page_title: You Must Love Me
section_title: Background and development
hierarchical_section_title: You Must Love Me / Background and development
caption_attribution_description: English: Eva Perón (1919-1952) Español: Eva Perón (1919-1952)
context_page_description: "You Must Love Me" is a song recorded by American singer and songwriter Madonna. It was written by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, for the 1996 film adaptation of the musical, Evita, based on the life of Argentinian leader Eva Perón. The song was released on October 27, 1996, by Warner Bros. as the lead single from the film's soundtrack. After years of not working together due to their individual projects, Webber and Rice collaborated on creating a new track for the film, with the hopes of obtaining an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song. According to Webber, the song's purpose was to showcase Perón's emotional state at the time as well as her relationship with her husband Juan Perón.
  Madonna, who starred in the title role of the film, had tried to change the lyrics of the track to create a sympathetic portrayal of Perón, but was unsuccessful. She also undertook vocal lessons to record the songs for the film. "You Must Love Me" features instrumentation from cello and piano which accompanies Madonna's vocals. The song garnered positive response from music critics, many of them highlighting Madonna's enhanced singing ability.
context_section_description: In 1996, Madonna starred in the film Evita, playing the role of Eva Perón, the Spiritual Leader of the Nation of Argentina. For a long time, Madonna had desired to play Perón and even wrote a letter to director Alan Parker, explaining how she would be perfect for the part. After securing the role, she underwent vocal training with coach Joan Lader since Evita required the actors to sing their own parts. Lader noted that the singer "had to use her voice in a way she's never used it before. Evita is real musical theater — its operatic, in a sense. Madonna developed an upper register that she didn't know she had."
  "You Must Love Me" was written by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, who had reunited for Evita after a ten-year creative separation due to their individual projects. It was written specifically for the film, so that it would contain new material and be eligible for an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song. Madonna noted it as her favorite song from the film, recalling that the idea for "You Must Love Me" grew when Parker re-arranged the ending of the film from the original play, with the hopes of reuniting Rice and Webber to create new music. According to Webber, the purpose of the song was to showcase Perón's emotional state at the time as well as her relationship with her husband Juan Perón; "[Eva] is dying and she knows she's dying. One reason she is saying, 'You must love me', is out of desperation. She's also saying, 'You must love me because you must have always loved me', so it's a little word play, I guess, which Tim Rice has written", he explained. It was released as the soundtrack's first official single on October 27, 1996. Since its release, the song has been included in several productions of the play, including the 2006 London production and the 2012 Broadway revival.
caption: Madonna played the title character of Eva Perón (pictured)
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