"Don't Break the Heart That Loves You" is an American song written by

Benny Davis Benny Davis (August 21, 1895 - December 20, 1979) was a vaudeville performer and writer of popular songs. Biography Davis started performing in vaudeville in his teens. He began writing songs when working as an accompanist for Blossom Seeley. In ...

and Murray Mencher (using the pseudonym Ted Murry). The song was a success for two artists in two different genres:

Connie Francis Concetta Rosa Maria Franconero ( ; born December 12, 1937), known as Connie Francis, is a retired American Pop music, pop singer, actress, and top-charting female vocalist of the late 1950s and early 1960s. She is estimated to have sold more th ...

in the pop field in 1962 and

Margo Smith Margo Smith (born Betty Lou Miller; April 9, 1939 – January 23, 2024) was an American Country music, country and Christian music, Christian music singer–songwriter. She had several years of country success during the 1970s, which included two ...

as a country version in 1978.

Connie Francis version

Benny Davis and Murray Mencher (1898-1991) became associated with Connie Francis by suggestion of Francis' father, George Franconero. The idea was to combine the skills of

Tin Pan Alley Tin Pan Alley was a collection of History of music publishing, music publishers and songwriters in New York City that dominated the American popular music, popular music of the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Originally ...

veterans Davis and Mencher with the current sound of the day. Francis signed Mencher and Davis as regular composers to her own music publishing company, Francon Music Incorporated. Over the following years, Davis and Mencher wrote further hits for Francis, such as the country ballad ''The Biggest Sin of All'' and the theme song for Francis' third movie, ''Follow The Boys'', which she also recorded in French, Italian, Spanish, Japanese, and German. Neither of the songs left a big impact on ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

s Pop Charts, but became notable successes on the Adult Contemporary chart. Francis recorded "Don't Break the Heart That Loves You" in a 2 November 1961 session which also produced "I'm Falling in Love With You Tonight," " When the Boy in Your Arms (Is the Boy in Your Heart)," "'Baby's First Christmas" (another Davis and Mencher composition), "'Mon Cœur est un Violon," and "Personne au Monde." The ballad, recorded by Francis in two-part harmony with a spoken bridge, is a plea from a heartbroken lover who is trying to understand why her lover is going out of his way to treat her unkindly. The song ends with her begging him not to break her heart. The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 dated 31 March 1962 ranked "Don't Break the Heart That Loves You" at No.1, making it Francis' third and final chart-topper. The Connie Francis recording also went to number one on the

easy listening Easy listening (including mood music) is a popular music genre and radio format that was most popular during the 1950s to the 1970s. It is related to middle of the road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit s ...

charts. "Don't Break the Heart That Loves You" charted in the UK in April 1962 without paralleling its US chart impact; rather "Don't Break the Heart That Loves You" became Francis' first single to miss the UK Top 30 with peak position of No.39. The track reached No.1 in New Zealand - where it would be Francis' last hit - and No.18 in Australia. Following the success in the US, Francis recorded "Don't Break the Heart That Loves You" subsequently also in German ("Tu mir Nicht Weh"), Spanish ("Mi Corazón te Adora"), Japanese (泣かせないでね) and in both regular Italian and the Italian dialect Neapolitan (both as "Un Desiderio Folle"). The Francis version is heard in the sixth episode ("Hagsploitation") of the FX television series ''

Feud A feud , also known in more extreme cases as a blood feud, vendetta, faida, clan war, gang war, private war, or mob war, is a long-running argument or fight, often between social groups of people, especially family, families or clans. Feuds begin ...

'' in the scene where

Jessica Lange Jessica Phyllis Lange (; born April 20, 1949) is an American actress. With a career spanning over five decades, she is known for her roles Jessica Lange on screen and stage, on stage and screen. She has received List of awards and nominati ...

Joan Crawford Joan Crawford (born Lucille Fay LeSueur; March 23, 190? was an American actress. She started her career as a dancer in traveling theatrical companies before debuting on Broadway theatre, Broadway. Crawford was signed to a motion-picture cont ...

arrives in Baton Rouge to start filming '' Hush… Hush, Sweet Charlotte''.

Chart performance

Other versions

Margo Smith

In 1977, the ballad was recorded by country singer

. Her version — featuring a saxophone solo during the musical bridge but not the recitation of Francis's version — topped the ''Billboard''

Hot Country Singles Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data along with digital sales and streaming. ...

chart in February 1978, and crossed over to the

Easy Listening chart The Adult Contemporary chart is published weekly by ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' magazine and lists the most popular songs on adult contemporary music, adult contemporary radio stations in the United States. The chart is compiled based on ...

peaking at number forty.

Chart performance

Other recordings

"Don't Break the Heart That Loves You" has also been recorded by: *

Arthur Alexander Arthur Alexander (May 10, 1940 – June 9, 1993) was an American country-soul songwriter and singer. Jason Ankeny, music critic for AllMusic, said Alexander was a "country-soul pioneer" and that, though largely unknown, "his music is the stuf ...

(album ''You Better Move On''/ 1962) *

The Lennon Sisters The Lennon Sisters are an American vocal group that has been made up, at one time or another, of three or four sisters. The quartet originally consisted of Dianne (a.k.a. DeeDee; born Dianne Barbara, December 1, 1939), Peggy (born Margaret Ann ...

(album ''#1 Hits Of The 1960s''/ 1964)
Tatjana Hubinská
("Vieš, Čo Je Žiaľ" Slovak/ 1965)
Dominic Kirwan
(album ''Unconditional Love''/ 1999). *

Guy Lombardo Gaetano Alberto "Guy" Lombardo (June 19, 1902 – November 5, 1977) was a Canadian and American bandleader, violinist, and hydroplane racing, hydroplane racer whose unique "sweet jazz" style remained popular with audiences for nearly five decade ...

recorded a version that appeared on his 1962, Decca album By Special Request.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Don't Break The Heart That Loves You 1962 singles 1978 singles Connie Francis songs Margo Smith songs Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Number-one singles in New Zealand Songs written by Benny Davis 1962 songs MGM Records singles