Where Did Your Heart Go? Explained

Where Did Your Heart Go?
Cover:Where_Did_Your_Heart_Go?.jpg
Type:single
Artist:Was (Not Was)
Album:Was (Not Was)
A-Side:"Wheel Me Out" (UK)
B-Side:"It's an Attack!" (France)
Released:September 1981 (US)
Recorded:January–March 1981
Studio:Sound Suite, Detroit, Michigan
Length:4:55
Prev Title:Out Come the Freaks
Prev Year:1981
Title2:Wheel Me Out
Next Title:Tell Me That I'm Dreaming
Next Year:1982

"Where Did Your Heart Go?" is a song written by American musicians David Was and Don Was. The song was recorded and released by the writers' band Was (Not Was) as a single in the UK as a double A-side with "Wheel Me Out" in September 1981. The single did not chart. It is featured as the second track on the band's debut album Was (Not Was) in August 1981. French editions of the single include the track "It's an Attack!" as the B-side.

A live recording of "Where Did Your Heart Go?" was included as a B-side to the 1992 single "Somewhere in America (There's a Street Named After My Dad)".

Wham! version

Where Did Your Heart Go?
Cover:Where Did Your Heart Go.jpg
Type:single
Artist:Wham!
Album:The Final and Music from the Edge of Heaven
A-Side:"The Edge of Heaven" (UK, IRE)
B-Side:Wham Rap '86
Released:October 1986
Recorded:March 1986
Genre:Pop
Length:5:42 (album version)
5:05 (single version)
Producer:George Michael
Prev Title:The Edge of Heaven
Prev Year:1986

"Where Did Your Heart Go?" was covered by British pop duo Wham! in 1986 as one of the three B-sides to "The Edge of Heaven", which reached number one in the UK.[1] The song was also released separately as Wham!'s final single in several territories, most notably in the US where it peaked at number 50 on the Billboard Hot 100 in November 1986. It was produced and re-arranged by George Michael with engineering by Chris Porter. "Where Did Your Heart Go?" was also included on the compilation albums The Final and Music from the Edge of Heaven.

Arrangement

George Michael's arrangement of "Where Did Your Heart Go?" is relatively faithful to the Was (Not Was) version making only subtle changes to the song's instrumentation and structure. Michael alters the song by dropping the opening chorus in favour of an instrumental introduction of the chorus melody. The subdued ending is protracted in the Wham! recording, where the original quickly fades out after the completion of the final chorus; Michael's arrangement continues for an additional half a minute.

Wham!'s recording of "Where Did Your Heart Go?", while structurally similar to the Was (Not Was) original, leans toward a soft rock ballad due to changes to the tempo and vocal inflexion. Michael's arrangement is more spare and reliant on synthesizers and saxophone to convey the melody. Michael's vocals are less immersed in the backing arrangement in which the bass guitar and drums are markedly quieter in the mix. His vocal is more low-key than Sweet Pea Atkinson's, except for the final line of the third verse, "and drifted out of sight", which is accentuated.

Music video

The official music video for the Wham! version of the song was directed by George Michael and Andy Morahan.[2]

Personnel

Chart performance

Weekly chart performance for Wham!'s cover!Chart (1986)!Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[3] 54
Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)[4] 19
Iceland (RÚV)[5] 15
Netherlands (Dutch Tipparade 40)[6] 7

Notes and References

  1. Web site: UK Charts > Wham!. Official Charts Company. 2010-05-19.
  2. Web site: mvdbase.com - Wham! - "Where did your heart go?". Music Video DataBase. Garcia. Alex S. October 31, 2015. March 4, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160304064938/http://www.mvdbase.com/video.php?id=29655. dead.
  3. Book: Kent, David. Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. doc. Australian Chart Book, St Ives, N.S.W . 1993. 0-646-11917-6. Kent Music Report.
  4. Book: Pennanen, Timo . Sisältää hitin - 2. laitos Levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla 1.1.1960–30.6.2021 . 2021 . Wham!. 280. Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava . Helsinki. 9 June 2022.
  5. Web site: Wham! Chart History. RÚV. 22 March 2016. 2018-11-07.
  6. Web site: Wham! - Where Did Your Heart Go. nl. Dutch Top 40. 10 June 2022.