"Truly Madly Deeply" is a song by Australian pop duo

Savage Garden Savage Garden was an Australian pop duo consisting of Darren Hayes on vocals and Daniel Jones on instruments. Formed in Brisbane, Queensland, in 1993, the duo achieved international success from the mid-1990s to early 2000s with the No. ...

, released in March 1997 as the third single from their self-titled debut album (1997) by Roadshow and

Warner Music Warner Music Group Corp. ( d.b.a. Warner Music Group, commonly abbreviated as WMG) is an American multinational entertainment and record label conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the " big three" recording companies and t ...

. It won the 1997

ARIA Music Award The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (commonly known informally as ARIA Music Awards, ARIA Awards, or simply the ARIAs) is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Austra ...

for both Single of the Year and Highest Selling Single, and was nominated for Song of the Year. Written by bandmates

Darren Hayes Darren Stanley Hayes (born 8 May 1972) is an Australian singer and songwriter. He was the frontman and singer of the pop duo Savage Garden until their disbandment. Their 1997 album ''Savage Garden (Savage Garden album), Savage Garden'' peaked a ...

and Daniel Jones, the song is a reworking of a song called "Magical Kisses" that the pair wrote together during the recording of their debut album. The song reached 1 in Australia, Canada, and the United States. Two music videos were filmed for the track: one for its original Australian release and another for the international market shot in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. In November 2019, the song was added to the

National Film and Sound Archive The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA), known as ScreenSound Australia from 1999 to 2004, is Australia's audiovisual archive, responsible for developing, preserving, maintaining, promoting and providing access to a national co ...

's selection of recordings. The songs added to the list provide a snapshot of Australian life and have "cultural, historical and aesthetic significance and relevance".

Background and composition

Having got their breakthrough with the single " I Want You",

and Daniel Jones were sent to Sydney for eight months to record material for a debut album. For Hayes, it was his first time in life being away from his family and his native

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

. The longing for his family and his then-wife pushed him towards writing a song that would express those feelings. "Truly Madly Deeply" is written in the key of

C major C major (or the key of C) is a major scale based on C, consisting of the pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. C major is one of the most common keys used in music. Its key signature has no flats or sharps. Its relative minor is A minor and ...

. The chorus of "Truly Madly Deeply" was discussed until the last moment. Jones had doubts over the chorus they had come up with, which he felt did not fit with the rest of the song or

's other material. During his evening meal he came up with the new chorus of "I want to stand with you on a mountain, I want to bathe with you in the sea, I want to lay like this forever until the sky falls down on me." The next day, the duo brought up the new chorus for discussion with producer Charles Fisher in the studio, recording it as a trial. Fisher was delighted with the result, expressing his belief that Savage Garden had a number-one single.

Critical reception

Larry Flick Larry Flick is an American journalist, former dance music columnist, single reviewer, and Senior Talent Editor for ''Billboard'' magazine, where he worked for 14 years. Now he produces and hosts Sirius XM radio shows. Flick started in the music ...

from ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' wrote that "this is the single that should help affirm that

is more than a

one-hit wonder A one-hit wonder or viral hit is any entity that achieves mainstream popularity, often for only one piece of work, and becomes known among the general public solely for that momentary success. The term is most commonly used in regard to music p ...

." He described the song as a "percussive ballad" and complimented it for revealing "vocal skills and charisma not previously displayed". He noted further that "with its romantic lyrics and plush, guitar-etched instrumentation, this song "truly madly deeply" deserves as much airplay as top 40 programmers can heap upon it."

Insider ''Insider'', previously named ''Business Insider'' (''BI''), is an American financial and business news website founded in 2007. Since 2015, a majority stake in ''Business Insider''s parent company Insider Inc. has been owned by the German publ ...

described it as "a truly sweet song, written out of homesickness, this love ballad has total staying power and is still played over 20 years later." Pan-European magazine ''

Music & Media ''Music & Media'' was a pan-European magazine for radio, music and entertainment. It was published for the first time in 1984 as ''Eurotipsheet'', but in 1986 it changed name to ''Music & Media''. It was originally based in Amsterdam, but later ...

'' stated that "this Australian duo possess a fine knack for writing excellent mainstream pop with top flight radio appeal." They added that "this track, taken from their eponymous debut album, is no exception—as proven by its recent two-week stay at the top of Billboard's Hot 100 Singles chart." In 2018, ''Stacker'' placed the song at No. 21 on their list of the "Best pop songs of the last 25 years", noting it as "a quintessential '90s pop song". In 2019, they ranked it No. 9 on their list of the "Best 90s pop songs".

Versions

There are two versions of the song. The first was made available on the Australian version of the group's album, whereas the second version appears on the release of the album in Europe and America. This version was composed in 1997, and features a drum machine track instead of the more acoustic-sounding music featured on the Australian version. The European version also features on the group's greatest hits compilation, "Truly Madly Completely" and "The Singles".

Music video

Two

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

s were made for the song. The original Australian video, which presents Hayes with long hair, features the band in a white room with several other people. Hayes is on a red sofa singing the song while Daniel performs on the piano. It was directed by Tony McGrath. The video used for the European market, which presents Hayes with short hair, was filmed in

. It was directed by Adolfo Doring. The video depicts the story of two lovers, a young man and a lady, who have been separated by circumstances. The woman arrives in Paris, possibly at

Gare du Nord The Gare du Nord (; English: ''station of the North'' or ''Northern Station''), officially Paris-Nord, is one of the six large mainline railway station termini in Paris, France. The station accommodates the trains that run between the capital ...

station, in search of her lover, who is also waiting for her. He is wandering in various places within the

Montmartre Montmartre ( , ) is a large hill in Paris's northern 18th arrondissement. It is high and gives its name to the surrounding district, part of the Right Bank. The historic district established by the City of Paris in 1995 is bordered by Rue Ca ...

area, including the Soleil de la Butte restaurant. In between the scenes involving the two lovers, Hayes can be seen walking around Paris, in locations such as the

Place de la Concorde The Place de la Concorde () is one of the major public squares in Paris, France. Measuring in area, it is the largest square in the French capital. It is located in the city's eighth arrondissement, at the eastern end of the Champs-Élysées. ...

and the

Jardin des Tuileries The Tuileries Garden (french: Jardin des Tuileries, ) is a public garden located between the Louvre and the Place de la Concorde in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, France. Created by Catherine de' Medici as the garden of the Tuileries Palace in ...

. He is singing, thereby acting as a narrator to the story involving the two lovers. Towards the end of the video, Hayes enters a small concert hall where Daniel Jones is playing guitar. Shortly afterwards, the young lady manages to find her lover, right in the centre of Paris, at the feet of the

Tour Saint-Jacques The Tour Saint-Jacques (, 'Saint James's Tower') is a monument located in the 4th arrondissement of Paris, France, at the intersection of Rue de Rivoli with Rue Nicolas Flamel. This Flamboyant Gothic tower is all that remains of the former 16th ...

. They are both filled with emotion on seeing each other again. The video ends with Hayes and Jones coming out of the concert hall, and coming across the two lovers who are rejoicing in their reunion.

Chart performance

The song was a major and sustained success in the US beginning in 1997. Entering the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 singles chart at No. 26 on 6 December 1997,
it peaked at No. 1 for two weeks in January 1998 and lingered for a full year on the chart. It became the first song in the chart's history to spend its first 52 weeks inside the top 30. The song spent half a year in the top 10. It hit No. 1 on the ''Billboard''

Hot 100 Airplay The Radio Songs chart (previously named Hot 100 Airplay until 2014 and Top 40 Radio Monitor until 1991) is released weekly by ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' magazine and measures the airplay of songs being played on radio stations throughout ...

chart and No. 2 on the

Hot Adult Top 40 Tracks The Adult Pop Airplay (formerly known as Adult Pop Songs and Adult Top 40) chart is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine and ranks "the most popular adult top 40 as based on radio airplay detections measured by Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems ...

chart. It also entered the top 10 on the

Rhythmic Top 40 The Rhythmic chart (also called Rhythmic Airplay, and previously named Rhythmic Songs, Rhythmic Top 40 and CHR/Rhythmic) is an airplay chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. The chart tracks and measures the airplay of songs played on ...

chart. On the ''Billboard''

Top 40 Mainstream Pop Airplay (also called Mainstream Top 40, Pop Songs, and Top 40/ CHR) is a 40-song music chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' Magazine that ranks the most popular songs of pop music being played on a panel of Top 40 radio stations in the Un ...

chart the song reached No. 1 for one week on 31 January before dropping to No. 2 as

Celine Dion Céline Marie Claudette Dion ( ; born 30 March 1968) is a Canadian singer. Noted for her powerful and technically skilled vocals, Dion is the best-selling Canadian recording artist, and the best-selling French-language artist of all time. Her ...

assumed the top spot with the theme to the hit film ''

Titanic RMS ''Titanic'' was a British passenger liner, operated by the White Star Line, which sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on 15 April 1912 after striking an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, United ...

'', "

My Heart Will Go On "My Heart Will Go On" is a 1997 song recorded by Canadian singer Celine Dion. The song serves as the main theme to James Cameron's blockbuster film ''Titanic'', based on an account of the transatlantic ocean liner of the same name which san ...

". Savage Garden's single held at No. 2 for 10 weeks, before returning to the No. 1 spot on the week of 18 April. The song eventually set a record for the most weeks of any single in history on the US

Hot Adult Contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quiet ...

chart. In 1998 the song logged 11 weeks at No. 1 on this chart, but its full chart span lasted 123 weeks. That record would stand for just under two years, when another of the group's ballads spent its 124th week on the chart. The song was "

I Knew I Loved You "I Knew I Loved You" is a song by Australian pop duo Savage Garden, released through Roadshow Music and Columbia Records as the second single from their second studio album, '' Affirmation'' (1999). The song was created as an attempt to repli ...

", from the album '' Affirmation''. After leaving the main Adult Contemporary chart, the song entered the

Hot Adult Contemporary Recurrents The Adult Contemporary chart is published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine and lists the most popular songs on adult contemporary radio stations in the United States. The chart is compiled based on airplay data submitted to ''Billboard'' by sta ...

chart where it charted for another 202 weeks. The song was so popular that it re-entered ''Billboard's''

Hot Singles Sales This is a compendium of the best-selling music singles. The criterion for inclusion is to sell at least ten million copies worldwide. The singles listed here were cited by reliable sources from various media, such as digital journalism, news ...

chart in March 2002 and—four and a half years after its release—again became a U.S. Top 30 bestseller, remaining on that chart until late July 2002. The original version logged its final week on the Hot Adult Contemporary Recurrents chart on 17 June 2006. This combined with sales still makes it the #1 Billboard AC song of all time. In 2013, the song was listed at No. 35 on ''Billboard''s All Time Top 100. The song also reached No. 1 in their home country of Australia, and in Canada. It reached No. 2 in Norway, Sweden, Austria and Ireland, and went top ten in France, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Belgium and the UK. In 1998, the song was certified a Gold single in France, for sales of 200,000 copies. In May 2001 the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA), as part of its 75th Anniversary celebrations, named "Truly Madly Deeply" as one of the Top 30 Australian songs of all time.

Track listings

Australia

* CD single # "Truly Madly Deeply" # "Promises" # "Truly Madly Deeply" (night radio mix) * Maxi-CD single # "Truly Madly Deeply" # "Promises" # "Truly Madly Deeply" (night radio mix) # "I Want You" (Bastone club mix) # "I Want You" (I Need I Want mix)

Europe

* CD1 # "Truly Madly Deeply" – 4:37 # "I'll Bet He Was Cool" – 4:58 * CD2 # "Truly Madly Deeply" – 4:38 # "Truly Madly Deeply" (Australian version) – 4:38 # "Truly Madly Deeply" (night radio mix) – 4:35 # "This Side of Me" – 4:09 # "Love Can Move You" – 4:47

United Kingdom

* CD1 # "Truly Madly Deeply" (album version) – 4:38 # "Truly Madly Deeply" (Australian version) – 4:38 # "This Side of Me" – 4:09 # "Love Can Move You" – 4:47 * CD2 # "Truly Madly Deeply" (album version) – 4:38 # "Truly Madly Deeply" (night radio mix) – 4:35 # "I Want You" (album version) – 3:52 # "I'll Bet He Was Cool" – 3:58 * Cassette # "Truly Madly Deeply" (album version) – 4:38 # "I Want You" (album version) – 3:52

United States

* CD, 7-inch, and cassette single # "Truly Madly Deeply" – 4:37 # "I'll Bet He Was Cool" – 4:58

Credits and personnel

Credits are adapted from the ''

'' album booklet. Studios * Mixed at Whitfield Street Studios (London, England) * Mastered at

Sony Music Studios Sony Music Studios was an American music recording and mastering facility in New York City. The five-story building was a music and broadcasting complex located at 460 W. 54th Street, at 10th Avenue, in the Hell's Kitchen section of Manhattan. I ...

(New York City) Personnel * Darren Hayes – writing, lead vocals, background vocals, vocal arrangement * Daniel Jones – writing, additional vocals, additional guitars, keyboards,

sequencing In genetics and biochemistry, sequencing means to determine the primary structure (sometimes incorrectly called the primary sequence) of an unbranched biopolymer. Sequencing results in a symbolic linear depiction known as a sequence which succ ...

Rex Goh Goh Tee Haut, known professionally as Rex Goh, (born 5 May 1951) is a Singaporean-born Australian rock guitarist. In 1972 Goh moved to Australia. He has been a band member of various groups including Air Supply (1977, 1981–83), QED (1983–85 ...

– guitar * Alex Hewitson – bass *

Terepai Richmond Terepai Chalmers Richmond (born 21 February 1971) is an Australian drummer. He joined the Sydney-based rock band The Whitlams in September 1999 and formerly played in acid jazz group Directions in Groove (d.i.g.) (1991–1998, 2008). Biograp ...

– drums, percussion * Charles Fisher – production, vocal arrangement * Jim Bonnefond – vocal arrangement *

Mike Pela Mike Pela (13 January 1950 – 23 July 2022) was a British record producer and mixer. He worked with various artists including Sade, Maxwell, Savage Garden and others, spanning a wide array of genres. Career Pela started his career in the 19 ...

– mixing *

Vlado Meller Vlado Meller is a Slovak audio mastering engineer, currently with Vlado Meller Mastering in Charleston, South Carolina. Meller works across many genres of music, with credits on rock, hip-hop, pop, jazz, metal, dance, opera, Broadway, and classica ...

– mastering

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

All-time charts

Certifications and sales

Release history

In popular culture

The song was featured in the

Paramount+ Paramount (from the word ''paramount'' meaning "above all others") may refer to: Entertainment and music companies * Paramount Global, also known simply as Paramount, an American mass media company formerly known as ViacomCBS. The following busin ...

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television television channel, channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its List of assets owned by Param ...

animated series ''

Big Nate ''Big Nate'' (stylized as ''big NATE'' in the comic collections and ''BiG NATE'' in the books) is an American comic strip written and illustrated by Lincoln Peirce, syndicated since January 7, 1991. The strip follows sixth-grader Nate Wright, ...

''.

Sandy and Junior version

The song was covered in 1998 by Brazilian brother-sister singing duo

Sandy & Junior Sandy & Junior were a Brazilian pop music duo consisting of siblings Sandy Leah Lima (born January 28, 1983) and Durval de Lima Júnior (born April 11, 1984). They first gained notoriety by being the children of Xororó from popular sertanejo ...

. The

Portuguese-language Portuguese ( or, in full, ) is a western Romance language of the Indo-European language family, originating in the Iberian Peninsula of Europe. It is an official language of Portugal, Brazil, Cape Verde, Angola, Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau and ...

version, "No Fundo Do Coração" ("From the Bottom of the Heart"), was released as the third single from the teens' eighth album, ''Era Uma Vez (Ao Vivo)''. The album was certified Diamond in Brazil in 1999 by the Brazilian Association of Discs Producers (ABPD) for sales of over 1.8 million copies in Brazil alone. The album was their last for

PolyGram Records PolyGram N.V. was a multinational entertainment company and major music record label formerly based in the Netherlands. It was founded in 1962 as the Grammophon-Philips Group by Dutch corporation Philips and German corporation Siemens, to be a ...

before moving to

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...

Cascada version

German

Eurodance Euro-Dance (sometimes referred to as Euro-NRG, Euro-electronica or Euro) is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in the late 1980s in Europe. It combines many elements of hip hop, techno, Hi-NRG, house music, and Euro-Disco. This ...

group

Cascada Cascada (, Spanish for "Waterfall", stylized as CASCADA, CASC''A''DA and cascada) is a German dance music act founded in 2004 by singer Natalie Horler and DJs/producers DJ Manian and DJ Yanou. They are best known for their hit singles " Everyti ...

covered "Truly Madly Deeply" on their debut album, '' Everytime We Touch'' (2007), and released it as the second single in the UK and Germany. Although the album version of the song is a

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

, there is also an up-tempo version of the song that is the main single version. Both versions are featured on the UK edition of the album. First released in the United States exclusively in the

iTunes Store The iTunes Store is a digital media store operated by Apple Inc. It opened on April 28, 2003, as a result of Steve Jobs' push to open a digital marketplace for music. As of April 2020, iTunes offered 60 million songs, 2.2 million apps, 25,00 ...

on 27 February 2006, the US physical release was 13 March 2007. The single entered the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

at number 17 solely on downloads and peaked at number four the following week, after its physical release. In Ireland, it remained in the top 4 for four weeks.

Track listing

* UK CD single part 1 #"Truly Madly Deeply" (radio edit) – 2:57 #" Everytime We Touch" – 3:19 * UK CD single Part 2 #"Truly Madly Deeply" (radio edit) – 2:57 #"Truly Madly Deeply" (album version) – 4:14 #"Truly Madly Deeply" (club mix) – 4:34 #"Truly Madly Deeply" (

Styles & Breeze Darren James Mew (born 23 May 1975), better known as Darren Styles, is an English record producer, DJ, singer and songwriter from Colchester, England. Originally a member of the breakbeat hardcore group DJ Force & the Evolution, Styles found s ...

remix) – 5:03 #"Truly Madly Deeply" (Thomas Gold remix) – 8:32 #"Truly Madly Deeply" (DJ Bomba & El Senor remix) – 6:49 #"Truly Madly Deeply" (Frisco Remix) – 6:07 * German 12-inch single #"Truly Madly Deeply" (2–4 Grooves Remix) – 6:00 #"Truly Madly Deeply" (Thomas Gold Remix) – 8:29 * German CD single #"Truly Madly Deeply" (radio edit) – 2:55 #"Truly Madly Deeply" (Thomas Gold radio edit) – 3:36 #"Truly Madly Deeply" (2–4 Grooves radio edit) – 3:27 #"Truly Madly Deeply" (album version) – 4:12 #"Truly Madly Deeply" (Candy radio edit) – 3:18 * US 12-inch single #"Truly Madly Deeply" (radio edit) – 2:58 #"Truly Madly Deeply" (album version) – 4:12 #"Truly Madly Deeply" (Thomas Gold radio edit) – 3:38 #"Truly Madly Deeply" (Tune Up! radio edit) – 2:58 #"Truly Madly Deeply" (Thomas Gold remix) – 8:30 #"Truly Madly Deeply" (UK club mix) – 4:34 #"Truly Madly Deeply" (Tune Up! remix) – 4:35 #"Truly Madly Deeply" (Styles & Breeze remix) – 4:58 #"Truly Madly Deeply" (DJ Bomba & El Senor remix) – 6:48 #"Truly Madly Deeply" (Frisco remix) – 6:00 * Australian single 2007 #"Truly Madly Deeply" (2–4 Grooves Radio Edit) – 3:30 #"Truly Madly Deeply" (UK radio edit) – 2:54 #"Truly Madly Deeply" (radio pop mix) – 4:14 #"Truly Madly Deeply" (Ivan Filini Radio Edit) – 3:07 #"Truly Madly Deeply" (album version) #"Truly Madly Deeply" (Styles & Breeze Remix) – 5:03 #"Truly Madly Deeply" (Tune Up! Remix) – 4:35 #"Truly Madly Deeply" (DJ Bomba & El Senor Remix) – 6:49 #"Truly Madly Deeply" (Thomas Gold Remix) – 8:30 Other remixes *"Truly Madly Deeply" (Alex K Remix) – 6:15 *"Truly Madly Deeply" (original dance remix, Asian edition) *"Truly Madly Deeply" (original dance edit, Asian edition)

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release and track listings

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1990s ballads 1997 songs 1997 singles 2006 singles APRA Award winners ARIA Award-winning songs Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Cascada songs Columbia Records singles Number-one singles in Australia Pop ballads RPM Top Singles number-one singles Savage Garden songs Songs written by Daniel Jones (musician) Songs written by Darren Hayes Warner Music Group singles