Celine Dion, Taking Chances World Tour (the Concert, 2010)

After watching Celine Dion's "Through the Eyes of the World" documentary on cable tv recently, I wanted to get a copy of her Taking Chances CD. However, instead of just the CD, I opted to get the concert recording (this CD came with a DVD of the Boston concert, I think) because some of my favorite songs are included in her set list.

I've noticed that the last few CDs I bought were mostly connected to the artists' concert tours (Sting, Maroon 5, and now Celine Dion).

Celine Dion performed "Because You Loved Me" and "It's All Coming Back to Me Now" in a medley, "The Prayer" in a duet with Andrea Bocelli, and "My Heart Will Go On" as the last song in the CD (I don't know if it's the last song in the accompanying DVD). I've associated these songs to memories.

"There were moments of gold and there were flashes of light. There were things that I'd never do again but then they'd always seemed right."

"You're the one who held me up, never let me fall. You're the one who saw me through it all."

"Because You Loved Me" and "It's All Coming Back to Me Now" both remind me of dark cloudy skies and cold weather while riding bikes with my cousins in Burnham Park, Baguio City. These two songs were the hits during our road trip and were heard over and over again via the Park's overhead loudspeakers. It was also about this same time when I used to play soccer. Hence, every time I hear these songs, I also recall hazy views, the smell of freshly mown grass, and the squelch of soccer shoes on muddy ground. And the vision of a soccer ball zooming straight to my face. Since then, I have enjoyed soccer from the bleachers.

"Love can touch us one time and last for a lifetime and never let go 'til we're gone."

Then there's "My Heart Will Go On". It is iconic, being one of the songs in the 1997 movie "Titanic". I remember my older cousins gush about the plot repeatedly; they watched the movie in the cinema several times. While listening to this song, I also recall being seated on giant slabs of flat rocks somewhere in Mount Makiling after a morning of hiking while classmates mimic a famous line from the movie, "Is anyone alive out there?"

"I pray we'll find your light and hold it in our hearts when stars go out each night."

When I hear "The Prayer" I remember something more recent, and not happy at all: being one of the musicians in a fund-raising concert dedicated to colleagues who were in advanced stages of cancer. Opening the concert with this song was timely because hours before the concert was the funeral of one of the cancer patients. It was not just a song; it was a prayer for comfort for family and friends in mourning.

I agree with what David Pomeranz wrote in "The Old Songs": "Maybe the old songs will bring up the old times. Maybe the old lines will sound new." As I listened to Taking Chances, Celine Dion did succeed in making me go down through memory lane. The older songs in the line up did not sound old at all. They fit right in with the newer songs in her concert line-up.