That's the Way It Is (Celine Dion song)

Production and release

It was written and produced by Swedish producers Andreas Carlsson, Max Martin and Kristian Lundin, who have written a string of hit songs for artists such as NSYNC, Backstreet Boys and Britney Spears.

Composition

"That's the Way It Is" starts out in the key of E major with a moderate tempo of 93 beats per minute. Throughout the verses, the song follows a chord progression of C♯m–A–B, and Dion's vocals span from B₃ to E₅.

The song has a bridge, and after the bridge is the chorus repeated, only in the key of A major.

Live performances

Dion sang it live with NSYNC, during her 1999 CBS Special. She also performed "That's the Way It Is" at the Top of the Pops on 12 November, the 1999 Billboard Music Awards, the Bambi Awards on 11 December, The Rosie O'Donnell Show on 13 December, The Today Show on 31 December, and on the Let's Talk About Love Tour as the closing song. When Dion returned to the music scene after her 2 years off in 2002, the song was performed on her promotional tour for the A New Day Has Come album including a second time at The Today Show, The Early Show, and at The Concert For World Children's Day.

In 2015 for the first time in 13 years, Dion currently performs the song as an acoustic version in her current Las Vegas residency show Celine at the The Colosseum at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Music video

The music video for "That's the Way It Is" was directed by Liz Friedlander. It was produced by Heather Heller and was shot in Los Angeles, California and completed on 17 October 1999. It premiered on VH1 on 8 November 1999. It was nominated for a MuchMusic Video Award. The video was included on Dion's All the Way... A Decade of Song & Video DVD.

Critical reception

Michael Paoletta from Billboard highlighted this song on All the Way... A Decade of Song and called it a "welcome uptempo number". Chuck Taylor from Billboard also praised "That's the Way It Is". He wrote that Dion at last "ups the tempo with the irresistible" first single. According to Taylor, this new track, a joyful ode to holding the faith but allowing love to take its course when it's ready, matches Dion with a new team of collaborators, consistent hitmakers: Max Martin, Kristian Lundin and Andreas Carlsson. "Replete with a festive mandolin and a midtempo beat to bring new heights to her as-ever splendid vocal," this song is "destined to enrapture" top forty and AC the first time through, at last stripping away mainstream radio's gripe that Dion is "too adult". He said that, youthful and yet elegant, and glowing brightly with warmth, the song also represents a bold step forward for Martin, who is best known for his work with chart-topping youth acts. All in all, "That's the Way It Is" is "one of the most compelling radio releases yet" from "one of the core voices of the decade." Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic felt that the danceable "That's the Way It Is" works and highlighted it as a standout on All the Way... A Decade of Song. Jose F. Promis reviewed the US/South Korea CD maxi single and rated it 3 out 5 stars. He called the song itself "cheerful pop nugget", album version "definitive hit", and "Metro Club Remix" a "bubbly dance" version of the song.

Commercial performance

The song became a hit, going to number 1 on the adult contemporary charts in the United States and Canada, reaching the top ten in other countries all over the world. It was Dion's first airplay-only single that charted on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 6 (number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 Airplay). The commercial single was released nine months later as a double A-side with "I Want You to Need Me", reaching number 62 on the Hot 100 Singles Sales.

It ranked at number 12 on decade-end list of US Billboard Adult Contemporary chart for 2000–2009. The song spent 1 week at number 1 at the top and an eventual 85 weeks or 1 and a half years on the said chart. It became one of the longest-running single in the chart's history.

"That's the Way It Is" was very successful, being certified platinum in Sweden (20,000), gold in Australia (35,000), Belgium (25,000), Germany (250,000) and silver in France (160,000).

According to Billboard, "That's the Way It Is" received the "BDS Certified Spin Award - 500,000 Spins" in August 2006. Since the song was released in November 1999, it has cycled 500,000 times on almost 1,400 radio stations across Canada and the US.

Legacy

The song was included later on The Collector's Series, Volume One compilation (2000) and My Love: Essential Collection greatest hits (2008). Several club remixes were created by the Metro. Some pressings of the single included the song "I Met an Angel (On Christmas Day)", a non-album track.

Official versions

1. "That's the Way It Is" (Metro Mix Edit) – 3:12
2. "That's the Way It Is" (Metro Edit) – 3:20
3. "That's the Way It Is" (The Metro Club Remix) – 5:28
4. "That's the Way It Is" (Album Version) – 4:01

Covers

In 2008, Japanese singer melody. covered "That's the Way It Is" and included it on her single "Haruka: Haruka".

In 2010 the Swedish singer Sanna Nielsen sang the song on the Swedish summer TV show Sommarkrysset.

In 2014, Scottish-American entertainer John Barrowman covered the song on his album You Raise Me Up.