"My Heart Can't Tell You No" is a song written by

Simon Climie Simon Climie (born 7 April 1957) is an English songwriter, musician and record producer. He is best known as the former lead singer of the UK duo Climie Fisher. Biography Climie was born in London. Beginning his career primarily as a songwr ...

and

Dennis Morgan Dennis Morgan (born Earl Stanley Morner; December 20, 1908 – September 7, 1994) was an American actor-singer. He used the acting pseudonym Richard Stanley before adopting the name under which he gained his greatest fame. According to one ob ...

. It was first recorded and released by British

pop-rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre and form of rock music characterized by a strong commercial appeal, with more emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than standard rock musi ...

artist

Rod Stewart Sir Roderick David Stewart (born 10 January 1945) is a British singer and songwriter. Known for his distinctive raspy singing voice, Stewart is among the List of best-selling music artists, best-selling music artists of all time, having sold ...

on his 1988 album '' Out of Order''. Originally intended as a song for country artist

Barbara Mandrell Barbara Ann Mandrell (born December 25, 1948) is an American retired country music singer and musician. She is also credited as an actress and author. During the late 1970s and early 1980s, she was considered among country's most successful mus ...

, Stewart ultimately claimed the song for himself. It was later covered in 2011 by American

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...

artist

Sara Evans Sara Lynn Evans (; born February 5, 1971) is an American country music singer and songwriter. She is also credited as a record producer, actress, and author. She had five songs reach the number one spot on the ''Billboard (magazine), Billboar ...

and released as the second single from her sixth studio album, '' Stronger''.

Rod Stewart version

"My Heart Can't Tell You No" was a Top 5 hit on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and

adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...

charts, eventually reaching 4 and 3, respectively, in 1989. It was the highest-charting single from the album. In the United Kingdom, the song reached a peak position of 49, becoming his second Top 50 single from ''Out of Order''. A music video was also produced and released for the single. In some releases of the single and the album, the song was incorrectly identified as "My Heart Can't Tell Me No".

Critical reception

Jon Grein of the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' called the song "obviously commercial". ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', is an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' called it "an appealing mid-tempo tune" and praised Stewart's vocal performance and the

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 stat ...

. Robin Smith of ''

Record Mirror ''Record Mirror'' was a British weekly music newspaper published between 1954 and 1991, aimed at pop fans and record collectors. Launched two years after ''New Musical Express'', it never attained the circulation of its rival. The first UK Album ...

'' described it as "one of those infectious singalong ballads he's always done so well".

Chart positions

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Sara Evans version

Critical reception

Jon Caramanica of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' called Evans' version of the song a "gentle, regretful cover". Giving it four stars out of five, Bobby Peacock of Roughstock called it a "worthwhile cover" and described the production positively, although he thought that the lyrics were "slightly cluttered and underfocused". Kevin John Coyne, reviewing the song for Country Universe, gave it a D rating, calling it "watery,

country-pop Country pop (also known as urban cowboy or even urban country) is a fusion genre of country music and pop music that was developed by members of the country genre out of a desire to reach a larger, mainstream audience. Country pop music blends g ...

claptrap."

Reception

The video for "My Heart Can't Tell You No" was nominated for Female Video of the Year at the 2012

CMT Music Awards The CMT Music Awards is a fan-voted awards show for country music videos and television performances. The ceremony launched in 1967 as Music City News Awards; it is the oldest award show currently airing under Paramount Global. The ceremony ...

Chart positions

"My Heart Can't Tell You No" debuted at number 54 on the ''Billboard''

Hot Country Songs 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 for the week dated June 18, 2011. It reached a peak position of 21 on the chart dated January 28, 2012. The song did not enter the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, but did peak at number 5 on the

Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles (also known as Bubbling Under the Hot 100) is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. The chart lists the top songs that have not yet charted on the main ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Chart ...

extension chart.

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{authority control 1988 singles 1988 songs 1980s ballads 2011 singles Rod Stewart songs Sara Evans songs Song recordings produced by Tony Brown (record producer) Songs written by Dennis Morgan (songwriter) Songs written by Simon Climie Music videos directed by Peter Zavadil Warner Records singles RCA Records singles Music videos directed by Russell Mulcahy