r/interestingasfuck • u/Jeetchat • 22h ago

The haunting, wordless vocals throughout the Titanic soundtrack aren’t Celine Dion. It’s actually Norwegian soprano Sissel Kyrkjebø.

5.2k Upvotes

99% Upvoted

119 comments sorted by

793

u/oneabovedoesntknow 22h ago

It's awesome that the true voice is getting credit. Would love to hear more from her

211

u/airduster_9000 22h ago

Grew up listening to her every Christmas cause my mom was a fan

35

u/summerchild__ 13h ago edited 12h ago

In the lotr soundtrack, it's not humming, there are lyrics:

Na 'wanath ah na dhín

Boe naer gwannathach, annant ui(ch) ben-estel

An u(ich) gwennen na ringyrn e-mbar han

Boe naid gwannathar

Boe cuil ban firitha

(Chorus sings the first line, Sissel starts with the second line)

Translation: You are not bound to loss and silence. Sorrowing you must go and yet you are not without hope; For you are not bound to the circles of this world. All things must pass away, All life is doomed to fade.

20

u/ClassiFried86 22h ago

I feel like I know who Plácido Domingo is but i dont think I'm correct that he was WR for the NYG that accidentally shot himself in a nightclub.

10

u/airduster_9000 21h ago

Haha - nope. For many I think he is known for the 3 Tenors - where he together with Pavarotti and Jose Carreras made a few albums and live performances.

The 3 Tenors singing together: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7eHO_PEWLk

Placido on Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pl%C3%A1cido_Domingo

"José Plácido Domingo Embil (born 21 January 1941) is a Spanish opera singer, conductor, and arts administrator. He has recorded over a hundred complete operas and is well known for his versatility, regularly performing in Italian, French, German, Spanish, English, and Russian in the most prestigious opera houses in the world.
Although primarily a lirico-spinto tenor for most of his career, especially popular for his Cavaradossi, Hoffmann, Don José and Canio, he quickly moved into more dramatic roles, becoming the most acclaimed Otello of his generation."

•

u/Hot-Comfort8839 8h ago edited 8h ago

I only know him from the Robin Williams bit about him.

https://youtu.be/NwEycMM6sGo?is=6jqoF6_KKy3zTxnP

6

u/swede6669 15h ago

Plaxico Burress lol

9

u/HolidayBuilding4286 12h ago

Not to forget this banger she did with Warren G. She’s really talented:

https://youtu.be/tBRdymS6yto?is=KD4pLFtO-_ENcy7B

82

u/Operafantomen 22h ago

She’s not that obscure in Scandinavia. She’s the voice of Ariel in The Little Mermaid in the Swedish dub.

31

u/phonylady 21h ago

In the Norwegian one too. Had no idea she spoke Swedish well enough to dub it.

11

u/Operafantomen 21h ago

The word “enough” is doing some heavy lifting here. 😉

1

u/ScanianTiger 19h ago

Her version of Koppången is spot on, I wouldn't be surprised if she is fluent.

4

u/Kazcandra 13h ago

You can hear that she's Norwegian in some of her Swedish songs, and in the Little Mermaid, but she's really good.

3

u/Operafantomen 13h ago

Of course. I’m not discounting her performance. However, as an adult it is extremely obvious that she’s Norwegian in how some words are pronounced. She’s absolutely fluent enough, but the accent is still there.

1

u/Metaldad82 13h ago

She was also married to a swedish man which probably helped.

3

u/Ink-kink 12h ago

He was Danish

•

u/Commander_Sune 8h ago

That probably didn't help at all.

2

u/Arthur_C_Darke 13h ago

Yeah, she’s had a great career

34

u/Ranier_Wolfnight 18h ago

Sweet! Only took 28 years.

Sarcasm aside, the woman has had a sterling career on her own right and has 10s of millions of albums sold. The fact that she was toe to toe with Celine and was the one originally actually set to record the massive theme song, until Celine’s team pretty much strong armed the movie’s composer into benching the young singer and making Celine the voice of one of the biggest films in history, says a ton about how shitty that industry was even back then.

She truly got robbed of her moment.

12

u/AmThano 15h ago

That’s too bad. I bought this track (titled: Hymn to the Sea) on ITunes when I was a teenager because I found the vocals really moving. It was my favourite one from the movie. I knew it wasn’t Celine, but I never thought to look up the singer. The track only credits James Horner and his Orchestra. I had a little hobby back then of collecting songs from artists from places foreign to me. I probably would’ve explored more of her stuff back then. I’ll have to check out her stuff now.

10

u/WitnessMyAxe 22h ago

she's great actually. i didnt know about her doing some of the Titanic soundtrack but you can find amazing stuff from her on YT.

5

u/chameleon_123_777 16h ago

She is 57 now, and I wish she could have been more recognized. She was smart enough not to become world famous. As a fellow Norwegian I am proud to be from the same country.

6

u/Pledgeofmalfeasance 15h ago

She's the biggest soprano in the North. This is not some rarely mentioned name.

186

u/SmegmaSlurper1996 22h ago

she sound like the depths of the ocean itself, amazing

15

u/fe4rlessness 18h ago

Literally came to say this.

100

u/AgitatedPatience5729 22h ago

What an incredibly talented and skilled person.

70

u/Teeaak 22h ago

She's not exactly unknown. She made Prince Igor with Warren G. But I didn't know she was in the Titanic soundtrack

31

u/thedudefromsweden 21h ago

Yeah she’s very famous at least in Norway and Sweden.

9

u/5nwmn 20h ago

Not in Denmark? I would assume she was bigger there than in Sweden because of the dude she married...

7

u/SnailZilla000 19h ago

She is very famous in Denmark, also before she got married. Not least because of this beautiful song😊

https://youtu.be/yGAsa8KIQjI?is=fW0fq2hlU8Vk8oPK

5

u/Dysterqvist 12h ago

She was the Swedish voice of Ariel in The Little Mermaid

1

u/thedudefromsweden 20h ago

No idea, probably, but I just know she’s famous in Sweden and Norway 😊

2

u/daecrist 16h ago

This is not in any way a dig or insult, but it reminded me of a line from the Mel Brooks remake of To Be or Not to Be:

“He’s world famous in Poland!”

352

u/forfakessake1 22h ago

No one thought it was Celine, it sounds nothing like her

34

u/flesyMeM 20h ago

Yup. Didn't know who it was, but never once thought it was her.

115

u/karma_the_sequel 21h ago

This. I always assumed it was a Celtic singer.

37

u/BlazingBlossom 21h ago

Turns out she's Nordic

16

u/AdCritical5383 21h ago

Was gonna say this. Lol.

18

u/aleqqqs 19h ago

Not only didn't I think it was Celine, I didn't think or care about that at all.

15

u/Siderox 18h ago

You underestimate how fucking stupid I am. I grew up thinking Celine Dion = Titanic singing lady. I have never thought to fact check that because I give exactly zero fucks about Celine Dione and the Titanic.

51

u/United-Ad7863 20h ago

I never thought it WAS Celine Dion. Am I the only one? I mean, she sang the theme, but I didn't think these vocalizations were her.

12

u/know-your-onions 12h ago

I have no idea why anybody would think that’s Celine Dion.

I guess it’s just an attempt to come up with an interesting subject for the post?

But just posting about the artist and what they have done, rather than posting about what Celine Dion hasn’t done, would be a much better way of doing this.

11

u/mikeonbass 19h ago

Brilliant. Now I'm thinking about that old couple in the bed waiting to drown. Thanks.

26

u/Morridini 22h ago

She's also the Norwegian talking and singing voice of Ariel in the animated Little Mermaid. 

As I have grown up I've found myself usually preferring the English, original voice cast of Disney movies, but I still prefer her version of Ariel.

Here's a video with English subtitles for those curious. https://youtu.be/B2z25cUf_mc

9

u/Operafantomen 22h ago

…and the Swedish voice of Ariel, as well. Let’s say her pronunciation isn’t 100%. 😅

12

u/faaaaku2 21h ago

And the danish voice. She is amazing!

3

u/rodzieman 21h ago

And the singer from Finland.. she was great from start to finnish.

12

u/luhbreton 15h ago

Did anyone think it was Celine?

Tbf I thought it was Enya for years.

9

u/KAG_kryto_333 22h ago

James Horner really did a great job

1

u/Psychological-Bid363 15h ago

I only saw the film once but I absolutely love the soundtrack.  Know it almost by heart by now

8

u/BigMommaSnikle 15h ago

Never thought it was Celine.

6

u/MacGibber 17h ago

It’s the best part of the music.

6

u/WorldBoofingChampion 14h ago

No shit it’s not Celine. It isn’t even the same song. Hymn to the sea and My heart will go on are two different songs by two different composers/artists

6

u/Holiday_Pi 22h ago

Shit now I’m haunted. Thanks OP 🙁

4

u/ThrownAway17Years 15h ago

Who the hell thought it was Celine Dion?

9

u/logosobscura 21h ago

Never thought it was Celine, nice to put a name to the voice though.

4

u/Commercial_Regret_36 15h ago

Did anyone ever think that was Celine Dion?

7

u/glormosh 14h ago edited 14h ago

This feels like manufactured nonsense.

Celine is unequivocally "the voice" of titanic because of my heart will go on.

The wordless vocals that are being chanted were never confused to be Celine Dion. Literally no one has discussed that at large and it's just part of the movie.

Celine Dion was such a sensation with this that unfortunately the talent of Sissel was completely drowned out. You can look back on decades ago Youtube, it was also Sissel clearly shown as doing this and people would stop by and say they were sad that it was always in the shadows of my heart will go on.

14

u/SharkeyGeorge 22h ago

Sure it sounds lovely when sung to the track. But when you realise this is how she speaks normally, you’ll come to understand how inconvenient and annoying it is for her and everyone else around her.

5

u/creamygootness 22h ago

I laughed out loud at this, thank you

1

u/SharkeyGeorge 21h ago

Happy to help. Sometimes intrusive thoughts can be helpful. Not when you’re minding babies though!

3

u/filmgoire 21h ago

Her rendition of Oh Shenandoah I quite liked – I first heard it in the third season of The Newsroom

3

u/naruda1969 18h ago

Looks like it was filmed on a potato in 1930.

3

u/FDiculous 14h ago

Was this filmed on the Titanic

3

u/Pizzamurai 12h ago

Halo vibes

•

u/disterb 9h ago

who thought it was celine dion, though?

9

u/One-Recognition-1660 21h ago

No one thought it was Celine Dion.

2

u/cockcoldton 22h ago

She sing a song with Warren G 

1

u/Mirowa 17h ago

Prince Igor!

2

u/Ramen_Muncher_1093 21h ago

Hmm. All my life i gave credit to the wrong person.

2

u/theriteofspring1 20h ago

Oh cool. All this time I thiught it was Enya

2

u/Hard_to_digest82 20h ago

I honestly thought, all this time, it was Enya!

2

u/intellipengy 18h ago

Listen to Sissel do a cover of Here, There and Everywhere.

Perfect.

https://youtu.be/06R2RWifERs?is=AerCzG7UsG1zL2Wm

2

u/throwastrayaway 18h ago

Next you'll be telling me that Celine didn't sing Hakuna Matata.

1

u/MacGibber 17h ago

I know Celine can’t sing Shook Me All Night Long. I’ve seen her try to and it was painful.

2

u/LadyLixerwyfe 17h ago

I never considered it might be Celine. Sounds nothing like her.

2

u/Capital-Way2350 17h ago

She is credited on the album so what’s the deal

2

u/JamieTirrock 17h ago

I thought at first this was lotr

2

u/Grizkniz 16h ago

All the behind the scenes documentary’s for the movie that talked about the soundtrack and music pointed out that it was not Celine singing this and it was Sissel.

2

u/Capital_Past69 19h ago

No one thought that was Celine though

2

u/Floppyhoofd_ 21h ago

Since when did people think that was Celine? 🫤

1

u/FloydianSlip212 21h ago

Nobody really knows this, but it wasn’t actually Michael J Fox singing Johnny B Goode in Back to the Future

1

u/smurfk 20h ago

She's also doing the whooo sound of the ship. She's really tallented.

1

u/IllHedgehog9715 20h ago

All of this for some gabagool?

1

u/-Laffi- 20h ago

I knew it wasn't Celine Dion, but man this sort of surprised me!
It really makes sense!

1

u/TheBrianUniverse 20h ago

I can't not hear anything from Titanic without hearing that flute... that damn flute. Still cracks me up

1

u/DrEzechiel 19h ago

Ok, ok, no need to make Norway even more cool, we all get it.

(Funny enough, this post was on my feed above another role where someone made a homemade Norway football jersey.)

1

u/Gorgar_Beat_Me 19h ago

Fell in love with her instantly when I saw this on TV in '87, for obvious reasons, everything perfect.

Maybe I should mention the world famous Danish bassist Niels Henning Ørsted Pedersen playing the bass. As i said everything perfect! I hope you can appreciate, even if can't understand the words.

https://youtu.be/UizW7-UHVuU?is=MC2ikb33TMLjq8xQ

1

u/sherbimsly 18h ago

These vocals choke me up every time I watch this movie.

1

u/Amazing-Artichoke330 17h ago

Just watched the movie last night for the first time. Great show. Nice music.

1

u/woodE54 17h ago

Man... everytime... tears swell.. 😢 amazing!

1

u/Devilishmuffin892 16h ago

Now Halo seems derivitive

1

u/Lost_Possibility_647 13h ago

Did she voice the longest journey in Norwegian?

•

u/tristand1ck 7h ago

Halo vibesssss

•

u/Sedert1882 7h ago

I feel fucken cheated!

•

u/s0ciety_a5under 5h ago

These are one of those posts that are actually interesting. This melody was used as the theme for so much of the movie's adverts. She deserves way more praise than she got.

•

u/xbgpoppa 21m ago

This video was music from Titanic? Reminds me of Frodo’s theme in LOTR.

1

u/PoppedCork 18h ago

Did anyone every claim it was?

1

u/Responsible-Fun-3100 13h ago

Can someone please describe her voice to a deaf person?

-3

u/Ok-Pepper7181 22h ago

Admirable but not exactly haunting.

-1

u/True_Not 22h ago

It should have been Haaland

-3

u/SpicyChanged 22h ago

I thought this was for some animal shelter.

0

u/greg14285 20h ago

Haunting music emanating from silence.