Sometimes it’s not one thing, but everything together.
When I first saw James Cameron’s 1997 blockbuster Titanic (after decades of Titanic geekdom), it left a powerful emotional impression on me. It wasn’t just seeing the disaster on the big screen, or viewing it in glorious color, or even experiencing the tragedy portrayed in such a personal way, it was all of it. And the song. Yes, that song. Love it or hate it, Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On” is indelibly tied to the movie—not to mention containing one of the most powerful key changes in modern popular music.
The reason I bring this up is to salute the man who gave the song (and many other hits of the 1980s and 1990s) words. Texan Will Jennings died a few days ago at age 80. If the name doesn’t ring a bell, the songs he co-wrote surely will. He won Oscars for “My Heart Will Go On” and “Up Where We Belong,” the 1982 Joe Cocker-Jennifer Warnes duet from An Officer and a Gentleman. He snagged a Grammy and a Golden Globe for Eric Clapton’s “Tears in Heaven,” as well as a Grammy for Dionne Warwick’s 1979 comeback smash, “I’ll Never Love This Way Again.”
But it was with Steve Winwood that he achieved the most pop chart success, co-writing two #1 hits, “Higher Love” and “Roll With It,” in addition to “While You See a Chance,” “Back In the High Life Again,” “The Finer Things,” “Don’t You Know What the Night Can Do,” and my personal favorite, “Valerie.” His other hits include Warwick’s “No Night So Long,” the Crusaders’ “Street Life,” Whitney Houston’s #1 “Didn’t We Almost Have It All,” Faith Hill’s “Where Are You Christmas,” Barry Manilow’s #1 “Looks Like We Made It,” and “Somewhere in the Night,” recorded by both Manilow and Helen Reddy.
Jennings died in Tyler, Texas following years of declining health. Rest in peace, Will. Your songs will go on and on.