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Shape of My Heart (Sting song)

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"Shape of My Heart"
Single by Sting
from the album Ten Summoner's Tales
Released23 August 1993 (1993-08-23)[1]
Length4:41
LabelA&M
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
Sting singles chronology
"Fields of Gold"
(1993) 		"Shape of My Heart"
(1993) 		"Nothing 'Bout Me"
(1993)
Music video
"Sting - Shape of My Heart (Official Music Video)" on YouTube

"Shape of My Heart" is a song by British musician Sting, released in August 1993 as the fifth single from his fourth solo album, Ten Summoner's Tales (1993). The song was co-written by guitarist Dominic Miller and features harmonica played by Larry Adler. It was used for the end credits of the 1994 film Léon[2] and within the 1993 film Three of Hearts.[3] Despite failing to reach the top 50 in the UK upon its release, it has become a pop classic and one of Sting's works most closely associated with his solo career. It has since been sampled in many tracks since its release, including "Shape" (2003) by Sugababes and "Rise & Fall" (2003) by Craig David (with Sting credited as a featured artist). Ann-Margret sang a cover over the opening credits of her 1996 movie Blue Rodeo. [4]

The song's guitar riff was also sampled by Nas for his track "The Message" in 1996 and Monica on her 1998 song "Take Him Back". It was also sampled by Avicii, for his track "Forever Yours". The song was released after his death, with Sumner and Miller credited as songwriters.[5] It was also interpolated on Hikaru Utada's debut album First Love,[6] the best-selling Japanese album of all time; Juice WRLD on the worldwide hit "Lucid Dreams" (2018); on "You’re Mines Still" (2020) by rapper BLEU and in "Parkstone Drive" by Russ.[7] The song was also covered by British metalcore band Oceans Ate Alaska in 2018 as part of the Songs That Saved My Life compilation album released by Hopeless Records. [8]

Background and writing

Sting explained that through "Shape of My Heart", he wanted to tell the story of a "card player, a gambler who gambles not to win but to try to figure out something; to figure out some kind of mystical logic in luck, or chance; some kind of scientific, almost religious law."[9][10]

Sting: "We wrote a song together — “Shape of My Heart”. Dom came in with this fantastic riff — beautiful cadence, sort of Bach-like descending bassline. So we spent the morning structuring it, making it into a song. Here's a verse here and a verse there and there's a key change there. So I just go for a walk and I have it in my headphones and I just walk around. A few hours later I’ve got at least the concept of what the song is telling me, which is about a gambler. And Dom said, 'Where’d you get this shit from?' I said, 'I don’t know.' It just occurs to me but the music tells me the story."

Miller recalled that the guitar riff originated from a warm-up exercise centered around sixth chords akin to the music of Chopin. He opted to avoid the third degree of the chord and intended for the chord sequence to resemble the work of John McLaughlin. When approached by Sting to develop the riff into a full song, Miller insisted that it was merely a warm-up exercise, but Sting nonetheless returned with a set of lyrics to accompany the composition.[11]

Critical reception

Alan Jones from Music Week gave the song two out of five in his review, writing, "This understated track from Ten Summoner's Tales most closely resembles "It's Probably Me". Commercially it will probably get a leg-up into the Top 40 from the addition of previously unreleased live tracks and its use as the main theme to the new William Baldwin movie Three Of Hearts."[12] Rolling Stone described the song as "brooding".[13]

Music video

The accompanying music video for "Shape of My Heart" was directed by Doug Nichol and premiered in September 1993.[14] It was filmed at Sting's Lake House in Wiltshire.

Charts

Weekly chart performance of
"Shape of My Heart"
Chart (1993-1994) Peak
position
Canada Top Singles (RPM)[15] 44
Iceland (Íslenski Listinn Topp 40)[16] 10
UK Singles (OCC)[17] 57
UK Airplay (Music Week)[18] 30
Chart (2016) Peak
position
France (SNEP)[19] 96
Year-end chart performance for
"Shape of My Heart"
Chart (1993) Position
Iceland (Íslenski Listinn Topp 40)[20] 85

Certifications

Certifications and sales for "Shape of My Heart"
Region Certification Certified units/sales
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[21] Gold 45,000‡
Italy (FIMI)[22] Gold 35,000‡
Japan (RIAJ)[23]
digital 		Gold 100,000*
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[24] Gold 30,000‡
United Kingdom (BPI)[25] Silver 200,000‡

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. ^ "Single Releases". Music Week. 21 August 1993. p. 23.
  2. ^ Besson, Luc (18 November 1994), Léon (Action, Crime, Drama), Gaumont, Les Films du Dauphin, Columbia Pictures, retrieved 6 August 2022
  3. ^ "Three of Hearts (1993)". IMDb.
  4. ^ "Blue Rodeo (TV Movie 1996) - Soundtracks - IMDb". IMDb.
  5. ^ "Hit En Origineel". Retrieved 22 April 2024.
  6. ^ "アルバム「First Love」収録曲「Never Let Go」の著作権に関して" (in Japanese). utadahikaru.jp. 4 April 1999. Retrieved 1 September 2023.
  7. ^ "Sting Owns 85 Percent of Juice WRLD's "Lucid Dreams"... But He's Not Mad About it". 19 November 2018.
  8. ^ https://www.iheart.com/content/2018-11-09-songs-that-saved-my-life-suicide-prevention-lp-features-neck-deep-more/
  9. ^ Shape of my heart by Sting Songfacts
  10. ^ "Sting.com > Discography > Shape Of My Heart, cass". sting.com. Retrieved 11 March 2019.
  11. ^ Sting; Miller, Dominic (18 November 2021). "The Sting Interview". Interviewed by Rick Beato. YouTube. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
  12. ^ Jones, Alan (28 August 1993). "Market Preview: Mainstream - Singles" (PDF). Music Week. p. 18. Retrieved 30 January 2023.
  13. ^ DeCurtis, Anthony (18 March 1993). "Sting: Ten Summoner's Tales". Rolling Stone. No. 652. p. 38.
  14. ^ "Sting: Shape of My Heart (Music Video 1993)". IMDb. IMDb. Retrieved 1 May 2022.
  15. ^ "Top RPM Singles: Issue 1583". RPM. 17 July 2013. Retrieved 27 October 2023.
  16. ^ "Íslenski Listinn Topp 40 (19.08.1993-26.09.1993)" (in Icelandic). Dagblaðið Vísir - Tónlist. Retrieved 29 April 2022.
  17. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 11 March 2019.
  18. ^ "The Airplay Chart" (PDF). Music Week. 18 September 1993. p. 30. Retrieved 2 May 2024.
  19. ^ "Sting – Shape of My Heart" (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved 11 March 2019.
  20. ^ "Árslistinn 1993". Dagblaðið Vísir (in Icelandic). 4 January 1994. p. 17. Retrieved 12 April 2022.
  21. ^ "Danish single certifications – Sting – Shape of My Heart". IFPI Danmark. Retrieved 23 November 2023.
  22. ^ "Italian single certifications – Sting – Shape of My Heart" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved 15 November 2021. Select "2021" in the "Anno" drop-down menu. Type "Shape of My Heart" in the "Filtra" field. Select "Singoli" under "Sezione".
  23. ^ "Japanese digital single certifications – Sting – Shape of My Heart" (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. Retrieved 6 January 2021. Select 2014年9月 on the drop-down menu
  24. ^ "Spanish single certifications – Sting – Shape of My Heart". El portal de Música. Productores de Música de España. Retrieved 1 July 2024.
  25. ^ "British single certifications – Sting – Shape of My Heart". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
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