"Heart Half Empty" is a song written by

Gary Burr Gary Burr, born in Meriden, Connecticut, is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer, primarily in the country music genre. Many of the songs he has written have become Top-10 hits, the first of which was " Love's Been A Little B ...

and

Desmond Child John Charles Barrett (born October 28, 1953), known professionally as Desmond Child, is an American songwriter and producer. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2008. His hits as a songwriter include Kiss's "I Was Made for Lovi ...

, and recorded by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

artists

Ty Herndon Boyd Tyrone Herndon (born May 2, 1962), known professionally as Ty Herndon, is an American country music singer and songwriter. His music career began in the 1980s as a member of the Tennessee River Boys, a predecessor to the country band Diamon ...

and

Stephanie Bentley Stephanie Kay Bentley (born April 29, 1963) is an American country music artist. She made her debut in 1996 as a duet partner on Ty Herndon's single "Heart Half Empty", which peaked at No. 21 on the ''Billboard'' Hot Country Singles & Track ...

. It was released in October 1995 as the third single from his debut album ''

What Mattered Most ''What Mattered Most'' is the debut studio album by American country music artist Ty Herndon, issued in 1995 on Epic Records. The album's title track, which was Herndon's debut single, reached No. 1 on the ''Billboard'' Hot Country Singles & ...

''. The song reached number 21 on the ''

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 advertise ...

Hot Country Singles & Tracks 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 from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...

chart. It later appeared on Bentley's debut album ''

Hopechest ''Hopechest'' is the only studio album by American country music artist Stephanie Bentley. It was released on January 9, 1996 via Epic Records Nashville and it accounted for four singles, in addition to reprising a single from Ty Herndon's debut a ...

'', which like ''What Mattered Most'' was released on

Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America Sony Corporation of America (SONAM, also known as SCA), is the American arm of the Japanese conglomerate Sony Group ...

Content

The song is a ballad about two lovers who, in the emotion following a breakup, ask "Is my heart half full of the love you gave me / Or is my heart half empty, because your love is gone?"

Chart performance

References

1996 singles 1995 songs Ty Herndon songs Stephanie Bentley songs Songs written by Gary Burr Songs written by Desmond Child Epic Records singles Song recordings produced by Doug Johnson (record producer) Male–female vocal duets {{1995-country-song-stub