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"Return to Innocence" is a song by German musical group Enigma. It was released on 4 January 1994 as the lead single from their second album, The Cross of Changes (1993). It became the project's most successful international single after "Sadeness (Part I)", reaching number one in over 10 countries (including Ireland, Norway, Sweden and Zimbabwe), number three on the UK Singles Chart, and the top five in several countries, including Canada, Germany and New Zealand. It also reached the top 20 in France and number two on the Eurochart Hot 100. "Return to Innocence" was the project's biggest hit in the United States, reaching number two on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart, number four on the Billboard Hot 100, and number six on the Billboard Mainstream Top 40.
The song's melodic and talking vocals in English are provided by Angel X (Andreas Harde), and a short talking vocal by Sandra ("Death is not the beginning of the end, that's the return to yourself, the return to innocence"), while an Amis chant ("Elders' Drinking Song") is repeated, which opens the song. Difang and Igay Duana, from the Amis, were in a cultural exchange program in Paris in 1988 when their performance of the song was recorded by the Maison des Cultures du Monde and later distributed on CD. The producer of Enigma, Michael Cretu, later obtained the CD and proceeded to sample it. In addition, the drum beat of the song was sampled from the Led Zeppelin song "When the Levee Breaks", played by John Bonham.
The song was used to promote several types of media in the mid-1990s, including film and TV commercials. In autumn 1994, the song was featured in an episode of the TV show My So-Called Life. In 1995, the song was used as the closing theme in Disney's live-action film Man of the House, as well as in the opening and closing of an Outer Limits episode. In 1996, the song was further popularised when it was used in a television advertisement to promote the 1996 Summer Olympics.
In March 1998, Difang and Igay sued Cretu, Virgin Records and a number of recording companies for unauthorised use of their song without credit. The case was settled out of court for an undisclosed amount of money and all further releases of the song were credited (including royalties) to the Duanas. Cretu has stated that he had been led to believe that the recording was in the public domain and that he did not intentionally violate the Kuos' copyright.
English film, documentary and music video director Julien Temple directed the video for "Return to Innocence", which depicts a man's life in reverse, starting with him dying and ending with his baptism as a baby. It was later published on Enigma's official YouTube channel in March 2009. The video has amassed more than 121 million views.
