Uploaded April 2025 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
This was one of my favorite songs of 1994, and it's by the German musical project called Enigma, which prominently used an Amis chant sung by folk music duo Difang (Kuo Ying-nan) and Igay Duana (Kuo Hsiu-chu). Enigma's founder Michael Cretu initially sampled the chants without permission, thinking that they were in the public domain, and a legal dispute followed as Difang and Igay Duana both charged that their music was used without authorization. The case was eventually settled out of court with later releases credited to the Duanas. "Return To Innocence" became a worldwide hit, going to #4 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart, #3 on the UK Pop chart, and was in the Top Ten of many countries, including Austria, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Netherland, New Zealand, Norway, Scotland, Sweden, and Switzerland. Really loved this song, as I always found it rather calming; there's also an excellent music video for this, showing a man's life slowly in reverse motion.
original version on the album The Cross of Changes
written by Michael Cretu, Kuo Ying-nan, and Kuo Hsiu-chu
© copyright 1993 Virgin Schallplatten GmbH, Enigma Songs, Mambo-Music. All rights reserved.
This was one of my favorite songs of 1994, and it's by the German musical project called Enigma, which prominently used an Amis chant sung by folk music duo Difang (Kuo Ying-nan) and Igay Duana (Kuo Hsiu-chu). Enigma's founder Michael Cretu initially sampled the chants without permission, thinking that they were in the public domain, and a legal dispute followed as Difang and Igay Duana both charged that their music was used without authorization. The case was eventually settled out of court with later releases credited to the Duanas. "Return To Innocence" became a worldwide hit, going to #4 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart, #3 on the UK Pop chart, and was in the Top Ten of many countries, including Austria, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Netherland, New Zealand, Norway, Scotland, Sweden, and Switzerland. Really loved this song, as I always found it rather calming; there's also an excellent music video for this, showing a man's life slowly in reverse motion.
original version on the album The Cross of Changes
written by Michael Cretu, Kuo Ying-nan, and Kuo Hsiu-chu
© copyright 1993 Virgin Schallplatten GmbH, Enigma Songs, Mambo-Music. All rights reserved.
