 song "Love Me". In 2015, the song was included on the If I Can Dream album on the 80th anniversary of Presley's birth. The version uses archival voice recordings of Presley and his singers, backed by new orchestral arrangements performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. The song is used as an anthem by several English football clubs since the 1960s, including Huddersfield Town, Hull City, Swindon Town and Sunderland.[13] According to a 2020 survey by OnBuy, the song is the most popular choice for couples as the song for the first dance at their wedding.[14]
Track listings
7-inch single
Side A: "I Can't Help Falling in Love With You"
Side B: "Rock-A-Hula Baby"
Personnel
Credits sourced from AFM union contracts and label records.[15]
In 1993, British reggae band UB40 covered the original 1961 Elvis Presley recording as the first single from their tenth album, Promises and Lies (1993). The song, renamed "(I Can't Help) Falling in Love with You", was released on May 10, 1993 by Virgin Records, and eventually climbed to No. 1 on the US BillboardHot 100, staying there for seven weeks, becoming their 4th and last top 10 hit. It also topped the charts of 11 other countries, including Australia, Austria, the Netherlands, New Zealand (where it was the most successful single of 1993), and the United Kingdom, where it spent two weeks at No. 1.[33]
The song appears on the soundtrack of the movie Sliver,[34] the trailer for Fools Rush In, and an episode of Hindsight. In the US, and on the Sliver soundtrack, the song title was listed as "Can't Help Falling in Love," rather than what appeared on the record sleeve, which included parentheses around the words "I Can't Help". The single version of the song also has a slightly different backing rhythm and melody.
In his review, Rovi Staff from AllMusic noted that "carried by the hit "Can't Help Falling in Love", Promises and Lies finishes UB40's transition from a reggae band to an adult-contemporary band that plays reggae-pop."[35] Another AllMusic editor, David Jeffries, said the song represents "the ultra-slick, easy to swallow side of the band".[36]Larry Flick from Billboard wrote, "U.K. dancehall stars indulge in Elvis Presley memories on this first single from the soundtrack to Sharon Stone's new movie, Sliver." He added that it "has a pillowy, midtempo pace that dabbles in island beats and radio-conscious funk. Brassy horns are a jolting, though ultimately pleasing, element in the arrangement. A fun respite from usual top 40 fare."[37]
Marisa Fox from Entertainment Weekly said the song is "this album's equivalent" of their earlier version of Neil Diamond's "Red Red Wine", noting that the band "revitalize" it. She also noted that "they try some snappy new production tricks", like the "full-blown orchestrations" on the song, adding that "those kinds of enhancements only make the blend that much more infectious."[38] In his weekly UK chart commentary, James Masterton wrote that "this was a hit almost before it had even been released."[39] Pan-European magazine Music & Media viewed it as a "reggae remake that sounds like the sun will never stop shining."[40] Alan Jones from Music Week described it as a "predictable ramble through the Elvis Presley/Andy Williams/Stylistics perennial".[41] A reviewer from People magazine called it a "Rasta-Lite" version.[42]
Music video
A music video was produced to promote the single, directed by American filmmaker Neil Abramson. It features scenes from the movie and snippets of the band playing and dancing.[43] It was later made available on YouTube in 2009 and had generated more than 86 million views as of June 2024.[44] An alternate version exists that just features footage of the band without any clips from the movie.
Track listings
7-inch single
"I Can't Help Falling in Love with You" – 3:24
"Jungle Love" – 5:09
10-inch single
"I Can't Help Falling in Love with You" (Extended Mix) – 6:03
"Jungle Love" – 5:09
"I Can't Help Falling in Love with You" – 3:24
CD single
"I Can't Help Falling in Love with You" – 3:24
"Jungle Love" – 5:09
CD maxi
"I Can't Help Falling in Love with You" – 3:24
"Jungle Love" – 5:09
"I Can't Help Falling in Love with You" (Extended Mix) – 6:03
"Can't Help Falling in Love" was the first single from Swedish pop music group A-Teens' third studio album, Pop 'til You Drop! (2002), and is also included in the Lilo & Stitch movie soundtrack. The song has two music videos, one to promote the Disney movie, the other for the album. The song is also included in the teen pop compilation album Disney Girlz Rock and featured as a bonus track on the A-Teens' album New Arrival for the European market. The music video was directed by Gregory Dark and filmed in Los Angeles, California. There are two different versions of the video: one which features scenes from Lilo & Stitch and one without.
Track listing
"Can't Help Falling in Love" (album version) – 3:06
"Hawaiian Roller Coaster Ride" – 3:27
Performed by Mark Keali'i Ho'omalu and North Shore Children's Choir & Key Cygnetures
"He Mele, No Lilo" – 2:28
Performed by Mark Keali'i Ho'omalu and North Shore Children's Choir & Key Cygnetures
Included in only Australian and one of European releases
The Stylistics went to No. 4 in the UK with a disco version in 1976.
Engelbert Humperdinck recorded the song in 1979 on his This Moment in Time LP. The single became an Adult Contemporary hit, reaching No. 44 in the US and No. 11 in Canada.
Slim Whitman recorded the song in 1981 and it was included on his album Mr. Songman. This version peaked at No. 54 on the Billboard country charts, and was his last chart entry in his career.
In 1987, Corey Hart's recording reached No. 1 in Canada[105] and No. 24 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1987.[106]
Celine Dion has performed her version of the song at many of her concerts, using it as the ending song on select nights of her 1993 The Colour of My Love Tour. She added drama to the song with strings and an electric guitar joining in. She has never recorded her version.
In 2012, the song was covered by American rock duo Twenty One Pilots.
A more recent German version, "Was Kann Mein Herz Dafür" by Claudia Jung was released in 2015 for her album, Seitensprung.
Haley Reinhart's 2015 remake of the song peaked at No. 17 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart and No. 31 on the BillboardAdult Pop Airplay chart.[109] It was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America on July 31, 2023. Music Canada certified it Double Platinum in Canada on January 25, 2023.
In 2018, Iliana Eve's remake was a single from the album Jazz (Deluxe) that hit No. 1 on the Billboard Jazz Charts. She was 15 years old when she recorded the song with Benny Reid.[112]
The song was sampled by Jvke for "I Can't Help It" (2022).[116]
Eleanna Finokalioti a singer - actress from Greece published a new cover version of this song on June 4th, 2024. This atmospheric version is nominated at Barcelona's music Festival 2024.
^"The Year in Music 1993"(PDF). Billboard. Vol. 105, no. 52. December 25, 1993. p. YE-46. Archived(PDF) from the original on June 27, 2021. Retrieved August 16, 2021.