"First Day of My Life" is a song by British singer

Melanie C Melanie Jayne Chisholm (born 12 January 1974), commonly known as Melanie C or Mel C, is an English singer and songwriter. She rose to fame in the mid-1990s as a member of the pop group the Spice Girls, in which she was nicknamed Sporty Spice. W ...

. It was released on 30 September 2005 in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland as the third and final single from Melanie C's third solo album, '' Beautiful Intentions'' (2005). The song peaked at number one in Germany, Spain, and Switzerland, being certified platinum in Germany and gold in Switzerland. The song is Melanie C's most successful single in continental Europe, spending two years in different European charts. The single has sold over 1.5 million copies worldwide.

Background

The song was written by

Guy Chambers Guy Antony Chambers (born 12 January 1963) is an English songwriter, musician and record producer, best known for his work with Robbie Williams. Education Chambers attended Quarry Bank Comprehensive School sixth form in Liverpool. From 18, ...

and

Enrique Iglesias Enrique Miguel Iglesias Preysler (; born 8 May 1975) is a Spanish singer and songwriter. He started his recording career in the mid-1990s on the Mexican label Fonovisa where he released three Spanish albums ''Enrique Iglesias (album), Enrique ...

and had originally been recorded by Italian tenor

Andrea Bocelli Andrea Bocelli (; born 22 September 1958) is an Italian tenor. He rose to fame in 1994 after winning the newcomers' section of the 44th Sanremo Music Festival performing " Il mare calmo della sera". Since 1994, Bocelli has recorded 15 solo st ...

, with lyrics in Italian as "Un nuovo giorno" ("A new day") for his 2004 eponymous album '' Andrea'', and he also released it as a single the same year. The song was not from the original '' Beautiful Intentions'' release, but was included on a re-release in Germany, Switzerland, Austria, and other European countries.

Chart performance

The song became one of the biggest hits in Europe in 2005, but it was never released in UK as a commercial single, though it was included as a B side on one of the two UK CDs of her single " Carolyna". The song also was nominated as "The Single of the Year" at the 2006 ECHO Awards in Germany but lost to " Hung Up" by

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone ( ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Referred to as the "Queen of Pop", she has been recognized for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, ...

. On 15 September 2006, "First Day of My Life" went

platinum Platinum is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a density, dense, malleable, ductility, ductile, highly unreactive, precious metal, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name origina ...

in Germany, selling over 400,000 copies. After a huge success of this single in Europe, Melanie recorded this song in French (''Je suis née pour toi'' — I Am Born For You), to promote the single and album for French market. "First Day of My Life" also appeared on Chisholm's fourth album '' This Time'' as a bonus track for the Italian release. The song spent 57 weeks on the Swiss Singles Chart, entering on 16 October 2005 at number 15 and exiting the charts on 13 May 2007 at number 87. It peaked at number one for two weeks, from 13 to 20 November 2005.

Music video

The video was shot on location in

Hannover Hanover ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Lower Saxony. Its population of 535,932 (2021) makes it the List of cities in Germany by population, 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-l ...

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony is a States of Germany, German state (') in Northern Germany, northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ' of the Germany, Federal Re ...

, Germany, on 26 August 2005 and features a number of recognizable local landmarks. For key scenes of the video, a busy downtown thoroughfare known to locals as the ''Raschplatzhochstraße'' or ''Raschplatz overpass'' (on which Melanie can be seen standing and singing in the video) was closed for the afternoon.

Formats and track listings

* European 3-Track CD # "First Day of My Life" – 4:04 # "First Day of My Life" – 4:04 # "Runaway" - 3:24 * German 2-Track CD # "First Day of My Life" – 4:04 # "Runaway" – 3:24 * German Maxi CD # "First Day of My Life" – 4:04 # "First Day of My Life" – 4:04 # "Runaway" – 3:24 # "First Day of My Life" – 4:04 * Australian Maxi CD # "First Day of My Life" – 4:04 # "First Day of My Life" - 4:04 # "Better Alone" – 6:50 # "Better Alone" – 3:05 # "Better Alone" – 3:56 * France CD # "First Day of My Life" – 4:04 # "First Day of My Life" – 4:04 * Italian CD # "First Day of My Life" – 4:04 # "First Day of My Life" – 4:04 # "Warrior" – 3:47 # "First Day of My Life" – 4:04

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{Authority control Andrea Bocelli songs 2004 singles 2004 songs 2005 singles Melanie C songs Number-one singles in Germany Number-one singles in Spain Number-one singles in Switzerland Songs written by Guy Chambers Songs written by Enrique Iglesias bg:First Day of My Life (песен на Мелани Си) it:First Day of My Life pt:First Day Of My Life