"Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman?" is a song written by Canadian musician

Bryan Adams Bryan Guy Adams (born November 5, 1959) is a British and Canadian singer-songwriter, musician, record producer, and photographer. He is estimated to have sold between 75 million and more than 100 million album, records and Single (music), si ...

Michael Kamen Michael Arnold Kamen (April 15, 1948 – November 18, 2003) was an American composer (especially of film scores), orchestral arranger, orchestral conductor, songwriter, record producer and musician. Early life Michael Arnold Kamen was born in ...

and

Robert John "Mutt" Lange Robert John "Mutt" Lange ( ; born 11 November 1948) is a South African record producer. He is known for his work in rock music as well as co-writing and producing various songs for Shania Twain, his ex-wife. Her 1997 album ''Come On Over'', whic ...

, and recorded by Adams for the 1995 film ''

Don Juan DeMarco ''Don Juan DeMarco'' is a 1995 American romantic comedy-drama film starring Johnny Depp as John Arnold DeMarco, a man who believes himself to be Don Juan, the greatest lover in the world. Clad in a cape and domino mask, DeMarco undergoes psych ...

'', starring

Marlon Brando Marlon Brando Jr. (April 3, 1924 – July 1, 2004) was an American actor. Widely regarded as one of the greatest cinema actors of the 20th century,''Movies in American History: An Encyclopedia''

Johnny Depp John Christopher Depp II (born June 9, 1963) is an American actor and musician. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Johnny Depp, multiple accolades, including a Golden Globe Award as well as nominations for ...

and

Faye Dunaway Dorothy Faye Dunaway (born January 14, 1941) is an American actress. She is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Faye Dunaway, many accolades, including an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, three Golden Globe Awards, ...

. The melody is used as a musical motif through the film, and the song is featured three times in the movie, twice performed by other artists in Spanish, and finally performed by Adams himself during the closing credits. The Adams version of the song, which features flamenco guitarist Paco de Lucia, is featured on the soundtrack album and also on the album '' 18 til I Die'', which was released over a year later. The song stayed at number one for five weeks on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in the United States, making it the third number-one song for the songwriting team. It also went to number one in Canada, Australia, Austria, and Switzerland while reaching the top five in 10 additional countries, including France and the United Kingdom, and the top ten in a further four countries. The song was nominated for Best Original Song at the

68th Academy Awards The 68th Academy Awards ceremony, organized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 1995 in the United States and took place on March 25, 1996, at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles beg ...

but lost to "

Colors of the Wind "Colors of the Wind" is a song written by composer Alan Menken and lyricist Stephen Schwartz for Walt Disney Pictures' 33rd animated feature film, '' Pocahontas'' (1995). The film's theme song, "Colors of the Wind" was originally recorded by ...

" from the Disney animated film ''

Pocahontas Pocahontas (, ; born Amonute, also known as Matoaka and Rebecca Rolfe; 1596 – March 1617) was a Native American woman belonging to the Powhatan people, notable for her association with the colonial settlement at Jamestown, Virginia. S ...

''.

Critical reception

Paul Verna 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 advertis ...

'' described the song as "sultry". Steve Baltin from ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', is an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' noted that here, "the king of soundtrack

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and song of Great Britain and Ireland from the Late Middle Ages until the 19th century. They were widely used across Eur ...

s attempts to reclaim his throne". He added further, "The

flamenco Flamenco () is an art form based on the various folkloric music traditions of southern Spain, developed within the Gitanos, gitano subculture of the region of Andalusia, and also having historical presence in Extremadura and Region of Murcia, ...

introduction lends the false hope this may be something different, but it's the same old Adams. Be careful not to operate any heavy machinery while under the influence of this one." Fell and Rufer from the ''

Gavin Report The ''Gavin Report'' was a San Francisco-based radio industry trade publication. The publication was founded by radio performer Bill Gavin in 1958. Its Top 40 listings were used for many years by programmers to decide content of programs. The ...

'' viewed it as an "unusual

waltz The waltz ( , meaning "to roll or revolve") is a ballroom dance, ballroom and folk dance, in triple (3/4 time, time), performed primarily in closed position. Along with the ländler and allemande, the waltz was sometimes referred to by the ...

with #1 written all over it." 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 m ...

'' commented, "Everything is there to make it work: a film, ''Don Juan De Marco'', a ballad, a long song title but nothing between brackets, guitarist Paco De Lucia and Adams' hoarse voice." Christine Coulter, librarian/programmer at

Downtown Radio Downtown Radio is a Hot Adult Contemporary music radio station based in Newtownards, County Down, that serves all of Northern Ireland using a network of FM and DAB transmitters. As of December 2024, the station has a weekly audience of 309, ...

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

stated, "It's absolutely different from his previous film ballads. The film, which will be issued here in May I believe, is not the reason we play it. For us it's a track that stands fully on its own." A reviewer from ''

Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as ''Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music We ...

'' gave it three out of five, writing that "Bryan comes over all

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

for this strong ballad which arrives replete with Spanish guitar flourishes and

castanets Castanets, also known as ''clackers'' or ''palillos'', are a percussion instrument ( idiophonic), used in Spanish, Calé, Moorish, Ottoman, Greek, Italian, Mexican, Sephardic, Portuguese, Filipino, Brazilian, and Swiss music. In ancient ...

." The magazine's Alan Jones described it as "a simple, singalong song in waltztime, with acoustic Spanish style guitar picking." Barbara Ellen from ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

'' felt it finds Adams "at his most plaintive".

Music video

The accompanying music video for "Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman?" was shot in

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

at Casa los Pavos Reales,

Málaga Málaga (; ) is a Municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 591,637 in 2024, it is the second-most populo ...

starring Cecilie Thomsen and

Amira Casar Amira Casar is a French-British film actress. She was nominated for a César Award for Most Promising Actress for the 1997 film ''La Vérité si je mens !, La Vérité si je mens!'' and also for the Palme d'Or at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival for ...

. It was directed by the music video director

Anton Corbijn Anton Johannes Gerrit Corbijn van Willenswaard (; born 20 May 1955) is a Dutch photographer, film director, and music video director. He is the creative director behind the visual output of Depeche Mode and U2,Pitman, Joanna"The silent partner" ...

and was released in May 1995. For reasons unknown, the original music video is no longer viewable on YouTube.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{Authority control 1990s ballads 1995 singles 1995 songs A&M Records singles Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Bryan Adams songs European Hot 100 Singles number-one singles Music videos directed by Anton Corbijn Music videos shot in Spain Number-one singles in Australia Number-one singles in Austria Number-one singles in Switzerland RPM Top Singles number-one singles Song recordings produced by Robert John "Mutt" Lange Songs written by Bryan Adams Songs written by Michael Kamen Songs written by Robert John "Mutt" Lange Works based on the Don Juan legend