Bryan Adams: Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman?

Quiz by: Sharon Michiko Yoneda

artist:  Bryan Adams

songwriter:  Bryan Adams, Michael Kamen and Robert John "Mutt" Lange

date released:  1995 by Bryan Adams for film "Don Juan de Marcos"

*Teacher's alert:  Pronunciation specialists out there, this song contains a lot of phoneme reductions, such as "you gotta" from "you've got to."  I am aware that some language teaching purists would advise against actually allowing the spelling of words (or more accurately reductions), such as "wanna;" "gonna;" and "gotta" to appear in print; however, the students hear it in spoken discourse and try to script it inaccurately, so one may as well capitulate and teach a lesson on reductions.  On the bright side, Adams does give the correct, "You've go to give her some faith" in one line.  See if the students can hear it among the many "gottas" in the lyrics.   This would be my humble opinion.  

Singer-songwriter, artist and photographer Bryan Adams was born in Kingston, Ontario, in 1959.  His parents were British.  A diplomat, Adams' father travelled around the world with his family, so Bryan spent his youth growing up in Europe and the Middle East.  Part of his childhood was spent in Birre, Portugal, where he learned the Portuguese language.  In 1973, the Adams family returned to Canada and settled in North Vancouver, the city Bryan would consider home.  

As a child, Bryan was fond of music and in his teens, he worked in many part-time jobs to support his music habit.  Much to the chagrin of his parents, he quit school so he could sing in nightclubs with various bands.  Fortunately, he met Jim Vallance working in a record store, and the two set a course in songwriting which changed the face of Canadian music.  By the time Bryan Adams was eighteen, he had already signed a recording contract with A&M Records in Toronto for the head-spinning sum of one dollar.

The eighties brought success to the songwriting team of Adams-Vallance.  "Cuts Like A Knife" was their breakout album soaring up the record charts in Canada and the U.S.  "Reckless" soon followed to consolidate Adams's fame.  By the nineties, Adams was established as a major international recording star.

Adams and his songwriting team would go on to write songs for several films including "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves," "Spirit:  Stallion Of The Cimarron," "The Guardian" and "Don Juan de Marcos," the film that brought accolades for "Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman."  The flamenco guitarist on the recording was renowned, Paco de Lucia, who continued collaboration with Adams in several later ventures.  The song earned Adams a second Grammy nomination.  

Even as his busy songwriting and recording schedule did not abate, Adams found the time to develop his passion for photography.  His artistic efforts have been picked up by various fashion magazines such as Vogue, Vanity Fair and Harper's Bazaar.  Many of his recording peers have been the models for the lens of his camera which also led to CD covers and other publications of his oeuvre.  In 2002, Adams was chosen by an elite coterie of photographers to photograph Queen Elizabeth II during her Golden Jubilee.  This image became a national stamp in Canada that year.  Museums which have exhibitions of Adams's work are endless:  the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, Canada House in Trafalgar Square in London, and the Leica Gallery in Vienna to name a few.

His success in so many artistic endeavours gave way to the formation of The Bryan Adams Foundation which advances education and learning opportunities for disadvantaged children around the world.  The foundation is completely funded by the proceeds of Adams's photographic activities.  In the way of his photographic exhibitions, his list of charitable activities is endless.  

It is not surprising that many awards and accolades have accompanied Adams' career.  In a grand total of 87 nominations, he has won:  3 Grammy Awards for his work on the Robin Hood soundtrack, 18 Juno Awards, 1 American Music Award, and 1 MTV Video Music Award. Bryan Adams was inducted into Canada's Music Hall of Fame in 2007. The pinnacle of his civilian life as a Canadian arrived when he was honoured by receiving membership in the Order of British Columbia and the Order of Canada for his contribution to popular music and philanthropic efforts.