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"If You Asked Me To" is the title of a song written and originally released as the lead single for Patti LaBelle's seventh solo studio album, entitled Be Yourself, and for the Licence to Kill soundtrack. The song is a ballad written by critically-acclaimed songwriter Diane Warren. The lyrics are from the point of view of a woman who pleads to her significant other:

"If you asked me to

I just might change my mind

And let you in my heart forever."

"If You Asked Me To" was first featured on the soundtrack of the 1989 James Bond movie, Licence to Kill. LaBelle's version peaked at number 79 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, at number 10 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, and at number 11 on the Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks.

The music video was filmed shortly after Jacqueline "Jackie" Padgett (the third of Patti LaBelle's sisters to die) died of lung cancer at age 43. As such, the context of the song changed dramatically, as a mourning LaBelle, dressed in black, sings the song in a church (with candles and mourning lilies), intercut with shots of her in tears.

Despite being a Top 10 hit on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs charts^[1], the song did not crossover to the pop charts until Céline Dion covered it three years later. Regarding the subject, LaBelle once explained during an interview used for the liner notes of her 1999 Greatest Hits album what she believed to be the reason for this fact: "I knew the song was a hit when I recorded it, and I was happy that Celine did it and did so well with it. But the arrangements are so close and we both have pretty powerful voices...so who knows why my version didn't take off. Maybe it was timing..."^[2]

Céline Dion version

"If You Asked Me To"
Single by Céline Dion
from the album Celine Dion
Released	April 6, 1992 (1992-04-06)
Format	CD single, cassette single, vinyl single
Recorded	Criterion Studios, Village Recorders, Music Grinder, Oceanway Studios
Genre	Pop rock, soft rock
Length	3:55
Label	Columbia, Epic
Writer(s)	Diane Warren
Producer	Guy Roche
Céline Dion singles chronology
"Je danse dans ma tête" (1992) "If You Asked Me To" (1992) "Nothing Broken But My Heart" (1992)

Céline Dion covered "If You Asked Me To" and released it as the second single from her eponymous album. It was produced by Walter Afanasieff and was released on April 6, 1992 in the United States, and later the same year in the rest of the world.^[3]

The B-side of this single contains an unreleased track called "Love You Blind," which was written by Jay Oliver and Sheryl Crow, and produced by Walter Afanasieff.

The music video for the song was directed by Dominic Orlando and filmed in Chatsworth and Hollywood, Los Angeles. It was released in April 1992 and included later on Dion's 2001 DVD video collection All the Way… A Decade of Song & Video.

The song was a hit in the United States and Canada. "If You Asked Me To" reached number 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 (number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 Airplay and number 11 on the Hot 100 Singles Sales) and did even better on the Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks chart, spending three weeks at number 1. In Canada, it reached number 3 on the Canadian Singles Chart and number 1 on the Contemporary Hit Radio Chart. The single had moderate success elsewhere. "If You Asked Me To" was released twice in the United Kingdom: first, in June 1992, when it peaked at number 60, and the second time in December 1992, when it reached number 57. According to Nielsen SoundScan, the single has sold 415,000 copies in the U.S.

"If You Asked Me To" was included on the North American versions of Dion's greatest hits All the Way… A Decade of Song in 1999 and My Love: Essential Collection in 2008.

Formats and track listings

U.S. CD single

1. "If You Asked Me To" – 3:55
2. "Where Does My Heart Beat Now" – 4:33

Worldwide CD single

1. "If You Asked Me To" – 3:55
2. "Love You Blind" – 4:35

Australian/European CD maxi single

1. "If You Asked Me To" – 3:55
2. "Love You Blind" – 4:35
3. "Halfway to Heaven" – 5:05

UK CD maxi single

1. "If You Asked Me To" – 3:55
2. "Where Does My Heart Beat Now" – 4:33
3. "Love You Blind" – 4:35

Charts

References