On this Day: March 25, 1994

"I'll Remember" enters the Billboard singles chart. 

"I'll Remember (Theme from With Honors)" is a song by American recording artist Madonna. It was released on March 8, 1994, by Warner Bros. Records as the soundtrack single of the film With Honors. The song was a radical change in image and style for Madonna, who had received negative feedback, both critically and commercially, for the prior two years due to the release of her book Sex, the studio album Erotica and the film Body of Evidence. Warner Bros. decided to use Madonna as the vocalist for the song after noting that most of her previous soundtrack singles had achieved commercial success. "I'll Remember" has characteristics of late-70s styled songs. It utilizes a synthesized keyboard arrangement to bring about a continuously reverberating sound of heartbeat. Madonna's voice is supported by backing vocals.
Contemporary critics praised the song, hailing it as one of her best work. It was nominated for Best Song Written Specifically for a Motion Picture or for Television at the 37th Grammy Awards and Best Original Song at the 52nd Golden Globe Awards. "I'll Remember" was also a commercial success, peaking at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 and becoming her fourth number-one hit on the Adult Contemporary chart. It also topped the singles charts in Canada and Italy. The accompanying music video portrayed Madonna singing the song in a stylized recording studio. Her look and style was compared to the imagery of the music video of previous single "Rain". The androgynous portrayal of Madonna smoking in the last shot, was appreciated critically for breaking gender barriers.

Chart performance

In the United States, the song debuted at number 35 on the Hot 100 chart for the Billboard issue dated April 2, 1994.^[11] After seven weeks, the song reached a peak of number two on the chart.^[12] It stayed there for four weeks, being blocked from the top spot by All-4-One's "I Swear". The song became the fifth single by Madonna to reach the top two position and tied her with Elvis Presley for the most number-two songs. However, this record was broken by Madonna in 1998, when her single "Frozen" peaked at two. The song also topped the Adult Contemporary chart for four consecutive weeks, becoming Madonna's fourth number-one for this chart following "Live to Tell", "La Isla Bonita", and "Cherish". The single spent a total of 26 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 and was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America on June 14, 1994, and was named by Billboard as one of the best-selling singles of 1994, having sold 500,000 copies within that year.
In Canada, the song debuted at 52 on the Canadian RPM Singles Chart. After seven weeks it reached the top of the chart for the RPM issue dated May 16, 1994.The song was present on the chart for 24 weeks, and was ranked at number two on the Year-end RPM chart for 1994. In the United Kingdom it debuted at ten on the chart and reached seven the next week. It was present for a total of eight weeks on the chart. According to The Official Charts Company, "I'll Remember" has sold 100,090 copies in the United Kingdom, as of August 2008. Across Europe, the song became a top 40 hit in Belgium, France, Netherlands and Switzerland. The song reached the top-ten in Australia, Ireland and Sweden and peaked the chart in Italy. It peaked just outside the top 40 in Germany^.

Music video

Madonna sporting black, cropped hair and wearing a large necklace, sings the song in a recording studio. Her look for the video was compared with that in the video of the song "Rain".

The music video was directed by Alek Keshishian, who had previously directed the live performance versions of "Like a Virgin" (1984) and "Holiday" (1983) from the Truth or Dare documentary and also the music video of her single "This Used to Be My Playground" (1992). The video featured production credits by Diane Greenwalt, editing by Patrick Sheffield and photography by Stephen Ramsey. It features Madonna in a stylized recording studio singing the song with back up singers. The video was compared to the music video of Madonna's single "Rain" (1993). Her look in the video, consists of blue-black icy hair, bright blue eyes and a long dark dress with a beaded necklace around her neck. Madonna's face was mainly shot above her head, with her face looking up just ahead of the camera focus. Sometimes she looks to a video screen behind her which plays the scenes from the film, as if to take inspiration for her singing. Other times she is accompanied by her back-up singers, mainly during the chorus, and sometimes she sings alone. In front of the studio, the producers are shown deciding which part of the song should be put in lower bass.
The music video ends with a shot of Madonna watching herself recording the song. In this last scene she is dressed in a long black coat and holds a cigarette in her hand. Scholars noted that this last shot clearly illustrates the gender paradox of Madonna, as she watches her female form singing the song, while she herself is dressed in an androgynous way, holding a cigarette, which is associated as one of the symbolic forms of male supremacy. Feminist writer Martha Leslie Allen lauded the video, as well as Madonna, "for breaking free of the conventional portrayal of women yet again, and displaying their duality.