"Elastic Heart" is a song written by Australian singer Sia, featuring Canadian singer

the Weeknd Abel Makkonen Tesfaye (; born February 16, 1990), known professionally as the Weeknd, is a Canadian singer-songwriter, record producer, and actor. He is best known for adding Pop music, pop, electronic music, electronic and hip-hop stylings ...

and American record producer

Diplo Thomas Wesley Pentz (born November 10, 1978), known professionally as Diplo, is an American DJ and music producer. He is a co-creator and lead member of the electronic dancehall music project Major Lazer; a member of the supergroup LSD (group), ...

, for the soundtrack of '' The Hunger Games: Catching Fire'', a film based on the novel of the same name by

Suzanne Collins Suzanne Collins (born August 10, 1962) is an American author and television writer who is best known as the author of the young adult literature, young adult Dystopian fiction, dystopian book series ''The Hunger Games''. She is also the author ...

. Andrew Swanson assisted the artists in writing the song, with production handled by Diplo and US producer

Greg Kurstin Gregory Allen Kurstin (born May 14, 1969) is an American record producer, multi-instrumentalist, and songwriter. He has won nine Grammy Awards, including Producer of the Year, Non-Classical in 2017 and 2018, and contributed to five songs that pe ...

. It was released on 1 October 2013 as a single from ''Catching Fire'' by

RCA RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded in 1919 as the Radio Corporation of America. It was initially a patent pool, patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Westinghou ...

Republic A republic, based on the Latin phrase ''res publica'' ('public affair' or 'people's affair'), is a State (polity), state in which Power (social and political), political power rests with the public (people), typically through their Representat ...

and

Lionsgate Lions Gate, Lion Gate or similar terms may refer to: Gates *Lion Gate at Mycenae in Greece *Lion Gate, one of the entrances to the ancient Hittite city of Hattusa, now in Turkey *Lion Gate, one of the entrances to the gardens of Hampton Court Pala ...

. "Elastic Heart" peaked at number 7 on the

singles chart A record chart, in the music industry, also called a music chart, is a ranking of recorded music according to certain criteria during a given period. Many different criteria are used in worldwide charts, often in combination. These include re ...

of New Zealand and was certified 3× Platinum by the

Recorded Music NZ Recorded Music NZ (formerly the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (RIANZ)) is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell recorded music in New Zealand. Membership of Recorded ...

. It also appeared on the charts of Australia, Belgium, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. In 2014, Sia re-recorded a solo version of "Elastic Heart" for her sixth studio album '' 1000 Forms of Fear''. The solo version was released in 2015 as a single from the album and was accompanied by a controversial

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

that features actor

Shia LaBeouf Shia Saide LaBeouf ( ; born June 11, 1986) is an American actor and filmmaker. He played Louis Stevens in the Disney Channel series ''Even Stevens'', a role for which he received Young Artist Award nominations in 2001 and 2002 and won a Dayt ...

and dancer

Maddie Ziegler Madison Nicole Ziegler (; born September 30, 2002) is an American actress and dancer. She appeared in Lifetime (TV network), Lifetime's reality show ''Dance Moms'' from 2011 (at age 8) until 2016, and starred in a series of music videos by Si ...

. The clip was the eighth most viewed YouTube music video in 2015, while the single peaked within the top 10 in Australia and the United Kingdom, and the top 20 in the United States.

Release and composition

"Elastic Heart" was released as the second single from the soundtrack for '' The Hunger Games: Catching Fire'' (2013). The song was made available for digital download on 1 October 2013. It was sent to US

rhythmic contemporary Rhythmic contemporary, also known as Rhythmic Top 20, Rhythmic Top 30, Rhythmic Top 40, Rhythmic CHR or rhythmic crossover, is a primarily American music-radio format that includes a mix of EDM, upbeat rhythmic pop, hip-hop and upbeat R&B hit ...

radio by

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic R ...

Republic Records Republic Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group (UMG). Based in New York City, it was founded by Avery Lipman and Monte Lipman as an independent label in 1995, and was acquired by UMG in 2000. Republic was initially ...

and

Lionsgate Films Lionsgate Films (spelled as Lions Gate until 2005, and formerly Cinépix Film Properties until 1998) is a Canadian-American film production and distribution company founded in Montreal, Quebec, Canada on June 15, 1962. It was owned by Lionsga ...

on 8 October 2013. A

power ballad A sentimental ballad is an emotional style of music that often deals with romantic and intimate relationships, and to a lesser extent, loneliness, death, war, drug abuse, politics and religion, usually in a poignant but solemn manner. Balla ...

, the main vocal hook is a chopped sample from

Billy Stewart William Larry Stewart II (March 24, 1937 – January 17, 1970) was an American R&B singer and pianist popular during the 1960s. Biography Stewart was 12 years old when he began singing with his younger brothers Johnny, James, and Frank as the ...

's 1957 recording "Baby, You're My Only Love", while the drumline is an altered take from Jacky Giordano's 1975 instrumental "Magolia". Hilary Hughes of ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first Alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, ...

'' named "Elastic Heart" a "grand, full

electropop Electropop is a popular music fusion genre combining elements of the electronic and pop styles. It has been described as a variant of synth-pop with emphasis on a hard electronic sound. The genre was developed in the 1980s and saw a rev ...

production," while Aimee Cliff from ''

Fact A fact is a truth, true data, datum about one or more aspects of a circumstance. Standard reference works are often used to Fact-checking, check facts. Science, Scientific facts are verified by repeatable careful observation or measurement by ...

'' characterised the song as "a

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...

song that bounces like rubber." Meanwhile, ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' reviewer Julianne Shepherd called it a trap song. Its lyrics address "the overwhelming strength Sia needed to convince herself that life was worth living after coming out of a crushing relationship." With the

chord progression In a musical composition, a chord progression or harmonic progression (informally chord changes, used as a plural, or simply changes) is a succession of chords. Chord progressions are the foundation of harmony in Western musical tradition from ...

of D–A–E–F#m, the song is set in the key of

F-sharp minor F-sharp minor is a minor scale based on F, consisting of the pitches F, G, A, B, C, D, and E. Its key signature has three sharps. Its relative major is A major and its parallel major is F-sharp major (or enharmonically G-flat major). ...

and a tempo of 130 beats per minute.

Reception

Blue Sullivan of ''

Slant Magazine ''Slant Magazine'' is an American online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New Yor ...

'' wrote that "'Elastic Heart' is a seamless and highly successful team-up that reads like a grimier after-market version of

Lady Gaga Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta (born March 28, 1986), known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Known for her image reinventions and versatility across the entertainment industry, she is an influ ...

's ' Do What U Want'." ''

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spin (physics) or particle spin, a fundamental property of elementary particles * Spin quantum number, a number which defines the value of a particle's spin * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thr ...

'' magazine's Chris Martins stated that "Sia soared" and it was a "bubbling ballad," and Bradley Stern of MuuMuse claimed it was "a perfectly chaotic combination." "Elastic Heart" debuted at number 67 on the Australian ARIA Singles Charts on the chart issue dated 14 October 2013. The single also charted at number 27 on the Walloon

Ultratip Ultratop is an organization which generates and publishes the official record charts in Belgium. Ultratop is a non-profit organization, created in 1995 on the initiative of the Belgian Entertainment Association (BEA), the Belgian member organiza ...

, and number 36 in Switzerland. The song fared better in New Zealand, peaking at number 7 on the national singles chart and was

certified gold Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

by the

(RMNZ). In the United Kingdom, "Elastic Heart" debuted at number 79 on the UK Singles Chart on 12 October 2013. On 17 January 2015, the single re-entered the chart at number 61.

Credits and personnel

Songwriting A songwriter is a person who creates musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music genre and film scoring. ...

, lead vocals – Sia Furler, Thomas Wesley Pentz, Andrew Swanson * Producing –

Engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...

– Greg Kurstin * Additional engineering – Alex Pasco * Vocal recording – Rob Kleiner * Mixing – Manny Marroquin * Additional mixing – Chris Galland, Delbert Bowers * Mastering – Brian "Big Bass" Gardner *

Drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a ...

programming – Andrew Swanson, Diplo Credits for "Elastic Heart" are adapted from ''The Hunger Games: Catching Fire'' soundtrack digital inlay cover.

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

Sia solo version

In 2014, Sia recorded a solo version of "Elastic Heart" for her sixth

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

, '' 1000 Forms of Fear''. It was released on 9 January 2015 by

as the third single from the album.

Annie Zaleski Annie Zaleski is a ''New York Times'' best-selling author and music historian. Career Zaleski is a regular writer for mainstream media outlets such as The Guardian and NPR Music, and a columnist at ''Salon''. She is based in Cleveland, Ohio w ...

from ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was created in ...

'' labelled "Elastic Heart" a "striking power ballad," while

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

's Heather Phares picked the song as one of the three standouts from the album, alongside "

Chandelier A chandelier () is an ornamental lighting device, typically with spreading branched supports for multiple lights, designed to be hung from the ceiling. Chandeliers are often ornate, and they were originally designed to hold candles, but now inca ...

" and " Eye of the Needle". Aimee Cliff from ''Fact'' named it a "great example of how only Sia can truly rock a song written for (rather than by) Sia." The deluxe version of ''1000 Forms of Fear'' includes a piano version of the song. In Italy, "Elastic Heart" impacted

contemporary hit radio Contemporary hit radio (CHR, also known as contemporary hits, hit list, current hits, hit music, top 40, or pop radio) is a radio format common in many countries that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by the Top ...

on 9 January 2015. "Elastic Heart" debuted at number 8 on the

ARIA Singles Chart The ARIA Charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA became the offici ...

on the chart issue dated 19 January 2015. The following week, the song rose to number 5. The

Australian Recording Industry Association The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) is a trade association representing the Australian recording industry which was established in the 1970s by six major record companies, EMI, Festival Records (Australia), Festival, Sony Music ...

certified it 3×

Platinum Platinum is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a density, dense, malleable, ductility, ductile, highly unreactive, precious metal, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name origina ...

, which denotes shipments exceeding 210,000 copies in Australia. In the United States, "Elastic Heart" debuted at number 17 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 on the issue chart dated 24 January 2015, becoming the week's "Hot Shot Debut". The song was later certified double platinum for combined sales and streaming of 2 million units in the United States. In the United Kingdom, the single peaked at number 10 on the UK Singles Chart on 5 April 2015 and has since been certified triple platinum by the

British Phonographic Industry BPI (British Recorded Music Industry) Limited, trading as British Phonographic Industry (BPI), is the British recorded music industry's trade association. It runs the BRIT Awards; is home to the Mercury Prize; co-owns the Official Charts C ...

Music video

On 7 January 2015, the music video for the song was released. Directed by Sia and Daniel Askill, shot by cinematographer Sebastian Wintero and choreographed by Ryan Heffington, the video features

, who had previously appeared in the video for Sia's single "

" and " Big Girls Cry", and actor

. In the video, Ziegler and LaBeouf perform an

interpretive dance Interpretive dance is a family of modern dance styles that began around 1900 with Isadora Duncan. It used classical concert music but marked a departure from traditional concert dance, as a rebellion against the strict rules of classical ballet ...

in nude and dirt-smeared outfits. Justine Harman from ''

Elle Elle may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Elle (magazine), ''Elle'' (magazine), a fashion publication ** Elle Style Awards * Elle (India), ''Elle'' (India), the Indian edition * Elle (film), ''Elle'' (film), a 2016 French film * ''Elle: ...

'' likened the concept of the video to the plot of ''

Titanic RMS ''Titanic'' was a British ocean liner that sank in the early hours of 15 April 1912 as a result of striking an iceberg on her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, United States. Of the estimated 2,224 passengers a ...

''. Jason Lipshutz from ''Billboard'' summarised: "The entirety of the video features the surprising pair interpreting the song through different body contortions: they dance-fight, collapse in the middle of the cage, crawl toward and away from each other, and make some wildly fantastic facial expressions." The video was nominated for the 2015 VMA Award for Best Female Video. ''Billboard'' selected the video as one "of the 10 best music videos of 2015 (so far)", as did ''PopCrush'', commenting that the video's "lopsided choreography and filthy warfare yields a raw, junkyard beauty that doesn't ask who will make it out alive, but whether escape is ever really on the table." ''

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

'' magazine's Vulture.com ranked it number 6 on its list of 2015's top 10 music videos. It was the eighth most viewed YouTube video in 2015.

Controversy

The video "courted controversy and plaudits in equal measure", with some commentators perceiving it to have pedophilic undertones because it features an adult and child dancing together clad only in beige dancewear. Sia explained that the two dancers represented "warring 'Sia' self states," but she apologized on Twitter to anyone who was upset by the video:

I anticipated some "pedophelia!!!" Cries for this video. All I can say is Maddie and Shia are two of the only actors I felt could play, these two warring 'Sia' self states. I apologize to those who feel triggered by "Elastic Heart". My intention was to create some emotional content, not to upset anybody.

Live performances

On 17 January 2015, Sia performed "Elastic Heart" on ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...

'' with

Kevin Hart Kevin Darnell Hart (born July 6, 1979) is an American comedian and actor. The accolades he has received include the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor and nominations for two Grammy Awards and four Primetime Emmy Awards. After winning se ...

hosting and

and Denna Thomsen dancing. For the performance, Sia sang the song with a short black veil covering the top half of her face, while Ziegler and Thomsen recreated the dance routine in the music video wearing nude leotards and blonde wigs. Later that month, Sia made a live rendition of the song on ''

The Ellen DeGeneres Show ''The Ellen DeGeneres Show'' is an American first-run syndicated talk show that was hosted by Ellen DeGeneres. The show ran for nineteen seasons from September 8, 2003, to May 26, 2022, in which it broadcast 3,339 episodes. It was produced by ...

''. She also performed the song on ''

The Voice UK ''The Voice UK'' is a British singing reality competition television series. Created by John de Mol and Roel van Velzen, it premiered on BBC One on 24 March 2012. Based on the original Dutch singing competition '' The Voice of Holland'', and ...

'' on 28 March and '' The Voice US'' on 7 April 2015. Sia also performed this song on the Nostalgic for the Present Tour in 2016.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

External links

* {{authority control 2010s ballads 2013 singles 2013 songs Sia (musician) songs Number-one singles in Poland Song recordings produced by Diplo Songs written by Sia (musician) Electropop ballads The Hunger Games music The Weeknd songs 2015 singles Songs written by Diplo Songs written by the Weeknd Songs written for films Music video controversies Music videos directed by Daniel Askill Obscenity controversies in music Songs about dreams Songs about depression RCA Records singles Republic Records singles

Release and composition

Reception

Credits and personnel

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

Sia solo version

Music video

Controversy

Live performances

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

See also

References

External links