Released 4 January 1994 Length 4:03 (243 sec) | Genre New-age, worldbeat Label Virgin / EMI | |
Format CD, cassette, 12" (30 cm) Recorded 1993 A.R.T. Studios, Ibiza | ||
"Return to Innocence" is a song by German musical group Enigma. It was released in January 1994 as a single from their second album, The Cross of Changes.
Contents
It became one of the project's most popular international singles, reaching number one in over 10 countries (including Greece, Norway, Sweden and Ireland), number three on the UK Singles Chart, the Top 5 in Austria, Canada, Germany, New Zealand, Netherlands, Switzerland and South Africa. It reached the Top 20 in Italy and France. It was also the project's biggest hit in America, reaching number two on the US Modern Rock Tracks chart, number four on the US Billboard Hot 100, and number six on the US Top 40 Mainstream.
History
The song's melodic and talking vocals in English are provided by Angel X (Andreas Harde), a passive short talking vocal by Sandra ("That's not the beginning of the end, that's the return to yourself, the return to innocence"), while an Amis people chant is repeated, which opens the song. Difang Duana, from the Amis, were in a cultural exchange program in Paris in 1988 when their performance of the song was recorded by the Maison des Cultures du Monde and later distributed on CD. The producer of Enigma, Michael Cretu, later obtained the CD and proceeded to sample it. In addition, the drum beat of the song was sampled from the Led Zeppelin song "When the Levee Breaks, played by John Bonham."
The song was used to promote several types of media in the mid-1990s, including film and TV commercials. In autumn 1994, the song was featured in an episode of the TV show My So-Called Life. In 1995, the song was used as the closing theme in Disney's live-action film Man of the House, as well as in the opening and closing of an Outer Limits episode. In 1996, the song was further popularised when it was used in a television advertisement to promote the 1996 Summer Olympics.
Julien Temple directed the video, which depicts a man's life in reverse, starting with him dying and ending with his birth. (See also List of Enigma videos#The Cross of Changes).
Legal dispute
In March 1998, Difang Duana sued Cretu, Virgin Records, and a number of recording companies for unauthorised usage of their song without credit. The case was settled out of court for an undisclosed amount of money and all further releases of the song were credited (including royalties) to the Kuos. Cretu has stated that he had been led to believe that the recording was in the public domain and that he did not intentionally violate the Kuos' copyright.
Track listing
4-track CD single
- Radio Edit – 4:03
- Long & Alive Version (remixed by Curly M.C. and Jens Gad) – 7:07
- 380 Midnight Mix (remixed by Jens Gad) – 5:55
- Short Radio Edit – 3:01
5-track CD single
- Radio Edit – 4:03
- Long & Alive Version (remixed by Curly M.C. and Jens Gad) – 7:07
- 380 Midnight Mix (remixed by Jens Gad) – 5:55
- Short Radio Edit – 3:01
- "Sadeness (Part I)" (Radio Edit) – 4:17