"Listen to Your Heart" is a song by Swedish rock duo

Roxette Roxette was a Swedish pop rock duo, consisting of Marie Fredriksson (vocals and keyboards) and Per Gessle (vocals and guitar). Formed in 1986, the duo became an international act in the late 1980s, when they released their breakthrough second a ...

, which was originally released in Sweden in September 1988 as the second single from the duo's second

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

, '' Look Sharp!'' (1988). It was written by

Per Gessle Per Håkan Gessle (; born 12 January 1959) is a Swedish singer, songwriter and guitarist. He is best known as the male half and primary songwriter of the Swedish pop rock duo Roxette, which he formed with Marie Fredriksson in 1986 and which was d ...

with former

Gyllene Tider Gyllene Tider (; "Golden Times") was a Swedish pop group fronted by Roxette singer, guitarist and songwriter Per Gessle. They were one of the best-selling Swedish bands ever and have had numerous hits in Scandinavia, starting with the break-th ...

guitarist Mats "M.P." Persson. The song went on to become one of the most successful singles of 1989, reaching number one in both the United States and Canada around November 1989. The track was the first song to reach number one in the US without a commercially released

7-inch single In music, a single is a type of release, typically a song recording of fewer tracks than an LP record or an album. One can be released for sale to the public in a variety of formats. In most cases, a single is a song that is released separate ...

. "Listen to Your Heart" originally peaked at number 62 in the UK when it was released there in October 1989. However, following the success of "

It Must Have Been Love "It Must Have Been Love", originally "It Must Have Been Love (Christmas for the Broken Hearted)", is a song written by Per Gessle and performed by the Swedish pop duo Roxette. The power ballad became the duo's third number one hit in the United ...

", the track was reissued as a

double A-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company ...

with "

Dangerous Dangerous may refer to: Film and television * ''Dangerous'' (1935 film), an American film starring Bette Davis * '' Dangerous: The Short Films'', a 1993 collection of music videos by Michael Jackson * ''Dangerous'' (2021 film), a Canadian-Ameri ...

" in August 1990, upon which it reached a chart peak of number six on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. In 2005,

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...

trance act DHT released a remixed version of the song, which became a top 10 hit in numerous territories, including France, the Netherlands, the UK and the US.

Composition and style

described "Listen to Your Heart" in the

liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for cassettes. Origin Liner notes are desce ...

of Roxette's 1995

greatest hits A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be crea ...

compilation Compilation may refer to: *In computer programming, the translation of source code into object code by a compiler **Compilation error **Compilation unit *Product bundling, a marketing strategy used to sell multiple products *Compilation thesis M ...

Don't Bore Us, Get to the Chorus! ''Don't Bore Us - Get to the Chorus! Roxette's Greatest Hits'' is the first greatest hits compilation album by Swedish pop duo Roxette, released on 30 October 1995 by EMI. The record contains the duo's four number ones from the US ''Billboard' ...

'' 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." Its lyrics were inspired by a close friend of Gessle's, who was in "emotional turmoil, stuck between an old relationship and a new love. A year later, I call him up in the middle of the night after a few too many glasses of champagne, saying 'Hey, you're number one in the States.'" According to

Ultimate Guitar Ultimate Guitar (Ultimate Guitar USA LLC), which is also known as Ultimate-Guitar.com or simply UG, is an online platform for guitarists and musicians. Its website and mobile application provides guitar tablature catalogues and chord sheets. UG ...

, the track is an

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

, with a moderately slow tempo of 86

beats per minute Beat, beats or beating may refer to: Common uses * Patrol, or beat, a group of personnel assigned to monitor a specific area ** Beat (police), the territory that a police officer patrols ** Gay beat, an area frequented by gay men * Battery ( ...

. The

verse Verse may refer to: Poetry * Verse, an occasional synonym for poetry * Verse, a metrical structure, a stanza * Blank verse, a type of poetry having regular meter but no rhyme * Free verse, a type of poetry written without the use of strict me ...

s are made up of three repeating sequences of Bm–G–A and one additional sequence of Bm–G–Em. The first two

chorus Chorus may refer to: Music * Chorus (song) or refrain, line or lines that are repeated in music or in verse * Chorus effect, the perception of similar sounds from multiple sources as a single, richer sound * Chorus form, song in which all verse ...

es are composed of two repetitions of a Bm–G–D–A sequence, followed by an extended sequence of D–A–G–D–Bm–G–A–Bm. The

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

consists of E– C♯m–B–A–B–C♯. The final chorus has been modified up by two full tones it consists of two repetitions of D♯m–B–F♯–C♯, followed by a sequence of F♯–C♯–B–F♯–D♯m–B–C♯–D♯m–B, with the final four notes being repeated for the outro. Seven different versions of the song were released: the original album version; the "Swedish Single Edit", a slightly edited version included on subsequent greatest hits compilations; the "US Remix", used in the music video; the "AC Mix", which is similar to the 'US remix' but with the guitar in the bridge replaced by a MIDI

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...

; shorter edits of the aforementioned 2 versions, which cut some parts from the last refrain; and the 7-inch single version, which fades out shortly after the last refrain, omitting most of the outro.

Critical reception

In his review of the '' Look Sharp!'' album, Bryan Buss from

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

felt the song is "bland" and "overproduced". Pan-European magazine ''

Music & Media ''Music & Media'' was a pan-European magazine for radio, music and entertainment. It was published for the first time in 1984 as ''Eurotipsheet'', but in 1986 it changed name to ''Music & Media''. It was originally based in Amsterdam, but later ...

'' commented, "Already doing well in the US, this semi-

has all the ingredients of a major worldwide hit. This time it seems that the Swedes have beaten the Americans at their own game." In 1990, David Giles from ''

Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as '' Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music W ...

'' called it "another big hit", adding that "this single is anything to go by — it made history by reaching number one despite being available on cassette only."

Music video

Doug Freel directed the song's

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

, which was filmed during a live performance at the

Borgholm Castle Borgholm Castle ( sv, Borgholms slott) in Borgholm, Sweden, is today only a ruin of the fortress that was first built in the second half of the 13th century and rebuilt many times in later centuries. It is linked to Halltorp estate, to the sou ...

ruin on the Swedish

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...

island of

Öland Öland (, ; ; sometimes written ''Øland'' in other Scandinavian languages, and often ''Oland'' internationally; la, Oelandia) is the second-largest Swedish island and the smallest of the traditional provinces of Sweden. Öland has an area ...

. Freel and the video's production crew believed the ruin to have been created especially for the video. Gessle said: "It took some time to convince them that the place actually was for real." The song has been performed on all of Roxette's concert tours. On the ''Look Sharp!'' Live Tour and

Join the Joyride! Tour The "Join the Joyride! World Tour" was the third concert tour by Swedish pop duo Roxette. Their first tour to incorporate dates outside of Scandinavia, it was launched in support of their third studio album, '' Joyride'' (1991), and saw the ban ...

, it was performed in its original, power ballad style, although it has been performed in an acoustic version on all tours since the ''Crash! Boom! Bang!'' Tour in 1994.

Formats and track listings

All lyrics were written by

. All music was composed by Gessle except "Listen to Your Heart" by Gessle and Mats Persson and "Half a Woman, Half a Shadow" by

Marie Fredriksson Gun-Marie Fredriksson (; 30 May 1958 – 9 December 2019) was a Swedish singer, songwriter, pianist and painter, who was best known internationally as the lead vocalist of pop rock pop duo, duo Roxette, which she formed in 1986 with Per Gessle. ...

. * European 7-inch single (Sweden 1363237 · UK EM108) * European cassette (UK TCEM108) # "Listen to Your Heart" – 5:12 # "(I Could Never) Give You Up" – 3:59 * US 7-inch single (B-50223) * US cassette (4JM-50223) # "Listen to Your Heart" – 5:12 # "Half a Woman, Half a Shadow" – 3:33 * CD single (UK CDEM108) # "Listen to Your Heart" (Single Mix) – 5:14 # "

Dressed for Success "Dressed for Success" is a song by Swedish pop rock duo Roxette, released in Europe, on 3 August 1988 as the lead single from their second studio album, '' Look Sharp!'' (1988). Following the international success of "The Look" – the album's ...

" (New Radio Mix) – 3:56 # "(I Could Never) Give You Up" – 3:58 # "

Neverending Love "Neverending Love" is a song by Swedish pop music duo Roxette, released on 8 July 1986 by EMI as their debut single. The track was originally written in Swedish by Per Gessle, as "Svarta glas" ("Black Glass"), for recording artist Pernilla Wahl ...

" (Live) – 3:31 * CD single (1990 UK and Ireland reissue) (UK CDEM149) # "Listen to Your Heart" (Swedish Single Version) – 5:12 # "

" – 3:46 # "Listen to Your Heart" (US Mix) – 4:53 # "Dangerous" (U.S. Club Edit) – 3:46

Credits and personnel

Credits are adapted from the liner notes of ''

The Ballad Hits ''The Ballad Hits'' is the second greatest hits compilation album by Swedish pop duo Roxette, released on 4 November 2002 by Roxette Recordings and Capitol Records. It was the first of a two-part series of "best of" albums released by the duo in q ...

''. Recording * Recorded in August 1988 at EMI Studios (Stockholm, Sweden) * Mixed at EMI Studios (Stockholm, Sweden) Musicians *

– lead and background vocals *

– background vocals, guitar, mixing * Per "Pelle" Alsing –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

* Anders Herrlin – programming,

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...

* Jonas Isacsson – electric guitar *

Clarence Öfwerman Clarence Öfwerman (born 22 November 1957) is a Swedish record producer, best known as the longtime producer of Roxette, having been with the band from their debut album ''Pearls of Passion'' in 1986 through to 2016's ''Good Karma'', Roxette's l ...

– keyboards, programming,

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

, mixing * Alar Suurna – mixing, engineering

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

DHT version

In 2003, Belgian dance group DHT released a cover of "Listen to Your Heart" in Belgium. In late 2004, various mixes of the song reached American clubs and it was released in the United States in November of that year. In 2005, the song became an international club hit after being released as a single from the album of the same name. By June 2005, the song had reached number one on the US ''

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 Dance Airplay Dance/Mix Show Airplay (formerly Hot Dance Airplay) is a monitored electronic dance music radio chart that is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. History The chart came about as a result of the small but influential impact of electronic d ...

chart and the top 10 on the ''Billboard''

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

, peaking at number eight in August. Worldwide, the cover reached the top 10 in the Czech Republic, France, and the United Kingdom while becoming a top-twenty success in Australia, Belgium, Denmark, Ireland, and Norway. The same year, the group also released the "Edmée's unplugged vocal edit", an acoustic ballad version of the song, which also received substantial airplay.

Composition

The Furious F. EZ version of the song is in the key of

B minor B minor is a minor scale based on B, consisting of the pitches B, C, D, E, F, G, and A. Its key signature has two sharps. Its relative major is D major and its parallel major is B major. The B natural minor scale is: : Changes neede ...

with a

tempo In musical terminology, tempo (Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (often ...

of 145 beats per minute.

Track listings

* Belgian CD single (2003) # "Listen to Your Heart" (DHT Hardbounze single edit) – 3:32 # "Listen to Your Heart" (Furious F. EZ radio edit) – 3:52 # "Listen to Your Heart" (Edmée's unplugged vocal edit) – 4:32 * US CD single (2004) # "Listen to Your Heart" (Furious F. EZ radio edit) – 3:48 # "Listen to Your Heart" (Hardbounze single edit) – 3:30 # "Listen to Your Heart" (Edmée's unplugged vocal edit) – 4:28 # "Listen to Your Heart" (Furious F. EZ extended mix) – 4:54 # "Listen to Your Heart" (Hardbounze extended mix) – 4:45 # "Listen to Your Heart" (Hardstyle extended mix) – 4:32

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

Yuridia Spanish version

* "Habla El Corazón", a

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

version of the song, was released in March 2007 by Mexican artist

Yuridia Yuridia Francisca Gaxiola Flores, commonly known as Yuridia, (born October 4, 1986) is a Mexican singer. She came in second place in the fourth season of the reality show ''La Academia'', which launched her career. In 2005, Yuridia released her d ...

, who covered the track for her second album of the same name. This version peaked at number 44 on the ''Billboard''

Hot Latin Songs The ''Billboard'' Hot Latin Songs (formerly Hot Latin Tracks and Hot Latin 50) is a record chart in the United States for Latin songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Since October 2012, chart rankings are based on digital sales, rad ...

chart.

References

{{Authority control 1988 songs 1988 singles 2004 singles Roxette songs Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Cashbox number-one singles Songs written by Per Gessle Songs written by Mats Persson (musician) RPM Top Singles number-one singles EMI Records singles Parlophone singles DHT (band) songs Ministry of Sound singles Yuridia songs 1980s ballads Rock ballads Music videos shot in Sweden Music videos showing Sweden