"Listen To Your Heart" is a song by Swedish rock duo Roxette, written by Per Gessle in collaboration with Mats "MP" Persson, former guitarist of Gyllene Tider. The song became one of the most successful singles of 1989, reaching number one on the charts in the United States and Canada in November of that year. It was the first Hot 100 hit not to be released on vinyl, but sold exclusively as a cassette single.
History of the creation and meaning of the song Listen To Your Heart by Roxette
In an interview, Per Gessle described “Listen to Your Heart” as follows:
“It’s a power ballad with a deliberately over-the-top sound. We wanted to replicate the overblown style of American FM rock, taking it to the point of absurdity. Our goal was to test our own limits and see how far we could push ourselves in that direction.”
Per Gessle said that the lyrics to “Listen to Your Heart” were inspired by a situation that a close friend of his found himself in. He was in a state of emotional limbo, torn between a past relationship and a new romance. Gessle recalls:
“A year later, I called him in the middle of the night, a little tipsy on champagne, and said, 'Hey, did you know your story was number one in America?'”
Gessle explained how his friend's personal life influenced the creation of the text:
“This is a rare case where I created a story based on the life of a loved one. He was going through a difficult divorce. We spent the whole night talking about his experiences and difficulties. When the song reached number one on the American charts, he faxed me and said, ‘Can you believe it, you, me and Marie have topped the charts in the USA!’”
Per Gessle admitted that the unexpected success of the song “Listen to Your Heart” in the USA came as a complete surprise to him:
“We never thought that a song written primarily for a Swedish audience would reach such heights in America. As a result, we found ourselves in the company of bands like Heart and Starship, which was not at all our original plans. However, we managed to come out of this situation with honor… At least, I hope so.”
In October 2006, Sweden TV4 held a vote, and the video for "Listen to Your Heart" was voted the best Roxette video, with over 30% votes from viewers. The video was filmed in the picturesque ruins of Borgholm Castle, located on the Swedish island of Öland in the Baltic Sea. Marie Fredriksson appears barefoot in the video, which caused an unexpected reaction from some fans, who sent her shoes as a gift.
In 1998, Roxette received a prestigious award from the American organization BMI for achieving an impressive result – the song “Listen to Your Heart” was played more than 2 million times on US radio stations. BMI representative Phil Graham noted that such an achievement in a relatively short period of time is very unusual and indicates the great popularity of the song.
In 2011, during an interview, Per Gessle was asked about the most unusual places where he heard this composition. The artist shared a funny story:
“I was at the New York airport one day, going through customs. As I was showing my passport, the officer asked me what I did for a living. I told him I was a songwriter, and he asked curiously if I had written anything he had heard of. I smiled and said, ‘Listen, it’s playing right now.’ At the time, ‘Listen to Your Heart’ was playing over the airport speakers.”
If we talk about the meaning of the song, it is about true, deep love. It tells about the love between two people who truly and deeply love each other, but are forced to face stupid restrictions imposed on them by society.
The main idea is to always follow the call of your heart and remember that true love is the most important and valuable thing in life. Love is able to overcome all meaningless boundaries and restrictions created by people and society. The divine meaning of the song is that it calls to hear God, His love for you, feeling it with your heart.
Lyrics and translation of the song Roxette Listen To Your Heart
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