With Dolly Parton having a new album recently and the 30th anniversary of Beethoven’s 2nd coming up soon on December 17th, it seems like the perfect time to revisit Dolly’s incredibly sincere dog love ballad with James Ingram, “The Day I Fall in Love” from the movie. In Beethoven’s 2nd, our titular St. Bernard falls for a fellow St. Bernard, Missy, and the pair have a litter of puppies that brings joy to everyone in the Newton family except for patriarch George (Charles Grodin), who is driven into hysterical fits of rage at all the various hijinks. Compared to all the wackiness of the movie, “The Day I Fall in Love” is almost absurdly sincere, with Dolly and James Ingram pouring their hearts out for a song about giant, goofy dogs. It also seems to imply based on the lyrics that Ingram is portraying Beethoven and Dolly is Missy. The song was nominated for a Grammy, Golden Globe and Oscar for Best Original Song, but it lost to “Streets of Philadelphia” by Bruce Springsteen. The music video features Dolly and James Ingram tenderly singing to each other in the studio while clips from the movie play on a screen behind them and there’s a very special cameo from the entire Beethoven dog family at the end. Check it out below.
