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"Listen to Your Heart" was the third single issued in the United States from Swedish pop duo Roxette's 1988 album Look Sharp! It was written by Per Gessle and Mats M.P. Persson. It reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart on November 4, 1989, their second chart-topper of the year. They rose to #1 the same week the dominant New Kids on the Block rose to #2 with their song "Cover Girl", thus preventing the group from taking the top spot. The song was released in the UK in October 1989 and reached a lowly #62, but was re-issued in August 1990 as a Double A-Side with "Dangerous" after the success of their previous single "It Must Have Been Love", and reached #6.
[edit] Production
According to Gessle the song was conceived as :-
"The Big Bad Ballad. This is us trying to recreate that overblown American FM-rock sound to the point where it almost becomes absurd. We really wanted to see how far we could take it." [1]
Two different versions of the song are available: the original, a and slightly modified version that was included on Don't Bore Us, Get to the Chorus.
[edit] Music video
Roxette recorded the video for "Listen to Your Heart" in the Borgholm Castle ruin on the Swedish Baltic Sea island of Öland.
[edit] Accolades
In 2008, the song had reached it four million American radio plays.[2] The D.H.T. dance cover is included in the total of plays. The song has been voted The Best Roxette Song ever by readers of fan-site The Daily Roxette.[3]
[edit] In the media
- The Roxette version of this song was featured on the TV show Reunion in 2005.
- "Listen to Your Heart" was used by the dissident political party Civic Forum in its television advertisements for the 1989 Czechoslovakian elections, one of the first elections in Eastern Europe that came with collapse of communism.[citation needed]
- The song can be sung in the Xbox 360 video game, Lips.
- The song appeared in a 1989 episode of the Brazilian soap opera O Sexo dos Anjos by Globo TV.[4]
- The single was also used in the Cold Case season one episode "Maternal Instincts".
[edit] Live versions
At the Wembley Arena gig on their 1991-92 Join The Joyride / The Summer Joyride World Tour, before playing this song as part of the encore, Per said "We can't leave you tonight without playing you this absolutely true story."
[edit] Track listings
- 7" single
- "Listen to Your Heart" — 5:12
- "(I Could Never) Give You Up" — 3:59
- CD maxi
- "Listen to Your Heart" (Swedish single version)
- "Dangerous" (LP version)
- "Listen to Your Heart" (U.S. remix)
- "Dangerous" (U.S. club edit)
[edit] Charts and certifications
| Chart (1989) |
Peak
position |
| Australian ARIA Singles Chart[5] |
10 |
| Austrian Singles Chart[5] |
2 |
| Canadian Singles Chart |
1 |
| German Singles Chart[6] |
7 |
| Irish Singles Chart[7] |
5 |
| Swedish Singles Chart[5] |
3 |
| Swiss Singles Chart[5] |
8 |
| UK Singles Chart[8] |
62 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100[9] |
1 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks[9] |
2 |
| Chart (1990) |
Peak
position |
| UK Singles Chart 1 [10] |
6 |
|
| Country |
Certification |
Date |
Sales certified |
| Austria[11] |
Gold |
March 7, 1990 |
15,000 |
| Sweden[12] |
Gold |
February 6, 1989 |
10,000 |
|
1 "Listen to Your Heart" / "Dangerous"
[edit] D.H.T. cover
In 2005, Belgian dance group D.H.T.'s trance-cover of "Listen to Your Heart" became a worldwide club hit. Originally released in Belgium in 2003, the various mixes of the song reached U.S. clubs in late 2004. The song was released in the U.S. in late 2005 or early 2006. By June 2005, the song reached number one on Billboard Hot Dance Airplay chart and the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 chart, peaking at #8 in August. The same year, the group also released an acoustic ballad version of the song, which also received substantial airplay.
[edit] Track listings
- CD single
- "Listen to Your Heart" — 4:32
- "My Dream" — 3:55
- CD maxi
- "Listen to Your Heart" (Edmée's unplugged vocal edit) — 3:45
- "Listen to Your Heart" (furious F.EZ radio edit) — 3:11
- "Listen to Your Heart" (uniting nations remix) — 7:11
- "Listen to Your Heart" (furious F.EZ extended mix) — 4:54
- "Listen to Your Heart" (hixxy remix) — 7:11
- "Listen to Your Heart" (Friday night posse remix) — 7:29
- Digital download
- "Listen to Your Heart" — 4:32
[edit] Charts
|
|
|
| End of year chart (2005) |
Position |
| Belgian (Wallonia) Singles Chart[19] |
78 |
| French Singles Chart[20] |
34 |
| Country |
Certification |
Date |
Sales certified |
| U.S.[21] |
Gold |
October 5, 2005 |
500,000 |
|
[edit] Other cover versions
- "Habla El Corazón", the Spanish version of the song, was released in March 2007 by Mexican artist Yuridia, who covered the track for her second album Habla El Corazón. The song quickly gained both airplay and digital sales, debuting at #89 in the Mexican Top 100, that week's highest debut. To this date, the song has peaked at #58. On the week of April 28, 2007, "Habla El Corazon" debuted in the U.S. Hot Latin Songs at #50. It is the first time her second single appears on a U.S. chart, as "Maldita Primavera", the second single off of her debut album, only charted in the Mexican Top 100.
- Brazilian ska-core band Randal Grave recorded a cover of the song.
- Covers of the song have been recorded by various indie artists including Amethyste Fisher, and DQ Treats.
- Finnish Gothic metal band Reflexion recorded a cover version of the song as a bonus track on their 2008 EP "Twilight Child", later relased as a bonus track on their 2008 album Dead to the Past, Blind for Tomorrow.
- Scottish power metal band Ascension recorded a cover version as a tribute to their friend the late Kevin McGee(Ex husband of Matt Lucas)
- Rapper Juvenile covered the song for his album Cocky & Confident and renamed it "Listen".
[edit] References
- ^ "Don't Bore Us, Get to the Chorus! liner notes.". http://www.pergessle.net/pearls/roxette/bdbugttc.html.
- ^ "2008 BMI awards ("Listen To Your Heart")". www.bmi.com. http://www.bmi.com/news/entry/537308.
- ^ http://www.dailyroxette.com/node/17823 The Daily Roxette: And The Best Roxette Song Ever IS...
- ^ Teledramaturgia.com
- ^ a b c d "Listen to Your Heart", in various singles charts Lescharts.com (Retrieved August 23, 2008)
- ^ German Singles Chart Charts-surfer.de (Retrieved August 1, 2008)
- ^ Irish Single Chart Irishcharts.ie (Retrieved August 1, 2008)
- ^ UK Singles Chart Chartstats.com (Retrieved August, 2008)
- ^ a b c d e f g Billboard allmusic.com (Retrieved August 23, 2008)
- ^ UK Singles Chart (1990 release) Chartstats.com (Retrieved August 1, 2008)
- ^ Austrian certifications ifpi.at (Retrieved August 23, 2008)
- ^ Swedish certifications Ifpi.se (Retrieved September 11, 2008)
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Listen to Your Heart", in various singles charts Lescharts.com (Retrieved April 7, 2008)
- ^ German Singles Chart Charts-surfer.de (Retrieved April 7, 2008)
- ^ Irish Single Chart Irishcharts.ie (Retrieved April 7, 2008)
- ^ UK Singles Chart Chartstats.com (Retrieved April 7, 2008)
- ^ Top 40 Mainstream Chart Listing For The Week Of Sep 10 2005, Billboard.com, (Retrieved June 16, 2008)
- ^ Hot Adult Top 40 Tracks Chart Listing For The Week Of Oct 08 2005, Billboard.com, (Retrieved June 16, 2008)
- ^ 2005 Belgian (Wallonia) Singles Chart Ultratop.be (Retrieved August 23, 2008)
- ^ 2005 French Singles Chart Disqueenfrance.com (Retrieved August 23, 2008)
- ^ U.S. certifications riaa.com (Retrieved August 23, 2008)
