Enigma - 'The Return to Innocence'

Often voted as one of the best music videos of all time. Song was a #1 hit for Enigma as well, and the LP The Cross of Changes, the follow-up to the band's extremely successful 1990 debut Mcmxc A.D., did just as well, selling an estimated 12 million copies worldwide and attaining multi-platinum status in the USA, UK, Canada, Australia, and other countries. As a result, many tracks from these first two albums have featured in motion picture scores, television shows, and advertisements.

The trademark Gregorian chanting of the first album has here been replaced by Ami (Native Taiwanese) vocalizations. The creative force behind Enigma is Romanian-born, German-raised, and classically trained pianist and composer Michael Cretu. He and his wife Sandra provide most of the English and French language vocals for Enigma's LP catalogue, while Gregorian (Latin) and Ami chanting, as well as folk singing in Basque, Sanskrit/Vedic, and other fairly obscure languages generally complement the songs, along with Japanese Shakuhachi flutes, though not always; Cretu's style has evolved relentlessly throughout the years, and he is still active in making his own music as well as collaborating, recording, and producing for others out of his home studio in Ibiza.

However, his most commercially successful albums by far were Enigma's first two (of the current seven that have been released). Among the most successful singles from those albums were "Sadeness," "The Principles of Lust," "Mea Culpa," "Age of Loneliness," "The Cross of Changes," and this track, "The Return to Innocence"...

Turn the volume up and enjoy.

Love, devotion

Feelings, emotion

Don't be afraid to be weak

Don't be too proud to be strong

Just look into your heart my friend

That will be be the return to yourself

The return to yourself.

'Cause if you want, then start to laugh

If you must, then start to cry

Be yourself, don't hide

Just believe in destiny

Don't care what people say

Just follow your own way

Don't give up and lose the chance

To return to innocence.

Music & Lyrics by Michael Cretu. English-language vocals by Sandra and Michael Cretu. Chanting by Ami tribesmen and farmers Difang Duana (1921–2002) and Igay Duana (1922–2002). Instrumentation, mixing, recording, production, and art by Michael Cretu (1993). Video directed by Julien Temple and filmed in Andalucia, Spain.

I'll contrast this song with a couple from the first album (and possibly subsequent albums) at a later date.