相信 (1998)

"Believe" is a song by the American singer Cher from her 22nd studio album, Believe (1998). It was released as the lead single on October 19, 1998, by Warner Bros. Records. After circulating for months, a demo written by Brian Higgins, Matthew Gray, Stuart McLennen and Timothy Powell was submitted to Warner's chairman, Rob Dickins, while he was scouting for songs to include on Cher's new album. Aside from the chorus, Dickins was not impressed by the track so he enlisted two more writers, Steve Torch and Paul Barry, to complete it. Cher contributed some lyrics but did not receive any songwriting credit. Recording took place at Dreamhouse Studio in West London, while production was handled by Mark Taylor and Brian Rawling.

"Believe" is an upbeat dance-pop and electropop song and departed from Cher's previous music. It featured a pioneering use of the audio processing software Auto-Tune to distort her vocals, which was widely imitated and became known as the "Cher effect". The lyrics describe empowerment and self-sufficiency after a painful breakup. "Believe" received positive reviews; critics praised its production and catchiness, with some deeming it a highlight from the album. The song has been listed as one of Cher's most important releases. At the 42nd Annual Grammy Awards, it was nominated for Record of the Year and won Best Dance Recording, the first and only Grammy Award that Cher has won.

"Believe" topped the record charts in over 23 countries and has sold more than 11 million copies worldwide. It is Cher's most successful single, and one of the best-selling singles in music history. "Believe" was the biggest-selling song of 1998 in the United Kingdom, and remains the highest-selling single by a solo female artist there. In the United States, it was Cher's fifth number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and it topped the Year-End Hot 100 singles of 1999. The accompanying music video (directed by Nigel Dick) was nominated for Best Dance Video at the 1999 MTV Video Music Awards.

Cher has performed the song on many occasions, including the 1999 Brit Awards, the Sanremo Music Festival, as well as on several talk shows and variety programs (in America and abroad). It has since become a fan favorite, and a staple in the setlist of her concert tours. "Believe" has been covered by numerous artists, and it's also been sung or referenced in several feature films and scripted TV shows. Scholars and academics noted the way in which Cher was able to re-invent herself, and yet stay true to her image, while still being able to release music that was fresh and contemporary amidst the more "teen pop"-based music of the period. They also credited the song for restoring Cher's social popularity and further cementing her position as a pop icon. "Believe" earned Cher a place in the Guinness Book of World Records, and Rolling Stone listed it among the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time".

Background and writing

The origins of the song go back to as early as 1991, when the original demo of "Believe", written by singer Mark Scott and songwriter Brian Higgins and co-produced by Nick Van Eede and Kevin MacMichael (both of the band Cutting Crew) was created for Warner Records, to which Van Eede and MacMichael received modest compensation—reportedly just a bottle of whisky—for their contributions. The demo was passed on to several major artists through Higgins and eventually landed with Cher in 1997 which was rearranged with altered lyrics. This rearranged demo of "Believe", now written by Higgins, Matthew Gray, Stuart McLennen and Timothy Powell, circulated at Warner Records for months. Higgins offered the demo to the English indie dance band Saint Etienne, who turned it down. According to the producer Mark Taylor, "everyone loved the chorus" but not the rest. The Warner chairman, Rob Dickins, asked the production house Dreamhouse to work on it; their goal was to make a dance record that would not alienate Cher fans. Two more writers, Steve Torch and Paul Barry, completed a version that Dickins and Cher were happy with.

Cher felt the song was "too whiny" and wanted to "toughen it up a bit". Feeling that "a girl can be sad in one verse, but she can't be sad in two verses", she rewrote the lyrics in the second verse to make the character more assertive: 'I need time to move on, I need love to feel strong / 'Cause I've had time to think it through and maybe I'm too good for you". In 2023, Cher said she regretted not asking for a songwriting credit.

Recording

"Believe" was recorded in mid-1998 at the Dreamhouse studio operated by Metro Productions in Kingston upon Thames, London. It was assembled with Cubase on an early Power Macintosh G3, with synthesizers including a Clavia Nord Rack and an Oberheim Matrix 1000. Cher's vocals were recorded on three TASCAM DA-88 digital audio recorders with a Neumann U67 microphone.