Courage (Celine Dion song)

"Courage"
Single by Celine Dion
from the album Courage
Released18 September 2019 (2019-09-18)
GenrePop
Length4:14
LabelColumbia
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Stephan Moccio
Celine Dion singles chronology
"Lying Down"
(2019) 		"Courage"
(2019) 		"Set My Heart on Fire"
(2024)
Music video
"Courage" on YouTube

"Courage" is a song by Canadian singer Celine Dion from her twelfth English-language studio album, Courage (2019). It was written by Stephan Moccio, Erik Alcock and Liz Rodrigues, and produced by Moccio. "Courage" was released as a digital download on 18 September 2019. On the same day, Dion embarked on her Courage World Tour, where she performed the song. "Courage" entered the sales charts in Canada and France, and received positive reviews from music critics. The black and white music video premiered on 13 November 2019. In March 2020, the song was sent to radio in Quebec.

Background and release

"Courage" was written by Stephan Moccio, Erik Alcock and Liz Rodrigues. It was produced by Moccio, who previously co-wrote Dion's 2002 single, "A New Day Has Come".[1] "Courage" is an emotional piano ballad, dealing with the loss of a loved one.[2][3] Together with "Imperfections" and "Lying Down", the song was released as a digital download on 18 September 2019, the day Dion started her Courage World Tour, promoting the Courage album.[4]

Critical reception

The song received positive critical reviews. According to A Bit of Pop Music, "Courage" has a very personal content.[2] It is a piano and strings based emotional power ballad, dealing with the loss of a person close to you.[2] With the death of her husband René Angélil in 2016, "Courage" must be close to Dion's heart and she sings it with emotive vocals and a lot of passion.[2] Mike Wass from Idolator described "Courage" as a simple piano ballad that lets Dion pull the vocal trigger as she shares important life lessons.[3] It is raw and very emotional.[3]

Commercial performance

After being released as a digital download on 18 September 2019, "Courage" debuted on several sales charts and reached number two in Quebec[5] and number 20 in Canada.[6] In March 2021, it was serviced to the contemporary hit radio in Quebec, where it peaked at number three.[7]

Music video

The audio of "Courage" was uploaded on YouTube on 18 September 2019.[8] The music video, directed by Se Oh and filmed entirely in black and white, premiered on 13 November 2019.[9] Kai Krause worked on it as a cinematographer and Marco Venditto as a lighting director.[9] The video was produced by Mad Ruk Entertainment and Telescope Films.[9]

Credits and personnel

  • Stephan Moccio – producer, composer, lyricist, piano, keyboards, background vocal
  • Erik Alcock – composer, lyricist
  • Liz Rodrigues – composer, lyricist
  • TommyD – string session co-producer
  • Jay Paul Bicknell – background vocal, engineer
  • Kylen Deporter – background vocal, engineer
  • Wired Strings – strings
  • Rosie Danvers – string arranger
  • Nick Taylor – engineer
  • François Lalonde – recording engineer
  • Serban Ghenea – mixing engineer
  • John Hanes – assistant engineer
  • Rob Katz – assistant engineer
  • Vlado Meller – mastering engineer
  • John McL. Doelp – executive producer

Source:[10]

Charts

Chart performance for "Courage"
Chart (2019–2020) Peak
position
Canada Digital Song Sales (Billboard)[6] 20
France Sales (SNEP)[11] 46
Quebec Digital Sales (ADISQ)[5] 2
Quebec Radio (ADISQ)[7] 3

Release history

"Courage" release history
Region Date Format Label Ref.
Various 18 September 2019
Columbia [12]
Quebec 3 March 2020 Contemporary hit radio [7]

References

  1. ^ "Courage". celinedion.com. Retrieved 3 October 2019.
  2. ^ a b c d "Single Review: Céline Dion – Imperfections / Lying Down / Courage". abitofpopmusic.com. 19 September 2019. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
  3. ^ a b c Mike Wass (18 September 2019). "New Music! Céline Dion Drops "Imperfections", "Lying Down" & "Courage"". Idolator. Archived from the original on 16 December 2019. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
  4. ^ Rania Aniftos (18 September 2019). "Celine Dion Triples Down With 'Courage' Title Track, Plus New Singles 'Lying Down' & 'Imperfections': Listen". Billboard. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
  5. ^ a b "This week's top selling digital tracks based on the digital album sales in Quebec". ADISQ. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
  6. ^ a b "Hot Canadian Digital Song Sales". Billboard. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
  7. ^ a b c "This week's most popular songs across all radio from Quebec". ADISQ. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
  8. ^ "Céline Dion - Courage (Official Audio)". 18 September 2019. Retrieved 13 November 2019 – via YouTube.
  9. ^ a b c "Céline Dion - Courage (Official Video)". 13 November 2019. Retrieved 13 November 2019 – via YouTube.
  10. ^ "Courage". YouTube. 18 September 2019. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
  11. ^ "Classement officiel des ventes de singles & titres en France du 13 septembre 2019 au 19 septembre 2019" (in French). Webedia. Retrieved 2 June 2023.
  12. ^ "Courage (Deluxe Edition)". Apple Music. Retrieved 13 November 2019.