Open Your Heart (Madonna song)
Encyclopedia
"Open Your Heart" is a song by American singer-songwriter Madonna
. It was released as the fourth single from her third studio album True Blue on November 12, 1986, by Sire Records
. It has since appeared remixed on the compilation albums The Immaculate Collection
(1990) and Celebration
(2009). Written originally as a rock 'n roll
song with the title "Follow Your Heart", it was written for singer Cyndi Lauper
by songwriters Gardner Cole and Peter Rafelson, although it was never played to her. Since Madonna's management was looking for new songs for True Blue, she accepted it, and altered some of the lyrics, while changing the composition to suit the dance-pop
genre. Lyrically "Open Your Heart" is a love song, talking about innocent feelings of boy meets girl romance and Madonna expressing her sexual desire.
The song was well-received by critics who commended it for being a simple love song. It was also successful commercially, reaching the top-ten of the charts in Belgium, Canada, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, and the United Kingdom, also reaching the top of Billboard Hot 100
in the United States, thus making it Madonna's fifth US number-one single. The music video, however, portrayed a different concept of the song. Madonna played an exotic dancer in a peep-show club, who befriends a little boy and escapes from there. It was critically acclaimed for portraying a completely opposite perspective of "voyeuristic male gaze and object", and depicting innocence rather than sexual overtones, although the entry of a child in a strip club was negatively criticized. The video was an homage to actresses Liza Minnelli
and Marlene Dietrich
.
The song has been performed by Madonna in two of her world tours – 1987's Who's That Girl World Tour
, and 1990's Blond Ambition World Tour
, where Madonna wore her infamous conical bra during the song. Both performances were included in the respective video release of the tour. A brief instrumental of the song was played during one of the performances in Madonna's 2001 Drowned World Tour
. "Open Your Heart" has been covered a number of times by different artists, and appeared in the Britney Spears
film, Crossroads
(2002).
song with the title "Follow Your Heart" and had been written for singer Cyndi Lauper
by songwriters Gardner Cole and Peter Rafelson, although it was never played to her. The Temptations
were also considered for the song. Their manager Benny Medina
decided that they wanted to record the song after all, but upon hearing that Madonna had already recorded it, changed their mind. The original title according to Cole, was from a local health food restaurant called Follow Your Heart in Canoga Park, California
, where he was in love with a waitress named Lisa and she was the original inspiration for the lyrics. In Fred Bronson
's book The Billboard Book of Number 1 Hits, Cole explained,
Cole's manager Bennett Freed was working with Madonna's management and they were looking for new material for her album. Three of Cole's songs were chosen for reviewing, including "Open Your Heart". Madonna's manager Freddy DeMann overheard the song and thought it would be a hit for Madonna and he asked Cole to re-demo a female demo version. Her female backup singer, Donna De Lory was Cole's girlfriend and he immediately asked her to sing the demo. Despite the fact that it did not fit exactly with the choice and genre of songs Madonna was singing at that time, she nevertheless accepted it. Madonna recorded "Open Your Heart", altered the lyrics thus earning a co-writing credit, and along with Patrick Leonard
added a bassline underneath the song which turned it into a rock-dance track rather than the original rock 'n roll
genre. The song was the first recorded cut for the True Blue album in late 1985 and ultimately made it to the final released tracklist.
filled structure and a chorus sounding like Belinda Carlisle
, according to author Rikky Rooksby in his book The Complete Guide to the Music of Madonna. Lyrically, "Open Your Heart" is a simple love song. The song speaks of earnest innocent notions of boy meets girl kind of feelings. According to Professor Mavis Tsai, the phrase "Open Your Heart" is a metaphor for the act of being vulnerable that corresponds to the behavior involved in developing an intimate or close relationship. The following lines in the song, "Open Your Heart, I'll make you love me; It's not that hard, if you just turn the key" illustrate this metaphor vividly. The concept of the song places Madonna as a victim of love. The lyrics puts Madonna in a more direct position expressing her sexual desires for her man according to author Santiago Fouz-Hernández in the line "If you gave me half a chance you'd see; My desire burning inside of me." According to the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com by Alfred Publishing
, "Open Your Heart" is written in the time signature of common time
with a medium funk tempo
of 112 beats per minute. It is composed in the key
of F major
with Madonna's voice spanning from A3 to B4. The song follows a basic sequence of F–E9–E/G–Gm7–F as its chord progression
.
" and "the play with closure in 'Open Your Heart' creates the image of open ended jouissance—an erotic energy that continually escapes containment". Author Taraborrelli called it as one of her most "earnest" songs and compared it with Aretha Franklin
's song "Respect
" as well as Barbra Streisand
's "A House is Not a Home
". According to him "it was a tune people could understand and latch on to, which is what makes a pop song memorable". The New York Times
writer Stephen Holden
compared the song with sweeter post-Motown valentine songs. Houston Chronicle
writer Joey Guerra
called the song "perfect" for dancefloor strut. Stephen Thomas Erlewine
of Allmusic called it a perfect dance song with deepened dance grooves. Slant Magazine named the song as one of Madonna's most "robust" songs. Robert Christgau
said of the song, "I'm not saying her flair is pleasureless—the generosity she demands in the inexhaustible 'Open Your Heart' is a two-way street and then some."
chart. It had a gradual rise and subsequently peaked the chart on February 7, 1987 becoming Madonna's fifth number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The single also had its success on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart reaching number-one on February 14, 1987. The single was Madonna's sixth entry on the Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary
chart where it reached a peak of twelve. In Canada, the song debuted at number eighty-three on the RPM
chart on December 13, 1986, and reached a peak position of eight for the chart issue dated February 21, 1987. It placed at 68 on the RPM Year-end chart for 1987.
Internationally, it became a top ten hit in several European countries including the United Kingdom, Italy, Ireland, Netherlands, and Belgium. In the United Kingdom, the single debuted on the UK Singles Chart
at number eight and subsequently reached a peak of four on December 13, 1986. The single was on the chart for nine weeks in total, and was certified silver
by the British Phonographic Industry
(BPI) on December 1, 1986. According to The Official Charts Company, the song has sold 195,000 copies there. It also peaked at number four in Europe, thus becoming the only single from True Blue not to top the Eurochart Hot 100. In Australia, it only reached a peak of sixteen, breaking a run of nine consecutive top ten singles for Madonna in that country. Elsewhere, like in Switzerland, Austria, Germany and France, it reached within the top 40 of the singles chart.
was shot at Echo Park in Los Angeles, California
. Madonna portrays an exotic dancer
who befriends a young boy, played by child actor Felix Howard. This video was originally set to be directed by Madonna's then-husband Sean Penn
, but in the end the final honors went to Jean-Baptiste Mondino
, who went on to work with Madonna on her videos for "Justify My Love
" (1990), "Human Nature
" (1995), "Love Don't Live Here Anymore
" (1996), "Don't Tell Me
" (2000) and "Hollywood" (2003). The video was shot in October 1986 and was released in December 1986. It was produced by David Naylor. The video was nominated for three MTV Video Music Awards
in 1987. In the best female video category "Open Your Heart" lost to another Madonna video, when her "Papa Don't Preach
" video won the award.
The "Open Your Heart" music video presents an early version of Madonna's musings about her Italian-American heritage and focus on her feminocentric street theology, which was also explicitly brought out by 1987's Who's That Girl World Tour
. The video is structured as a cinematic peep show
and voyeurism
that portrays Madonna as a stripper. It starts with a little boy trying to go inside a peep show where Madonna is the star performer but getting rebuffed by an old man at the ticket booth outside. Inside Madonna starts singing the song from the center of a carousel that revolves to display her to the gaze of the customers who are sitting safely in their cubicles. Madonna is dressed in a black bustier, spike heels, fishnets, revealing her new slimmed down body at that time. She begins the video wearing a black wig which she subsequently removes, revealing her short bleached hair. The lighting is bluish and dark. Her look is a mix of actresses Marlene Dietrich
in the movie The Blue Angel as well as Liza Minnelli
as the character Sally Bowles in the Bob Fosse
-directed Musical film
"Cabaret
". The dancing is restrained with a single prop: that of a solitary chair. At one point in the first segment of the video, she is filmed dancing but the camera is almost still and the motions of the dance are confined within the small range of the camera. As the screens inside the viewing booths open and close, the camera slices the shots of Madonna each with its own angle and duration. The same imagery is exhibited by the little boy outside who tries to frame Madonna's playbill image into different angles. There are four other men in the booths who are made of wood with paintings of artist Tamara de Lempicka
on them. Madonna at one point takes off her gloves like Rita Hayworth
in Gilda
and points towards one of the wooden paintings. It collapses and she blows on her finger.
The video is similar in thematic content to Mötley Crüe
's video for the single "Girls, Girls, Girls". But in contrast, this video tells the story from Madonna's point of view. She looks down into the cubicles to make eye contact with the men but they are unable to return it. She also looks assertively into the camera, making eye contact with the viewer. With these scenes Madonna portrays her holding power over the men and the ability to pursue them. Madonna represents an assertive woman searching for a lover who can accept her as a human being. Author Bruce Forbes notes that the men in the cubicles are proved unworthy of her and there is an undertone of mockery when Madonna addresses them as 'baby' while shaking her body. By the end of the video the isolated and sad men depart with the doors closing on them. As the final chorus breaks into dance grooves, Madonna comes out of the theater and gives the boy a quick kiss on his lips. Both are clad in loose-fitting gray suits, which gives Madonna an androgynous
look. They stroll away playfully in the sunrise, reminiscent of Charlie Chaplin
and Jack Coogan in The Kid
with the old boss pursuing them and shouting "Come back, come back, we still need you" in Italian. The tension between the visual and the musical dimensions of the video is extremely unsettling according to author Nicholas B. Dirks. Only when she disappears from the carousel and reappears to run away from her patriarchal boss with the young boy, then the music and visuals become comparable.
– or, perhaps, pornography". MTV
also had some reservations initially before airing the video, which was later resolved after a meeting with Warner Officials. However socio-critic Mary Harron in her book McRock: Pop as a commodity said that the underlying message in the video is that though Madonna sells sexuality, she is free. There is no overt representation of anything besides friendship with the boy. Their escape together avoids Madonna the sexual overtones that would have been stronger if she would have escaped with an adult male. This, according to author Richard Dienst, seems to suggest a repudiation of the adult labor of the stage in favor of childhood, androgyny, authenticity and nomadic play. The video is also acclaimed for reviving and re-creating the hard glamor of the studio-era of Hollywood stars and also for representing women as the dominant sex. Author Donn Welton pointed out that the usual power relationship between the "voyeuristic male gaze and object" is destabilized by the portrayal of the male patrons of the peep show as leering and pathetic. At the same time, the portrayal of Madonna as porno queen object is deconstructed by the escape at the end of the video.
and 1990 Blond Ambition World Tour
. It served as the opening song on 1987 Who's That Girl Tour. It started off with then young dancer Chris Finch
, imitating Felix Howard from the video. Howard did not receive a working license for the tour hence Finch was taken for his part. He went on to become an integral part of most of the songs performed on the tour. After Finch, two other dancers are introduced, before Madonna herself appears on stage. She wore the same black pointy corset and fishnets as in the music video. She first sings the song alone, then Finch joins her again and they dance together till the song ends. Two different performances of the song on this tour can be found on the videos: Who's That Girl – Live in Japan, filmed in Tokyo
, Japan, on June 22, 1987, and Ciao, Italia! – Live from Italy
, filmed in Turin
, Italy, on September 4, 1987.
On the Blond Ambition World Tour
, "Open Your Heart" follows the opening number "Express Yourself". This time there's not a young boy but a hunky dancer watching from a distance as Madonna entered the stage with her hair stretched into a topknot and fake blond ponytail, which was replaced by short peroxide tangles in the European leg of the tour. She wore a double breasted suit with the outer jacket cut in slits so that the conical bra underneath could point through. Showing off the satin pink bodysuit and her monocle chain, Madonna proceeds to perform the song on a chair. Playing a dominatrix role, Madonna got on top of one of the dancers before carrying off an exhibitionist dance routine with the chair as a prop. Two different performances were taped and released on video, the Blond Ambition – Japan Tour 90, taped in Yokohama
, Japan, on April 27, 1990, and the Live! – Blond Ambition World Tour 90, taped in Nice
, France, on August 5, 1990.
The opening musical introduction
of the song served as a brief twenty-six seconds musical interlude on the Drowned World Tour
in 2001. As Madonna finished a performance of "Frozen
" in the Geisha inspired segment of the show, she sat in a cross-legged position in front of the stage. The musical intro for "Open Your Heart" starts with a dancer in a Japanese costume dancing behind her on a raised podium. As the music ends, Madonna starts singing "Nobody's Perfect" from her 2000 album "Music
". In 2008, Madonna sang the first verse and chorus for the first time in eighteen years at two dates – Las Vegas
and East Rutherford
– of her Sticky & Sweet Tour
. Madonna forgot the lyrics at the Vegas show and refused to sing the song in Boston
; she performed "Express Yourself" instead.
n rock singer Melissa (born in Peru, Melissa moved to Venezuela at an early age), who released it in March 1986 on her "Melissa III" album. Considering Madonna first released the song on the "True Blue" album three months afterwards, Melissa's "Abre Tu Corazón" can be considered the first released version of the song, although it is possible that Madonna's version (for which she received a co-writer's credit) was recorded first. The Madonna tribute compilation Virgin Voices: A Tribute To Madonna, Vol. 2 contained a cover by the late Israeli singer Ofra Haza
. An eurodance
version was recorded by the group Mad'House for the album "Absolutely Mad". A hi-NRG
dance version was recorded by Who's That Girl for the album Exposed, released through Almighty Records
. In 2004 Platinum Blonde NRG, Vol. 2: Nrgised Madonna Classics, a hi-NRG cover is performed by In-Deep. The song appears in the opening of the 2002 film Crossroads
. Britney Spears
' character lip syncs to the song in her room with a brush in her hand, pretending it's a microphone. A Madonna poster is visible during the scene. In 2010, the TV show Glee
covered it in the episode "The Power of Madonna
" as a mash-up
with the song "Borderline
", performed by Cory Monteith
and Lea Michele
.
Credits adapted from the album's liner notes.
Madonna (entertainer)
Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...
. It was released as the fourth single from her third studio album True Blue on November 12, 1986, by Sire Records
Sire Records
Sire Records is an American record label, owned by Warner Music Group and distributed through Warner Bros. Records.-Beginnings:The label was founded in 1966 as Sire Productions by Seymour Stein and Richard Gottehrer, each investing ten thousand dollars into the new company. Its early releases as a...
. It has since appeared remixed on the compilation albums The Immaculate Collection
The Immaculate Collection
The Immaculate Collection is the first greatest hits album by American singer-songwriter Madonna, released on November 9, 1990 by Sire Records. It contains fifteen of her hit singles from 1982 to 1990, as well as two new tracks "Justify My Love" and "Rescue Me"...
(1990) and Celebration
Celebration (Madonna album)
Celebration is the third greatest hits album by American singer-songwriter Madonna, and the closing release under her contract with Warner Bros. Records, her record company since 1982. The release follows her two previous greatest hits albums, The Immaculate Collection and GHV2...
(2009). Written originally as a rock 'n roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
song with the title "Follow Your Heart", it was written for singer Cyndi Lauper
Cyndi Lauper
Cynthia Ann Stephanie "Cyndi" Lauper is an American singer, songwriter, actress and LGBT rights activist. She achieved success in the mid-1980s with the release of the album She's So Unusual and became the first female singer to have four top-five singles released from one album...
by songwriters Gardner Cole and Peter Rafelson, although it was never played to her. Since Madonna's management was looking for new songs for True Blue, she accepted it, and altered some of the lyrics, while changing the composition to suit the dance-pop
Dance-pop
Dance-pop is dance-oriented pop music that originated in the early 1980s. Developing from post-disco, it is generally up-tempo music intended for clubs with the intention of being danceable or merely dancey...
genre. Lyrically "Open Your Heart" is a love song, talking about innocent feelings of boy meets girl romance and Madonna expressing her sexual desire.
The song was well-received by critics who commended it for being a simple love song. It was also successful commercially, reaching the top-ten of the charts in Belgium, Canada, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, and the United Kingdom, also reaching the top of Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
in the United States, thus making it Madonna's fifth US number-one single. The music video, however, portrayed a different concept of the song. Madonna played an exotic dancer in a peep-show club, who befriends a little boy and escapes from there. It was critically acclaimed for portraying a completely opposite perspective of "voyeuristic male gaze and object", and depicting innocence rather than sexual overtones, although the entry of a child in a strip club was negatively criticized. The video was an homage to actresses Liza Minnelli
Liza Minnelli
Liza May Minnelli is an American actress and singer. She is the daughter of singer and actress Judy Garland and film director Vincente Minnelli....
and Marlene Dietrich
Marlene Dietrich
Marlene Dietrich was a German-American actress and singer.Dietrich remained popular throughout her long career by continually re-inventing herself, professionally and characteristically. In the Berlin of the 1920s, she acted on the stage and in silent films...
.
The song has been performed by Madonna in two of her world tours – 1987's Who's That Girl World Tour
Who's That Girl World Tour
The Who's That Girl World Tour is the second concert tour by American singer-songwriter Madonna. The tour supported her third studio album, True Blue , as well as the soundtrack Who's That Girl . It was Madonna's first world tour, reaching Asia, North America and Europe...
, and 1990's Blond Ambition World Tour
Blond Ambition World Tour
The Blond Ambition World Tour was the third concert tour by American singer-songwriter, Madonna. The tour was launched in support of her fourth studio album, Like a Prayer, and the soundtrack, I'm Breathless. The tour reached North America, Europe and Asia. It was a highly controversial tour,...
, where Madonna wore her infamous conical bra during the song. Both performances were included in the respective video release of the tour. A brief instrumental of the song was played during one of the performances in Madonna's 2001 Drowned World Tour
Drowned World Tour
The Drowned World Tour was the fifth concert tour by American singer-songwriter Madonna in support of her seventh and eighth studio albums Ray of Light and Music. It was also her first tour in eight years, following The Girlie Show World Tour in 1993...
. "Open Your Heart" has been covered a number of times by different artists, and appeared in the Britney Spears
Britney Spears
Britney Jean Spears is an American recording artist and entertainer. Born in McComb, Mississippi, and raised in Kentwood, Louisiana, Spears began performing as a child, landing acting roles in stage productions and television shows. She signed with Jive Records in 1997 and released her debut album...
film, Crossroads
Crossroads (2002 film)
Crossroads is a 2002 comedy-drama road film directed by Tamra Davis and starring American recording artist Britney Spears, Zoe Saldana and Taryn Manning...
(2002).
Writing and recording
"Open Your Heart" was originally a rock 'n rollRock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
song with the title "Follow Your Heart" and had been written for singer Cyndi Lauper
Cyndi Lauper
Cynthia Ann Stephanie "Cyndi" Lauper is an American singer, songwriter, actress and LGBT rights activist. She achieved success in the mid-1980s with the release of the album She's So Unusual and became the first female singer to have four top-five singles released from one album...
by songwriters Gardner Cole and Peter Rafelson, although it was never played to her. The Temptations
The Temptations
The Temptations is an American vocal group having achieved fame as one of the most successful acts to record for Motown Records. The group's repertoire has included, at various times during its five-decade career, R&B, doo-wop, funk, disco, soul, and adult contemporary music.Formed in Detroit,...
were also considered for the song. Their manager Benny Medina
Benny Medina
Benny Medina is the CEO of The Medina Company and son of legendary Jazz drummer Ahmad "Benny" Medina. He has worked in the music business as a producer, talent manager and record executive...
decided that they wanted to record the song after all, but upon hearing that Madonna had already recorded it, changed their mind. The original title according to Cole, was from a local health food restaurant called Follow Your Heart in Canoga Park, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, where he was in love with a waitress named Lisa and she was the original inspiration for the lyrics. In Fred Bronson
Fred Bronson
Fredric M. Bronson is an American journalist, author and writer. He is best known for his appearances on American Idol, the weekly "Chart Beat" column in Billboard magazine, and as the author of books related to Billboard charts.Born to Irving and Mildred Bronson and raised in Culver City,...
's book The Billboard Book of Number 1 Hits, Cole explained,
"Peter and I usually write very quickly. It's usually a day or two a song, but for some reason this didn't really hit us as a hit song. We didn't give up on it. We just kept working on it over the course of a year. Thank God we did. [...] It was the first song that was cut on the True Blue album. It made me nervous as a writer, because a lot of times the very first song that gets cut doesn't make it in the long run. But the song ended up making the album, which really opened up a lot of doors for me."
Cole's manager Bennett Freed was working with Madonna's management and they were looking for new material for her album. Three of Cole's songs were chosen for reviewing, including "Open Your Heart". Madonna's manager Freddy DeMann overheard the song and thought it would be a hit for Madonna and he asked Cole to re-demo a female demo version. Her female backup singer, Donna De Lory was Cole's girlfriend and he immediately asked her to sing the demo. Despite the fact that it did not fit exactly with the choice and genre of songs Madonna was singing at that time, she nevertheless accepted it. Madonna recorded "Open Your Heart", altered the lyrics thus earning a co-writing credit, and along with Patrick Leonard
Patrick Leonard
Patrick Raymond Leonard is an American songwriter, keyboardist and music producer, known for his longtime collaboration with Madonna on many different recordings....
added a bassline underneath the song which turned it into a rock-dance track rather than the original rock 'n roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
genre. The song was the first recorded cut for the True Blue album in late 1985 and ultimately made it to the final released tracklist.
Composition and lyrics
The song has a continuous percussionPercussion instrument
A percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
filled structure and a chorus sounding like Belinda Carlisle
Belinda Carlisle
Belinda Jo Carlisle is an American singer who gained worldwide fame as the lead vocalist of the Go-Go's, one of the most successful all-female bands and the first such group whose members wrote their own songs and played their own instruments...
, according to author Rikky Rooksby in his book The Complete Guide to the Music of Madonna. Lyrically, "Open Your Heart" is a simple love song. The song speaks of earnest innocent notions of boy meets girl kind of feelings. According to Professor Mavis Tsai, the phrase "Open Your Heart" is a metaphor for the act of being vulnerable that corresponds to the behavior involved in developing an intimate or close relationship. The following lines in the song, "Open Your Heart, I'll make you love me; It's not that hard, if you just turn the key" illustrate this metaphor vividly. The concept of the song places Madonna as a victim of love. The lyrics puts Madonna in a more direct position expressing her sexual desires for her man according to author Santiago Fouz-Hernández in the line "If you gave me half a chance you'd see; My desire burning inside of me." According to the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com by Alfred Publishing
Alfred Publishing
Alfred Music Publishing is a family-owned and operated music publishing company, founded in 1922. Headquartered in Van Nuys, Los Angeles, California, it is the largest educational music publisher in the world.- Profile :...
, "Open Your Heart" is written in the time signature of common time
Common Time
"Common Time" is a science fiction short story written by James Blish. It first appeared in the August 1953 issue of Science Fiction Quarterly and has been reprinted several times: in the 1959 short-story collection Galactic Cluster; in The Testament of Andros ; in The Penguin Science Fiction...
with a medium funk tempo
Tempo
In musical terminology, tempo is the speed or pace of a given piece. Tempo is a crucial element of any musical composition, as it can affect the mood and difficulty of a piece.-Measuring tempo:...
of 112 beats per minute. It is composed in the key
Key (music)
In music theory, the term key is used in many different and sometimes contradictory ways. A common use is to speak of music as being "in" a specific key, such as in the key of C major or in the key of F-sharp. Sometimes the terms "major" or "minor" are appended, as in the key of A minor or in the...
of F major
F major
F major is a musical major scale based on F, consisting of the pitches F, G, A, B, C, D, and E. Its key signature has one flat . It is by far the oldest key signature with an accidental, predating the others by hundreds of years...
with Madonna's voice spanning from A3 to B4. The song follows a basic sequence of F–E9–E/G–Gm7–F as its chord progression
Chord progression
A chord progression is a series of musical chords, or chord changes that "aims for a definite goal" of establishing a tonality founded on a key, root or tonic chord. In other words, the succession of root relationships...
.
Critical response
Author Susan McClary in Culture/power/history reviewed the song saying that, it was more upbeat than previous single "Live to TellLive to Tell
"Live to Tell" is a pop ballad by American singer-songwriter Madonna. Originally written by Patrick Leonard for the soundtrack of the film Fire with Fire, the song was shown to Madonna, who decided to use it for then-husband Sean Penn's film At Close Range...
" and "the play with closure in 'Open Your Heart' creates the image of open ended jouissance—an erotic energy that continually escapes containment". Author Taraborrelli called it as one of her most "earnest" songs and compared it with Aretha Franklin
Aretha Franklin
Aretha Louise Franklin is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Although known for her soul recordings and referred to as The Queen of Soul, Franklin is also adept at jazz, blues, R&B, gospel music, and rock. Rolling Stone magazine ranked her atop its list of The Greatest Singers of All...
's song "Respect
Respect (song)
"Respect" is a song written and originally released by Stax recording artist Otis Redding in 1965. "Respect" became a 1967 hit and signature song for R&B singer Aretha Franklin. The music in the two versions is significantly different, and through a few minor changes in the lyrics, the stories told...
" as well as Barbra Streisand
Barbra Streisand
Barbra Joan Streisand is an American singer, actress, film producer and director. She has won two Academy Awards, eight Grammy Awards, four Emmy Awards, a Special Tony Award, an American Film Institute award, a Peabody Award, and is one of the few entertainers who have won an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy,...
's "A House is Not a Home
A House Is Not a Home (song)
"A House Is Not a Home" is a 1964 song recorded by American singer Dionne Warwick. Written by the team of Burt Bacharach and Hal David, the song was a modest hit in the U.S. for Warwick, peaking at #71 on the pop singles chart as the B-side of the top 40 single, "You'll Never Get to Heaven "...
". According to him "it was a tune people could understand and latch on to, which is what makes a pop song memorable". The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
writer Stephen Holden
Stephen Holden
Stephen Holden is an American writer, music critic, film critic, and poet.Holden earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Yale University in 1963...
compared the song with sweeter post-Motown valentine songs. Houston Chronicle
Houston Chronicle
The Houston Chronicle is the largest daily newspaper in Texas, USA, headquartered in the Houston Chronicle Building in Downtown Houston. , it is the ninth-largest newspaper by circulation in the United States...
writer Joey Guerra
Joey Guerra
Joey Guerra is the pop music critic for the Houston Chronicle, one of the ten largest papers in the U.S. Born June 16, 1974 in Houston, Texas. He is a prolific writer, covering the major genres and the Houston/Texas music scene...
called the song "perfect" for dancefloor strut. Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Stephen Thomas Erlewine is a senior editor for Allmusic. He is the author of many artist biographies and record reviews for Allmusic, as well as a freelance writer, occasionally contributing liner notes. He is also frontman and guitarist for the Ann Arbor-based band Who Dat?Erlewine is the nephew...
of Allmusic called it a perfect dance song with deepened dance grooves. Slant Magazine named the song as one of Madonna's most "robust" songs. Robert Christgau
Robert Christgau
Robert Christgau is an American essayist, music journalist, and self-proclaimed "Dean of American Rock Critics".One of the earliest professional rock critics, Christgau is known for his terse capsule reviews, published since 1969 in his Consumer Guide columns...
said of the song, "I'm not saying her flair is pleasureless—the generosity she demands in the inexhaustible 'Open Your Heart' is a two-way street and then some."
Chart performance
"Open Your Heart" debuted at fifty-one the week ending December 6, 1986, on the Billboard Hot 100Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
chart. It had a gradual rise and subsequently peaked the chart on February 7, 1987 becoming Madonna's fifth number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The single also had its success on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart reaching number-one on February 14, 1987. The single was Madonna's sixth entry on the Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary
Adult contemporary music
Adult contemporary music is a broad style of popular music that ranges from lush 1950s and 1960s vocal music to predominantly ballad-heavy music with varying degrees of rock influence, as well as a radio format that plays such music....
chart where it reached a peak of twelve. In Canada, the song debuted at number eighty-three on the RPM
RPM (magazine)
RPM was a Canadian music industry publication that featured song and album charts for Canada. The publication was founded by Walt Grealis in February 1964, supported through its existence by record label owner Stan Klees. RPM ceased publication in November 2000.RPM stood for "Records, Promotion,...
chart on December 13, 1986, and reached a peak position of eight for the chart issue dated February 21, 1987. It placed at 68 on the RPM Year-end chart for 1987.
Internationally, it became a top ten hit in several European countries including the United Kingdom, Italy, Ireland, Netherlands, and Belgium. In the United Kingdom, the single debuted on the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
at number eight and subsequently reached a peak of four on December 13, 1986. The single was on the chart for nine weeks in total, and was certified silver
Music recording sales certification
Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...
by the British Phonographic Industry
British Phonographic Industry
The British Phonographic Industry is the British record industry's trade association.-Structure:Its membership comprises hundreds of music companies including all four "major" record companies , associate members such as manufacturers and distributors, and hundreds of independent music companies...
(BPI) on December 1, 1986. According to The Official Charts Company, the song has sold 195,000 copies there. It also peaked at number four in Europe, thus becoming the only single from True Blue not to top the Eurochart Hot 100. In Australia, it only reached a peak of sixteen, breaking a run of nine consecutive top ten singles for Madonna in that country. Elsewhere, like in Switzerland, Austria, Germany and France, it reached within the top 40 of the singles chart.
Music video
The music videoMusic video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
was shot at Echo Park in Los Angeles, California
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
. Madonna portrays an exotic dancer
Exotic dancer
The terms exotic dancer and exotic dance can have different meanings in different parts of the world and depending on context. In the erotic sense, "exotic dance" is a often used to refer to practitioners of striptease...
who befriends a young boy, played by child actor Felix Howard. This video was originally set to be directed by Madonna's then-husband Sean Penn
Sean Penn
Sean Justin Penn is an American actor, screenwriter and film director, also known for his political and social activism...
, but in the end the final honors went to Jean-Baptiste Mondino
Jean-Baptiste Mondino
Jean-Baptiste Mondino is a French fashion photographer and music video director. He has directed music videos for Madonna, David Bowie, Sting, Björk, Neneh Cherry and Les Rita Mitsouko...
, who went on to work with Madonna on her videos for "Justify My Love
Justify My Love
"Justify My Love" is the first single by American singer-songwriter Madonna from her 1990 greatest hits compilation The Immaculate Collection and was released on November 6, 1990, by Sire Records. It caused international controversy due to the accompanying music video which was sexually explicit...
" (1990), "Human Nature
Human Nature (Madonna song)
"Human Nature" is the fourth and final single by American singer-songwriter Madonna from her sixth studio album Bedtime Stories, released on June 6, 1995 by Maverick Records.-Song information:...
" (1995), "Love Don't Live Here Anymore
Love Don't Live Here Anymore
"Love Don't Live Here Anymore" is a song written by Miles Gregory and originally recorded by Rose Royce. It was produced by former Motown songwriter and producer Norman Whitfield for the Whitfield Records...
" (1996), "Don't Tell Me
Don't Tell Me (Madonna song)
"Don't Tell Me" is a song by American singer-songwriter Madonna. It was released as the second single from her eighth studio album Music on November 21, 2000 by Maverick Records. The single has sold around 4.5 million copies to date.-History:...
" (2000) and "Hollywood" (2003). The video was shot in October 1986 and was released in December 1986. It was produced by David Naylor. The video was nominated for three MTV Video Music Awards
1987 MTV Video Music Awards
The 1987 MTV Video Music Awards aired live on September 11, 1987, honoring the best music videos from May 2, 1986, to May 1, 1987. The show was hosted by MTV VJs Downtown Julie Brown, Carolyne Heldman, Kevin Seal, Michael Tomioka, and Dweezil Zappa, and it took place at the Universal Amphitheatre...
in 1987. In the best female video category "Open Your Heart" lost to another Madonna video, when her "Papa Don't Preach
Papa Don't Preach
"Papa Don't Preach" is a song by American singer-songwriter Madonna. The song was written by Brian Elliot with additional lyrics by Madonna, and produced by Stephen Bray and Madonna for her third studio album True Blue, released in June 1986...
" video won the award.
The "Open Your Heart" music video presents an early version of Madonna's musings about her Italian-American heritage and focus on her feminocentric street theology, which was also explicitly brought out by 1987's Who's That Girl World Tour
Who's That Girl World Tour
The Who's That Girl World Tour is the second concert tour by American singer-songwriter Madonna. The tour supported her third studio album, True Blue , as well as the soundtrack Who's That Girl . It was Madonna's first world tour, reaching Asia, North America and Europe...
. The video is structured as a cinematic peep show
Peep show
A peep show or peepshow is an exhibition of pictures, objects or people viewed through a small hole or magnifying glass. Though historically a peep show was a form of entertainment provided by wandering showmen, nowadays it more commonly refers a presentation of a sex show or pornographic film...
and voyeurism
Voyeurism
In clinical psychology, voyeurism is the sexual interest in or practice of spying on people engaged in intimate behaviors, such as undressing, sexual activity, or other activity usually considered to be of a private nature....
that portrays Madonna as a stripper. It starts with a little boy trying to go inside a peep show where Madonna is the star performer but getting rebuffed by an old man at the ticket booth outside. Inside Madonna starts singing the song from the center of a carousel that revolves to display her to the gaze of the customers who are sitting safely in their cubicles. Madonna is dressed in a black bustier, spike heels, fishnets, revealing her new slimmed down body at that time. She begins the video wearing a black wig which she subsequently removes, revealing her short bleached hair. The lighting is bluish and dark. Her look is a mix of actresses Marlene Dietrich
Marlene Dietrich
Marlene Dietrich was a German-American actress and singer.Dietrich remained popular throughout her long career by continually re-inventing herself, professionally and characteristically. In the Berlin of the 1920s, she acted on the stage and in silent films...
in the movie The Blue Angel as well as Liza Minnelli
Liza Minnelli
Liza May Minnelli is an American actress and singer. She is the daughter of singer and actress Judy Garland and film director Vincente Minnelli....
as the character Sally Bowles in the Bob Fosse
Bob Fosse
Robert Louis “Bob” Fosse was an American actor, dancer, musical theater choreographer, director, screenwriter, film editor and film director. He won an unprecedented eight Tony Awards for choreography, as well as one for direction...
-directed Musical film
Musical film
The musical film is a film genre in which songs sung by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, though in some cases they serve merely as breaks in the storyline, often as elaborate...
"Cabaret
Cabaret (musical)
Cabaret is a musical based on a book written by Christopher Isherwood, music by John Kander and lyrics by Fred Ebb. The 1966 Broadway production became a hit and spawned a 1972 film as well as numerous subsequent productions....
". The dancing is restrained with a single prop: that of a solitary chair. At one point in the first segment of the video, she is filmed dancing but the camera is almost still and the motions of the dance are confined within the small range of the camera. As the screens inside the viewing booths open and close, the camera slices the shots of Madonna each with its own angle and duration. The same imagery is exhibited by the little boy outside who tries to frame Madonna's playbill image into different angles. There are four other men in the booths who are made of wood with paintings of artist Tamara de Lempicka
Tamara de Lempicka
Tamara de Lempicka , born Maria Górska in Moscow, in the Russian Empire, was a Polish Art Deco painter and "the first woman artist to be a glamour star."- Early life :...
on them. Madonna at one point takes off her gloves like Rita Hayworth
Rita Hayworth
Rita Hayworth was an American film actress and dancer who attained fame during the 1940s as one of the era's top stars...
in Gilda
Gilda
Gilda is a 1946 American black-and-white film noir directed by Charles Vidor. It stars Glenn Ford and Rita Hayworth in her signature role as the ultimate femme fatale. The film was noted for cinematographer Rudolph Mate's lush photography, costume designer Jean Louis' wardrobe for Hayworth , and...
and points towards one of the wooden paintings. It collapses and she blows on her finger.
The video is similar in thematic content to Mötley Crüe
Mötley Crüe
Mötley Crüe is an American heavy metal band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1981. The group was founded by bass guitarist Nikki Sixx and drummer Tommy Lee, who were later joined by lead guitarist Mick Mars and lead singer Vince Neil...
's video for the single "Girls, Girls, Girls". But in contrast, this video tells the story from Madonna's point of view. She looks down into the cubicles to make eye contact with the men but they are unable to return it. She also looks assertively into the camera, making eye contact with the viewer. With these scenes Madonna portrays her holding power over the men and the ability to pursue them. Madonna represents an assertive woman searching for a lover who can accept her as a human being. Author Bruce Forbes notes that the men in the cubicles are proved unworthy of her and there is an undertone of mockery when Madonna addresses them as 'baby' while shaking her body. By the end of the video the isolated and sad men depart with the doors closing on them. As the final chorus breaks into dance grooves, Madonna comes out of the theater and gives the boy a quick kiss on his lips. Both are clad in loose-fitting gray suits, which gives Madonna an androgynous
Androgyny
Androgyny is a term derived from the Greek words ανήρ, stem ανδρ- and γυνή , referring to the combination of masculine and feminine characteristics...
look. They stroll away playfully in the sunrise, reminiscent of Charlie Chaplin
Charlie Chaplin
Sir Charles Spencer "Charlie" Chaplin, KBE was an English comic actor, film director and composer best known for his work during the silent film era. He became the most famous film star in the world before the end of World War I...
and Jack Coogan in The Kid
The Kid (1910 film)
The Kid is a 1910 short silent drama film directed by Frank Powell and starring Henry B. Walthall. Mary Pickford and Blanche Sweet are listed as appearing in this film, but their parts are unconfirmed.-Cast:* Henry B. Walthall - Walter Holden...
with the old boss pursuing them and shouting "Come back, come back, we still need you" in Italian. The tension between the visual and the musical dimensions of the video is extremely unsettling according to author Nicholas B. Dirks. Only when she disappears from the carousel and reappears to run away from her patriarchal boss with the young boy, then the music and visuals become comparable.
Reception
Feminist writer Susan Bordo gave a negative review of the video, saying that the leering and pathetic men in the cubicles and Madonna's escape with the boy is "cynically and mechanically tacked on [as] a way of claiming trendy status for what is just cheesecakePin-up girl
A pin-up girl, also known as a pin-up model, is a model whose mass-produced pictures see wide appeal as popular culture. Pin-ups are intended for informal display, e.g. meant to be "pinned-up" on a wall...
– or, perhaps, pornography". MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
also had some reservations initially before airing the video, which was later resolved after a meeting with Warner Officials. However socio-critic Mary Harron in her book McRock: Pop as a commodity said that the underlying message in the video is that though Madonna sells sexuality, she is free. There is no overt representation of anything besides friendship with the boy. Their escape together avoids Madonna the sexual overtones that would have been stronger if she would have escaped with an adult male. This, according to author Richard Dienst, seems to suggest a repudiation of the adult labor of the stage in favor of childhood, androgyny, authenticity and nomadic play. The video is also acclaimed for reviving and re-creating the hard glamor of the studio-era of Hollywood stars and also for representing women as the dominant sex. Author Donn Welton pointed out that the usual power relationship between the "voyeuristic male gaze and object" is destabilized by the portrayal of the male patrons of the peep show as leering and pathetic. At the same time, the portrayal of Madonna as porno queen object is deconstructed by the escape at the end of the video.
Live performances
"Open Your Heart" has been featured as a full song in the set lists of two Madonna tours – 1987 Who's That Girl World TourWho's That Girl World Tour
The Who's That Girl World Tour is the second concert tour by American singer-songwriter Madonna. The tour supported her third studio album, True Blue , as well as the soundtrack Who's That Girl . It was Madonna's first world tour, reaching Asia, North America and Europe...
and 1990 Blond Ambition World Tour
Blond Ambition World Tour
The Blond Ambition World Tour was the third concert tour by American singer-songwriter, Madonna. The tour was launched in support of her fourth studio album, Like a Prayer, and the soundtrack, I'm Breathless. The tour reached North America, Europe and Asia. It was a highly controversial tour,...
. It served as the opening song on 1987 Who's That Girl Tour. It started off with then young dancer Chris Finch
Chris Finch
Chris Finch is a character in the BBC comedy show, The Office. He is played by Ralph Ineson.Finch is an outside sales representative for the paper merchant Wernham Hogg, in whose Slough office the show is set, and as such is frequently on the road...
, imitating Felix Howard from the video. Howard did not receive a working license for the tour hence Finch was taken for his part. He went on to become an integral part of most of the songs performed on the tour. After Finch, two other dancers are introduced, before Madonna herself appears on stage. She wore the same black pointy corset and fishnets as in the music video. She first sings the song alone, then Finch joins her again and they dance together till the song ends. Two different performances of the song on this tour can be found on the videos: Who's That Girl – Live in Japan, filmed in Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
, Japan, on June 22, 1987, and Ciao, Italia! – Live from Italy
Ciao, Italia! – Live from Italy
Ciao, Italia! – Live from Italy is a live music video by American singer-songwriter Madonna. Released by Warner Reprise Video on May 24, 1988, it contained a live performance from the 1987 Who's That Girl World Tour, filmed at Stadio Comunale in Turin, Italy on September 4, 1987 and in Florence,...
, filmed in Turin
Turin
Turin is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat...
, Italy, on September 4, 1987.
On the Blond Ambition World Tour
Blond Ambition World Tour
The Blond Ambition World Tour was the third concert tour by American singer-songwriter, Madonna. The tour was launched in support of her fourth studio album, Like a Prayer, and the soundtrack, I'm Breathless. The tour reached North America, Europe and Asia. It was a highly controversial tour,...
, "Open Your Heart" follows the opening number "Express Yourself". This time there's not a young boy but a hunky dancer watching from a distance as Madonna entered the stage with her hair stretched into a topknot and fake blond ponytail, which was replaced by short peroxide tangles in the European leg of the tour. She wore a double breasted suit with the outer jacket cut in slits so that the conical bra underneath could point through. Showing off the satin pink bodysuit and her monocle chain, Madonna proceeds to perform the song on a chair. Playing a dominatrix role, Madonna got on top of one of the dancers before carrying off an exhibitionist dance routine with the chair as a prop. Two different performances were taped and released on video, the Blond Ambition – Japan Tour 90, taped in Yokohama
Yokohama
is the capital city of Kanagawa Prefecture and the second largest city in Japan by population after Tokyo and most populous municipality of Japan. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of Tokyo, in the Kantō region of the main island of Honshu...
, Japan, on April 27, 1990, and the Live! – Blond Ambition World Tour 90, taped in Nice
Nice
Nice is the fifth most populous city in France, after Paris, Marseille, Lyon and Toulouse, with a population of 348,721 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Nice extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of more than 955,000 on an area of...
, France, on August 5, 1990.
The opening musical introduction
Introduction (music)
In music, the introduction is a passage or section which opens a movement or a separate piece. In popular music this is often abbreviated as intro...
of the song served as a brief twenty-six seconds musical interlude on the Drowned World Tour
Drowned World Tour
The Drowned World Tour was the fifth concert tour by American singer-songwriter Madonna in support of her seventh and eighth studio albums Ray of Light and Music. It was also her first tour in eight years, following The Girlie Show World Tour in 1993...
in 2001. As Madonna finished a performance of "Frozen
Frozen (song)
"Frozen" is a song by American singer-songwriter Madonna from her eight studio album Ray of Light. It was released as the lead single from the album on 23 February 1998 by Maverick Records...
" in the Geisha inspired segment of the show, she sat in a cross-legged position in front of the stage. The musical intro for "Open Your Heart" starts with a dancer in a Japanese costume dancing behind her on a raised podium. As the music ends, Madonna starts singing "Nobody's Perfect" from her 2000 album "Music
Music (Madonna album)
Music is the eighth studio album by American singer-songwriter Madonna, released on September 19, 2000 by Maverick Records and distributed by Warner Bros. Records...
". In 2008, Madonna sang the first verse and chorus for the first time in eighteen years at two dates – Las Vegas
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
and East Rutherford
East Rutherford, New Jersey
East Rutherford is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 8,913. It is an inner-ring suburb of New York City, located west of Midtown Manhattan....
– of her Sticky & Sweet Tour
Sticky & Sweet Tour
The Sticky & Sweet Tour was the eighth worldwide concert tour by American singer Madonna to promote her eleventh studio album, Hard Candy. It began in August 2008 and was Madonna's first tour from her new recording and business deal with Live Nation. The tour was announced in February 2008, with...
. Madonna forgot the lyrics at the Vegas show and refused to sing the song in Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
; she performed "Express Yourself" instead.
Cover versions
Despite being originally written in English, a Spanish version of the song titled "Abre Tu Corazón" was recorded by VenezuelaVenezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
n rock singer Melissa (born in Peru, Melissa moved to Venezuela at an early age), who released it in March 1986 on her "Melissa III" album. Considering Madonna first released the song on the "True Blue" album three months afterwards, Melissa's "Abre Tu Corazón" can be considered the first released version of the song, although it is possible that Madonna's version (for which she received a co-writer's credit) was recorded first. The Madonna tribute compilation Virgin Voices: A Tribute To Madonna, Vol. 2 contained a cover by the late Israeli singer Ofra Haza
Ofra Haza
Ofra Haza was an Israeli singer of Yemeni origin, an actress and international recording artist....
. An eurodance
Eurodance
Eurodance is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in the late 1980s or early 1990s primarily in Europe. It combines many elements from House, Techno, Hi-NRG and especially Italo-Disco...
version was recorded by the group Mad'House for the album "Absolutely Mad". A hi-NRG
Hi-NRG
Hi-NRG describes a form of high-tempo disco music as well as a genre of electronic dance music originating in the United States during the late 1970s...
dance version was recorded by Who's That Girl for the album Exposed, released through Almighty Records
Almighty Records
Almighty Records is a British recording label and remix production team founded in 1989, releasing their first single in the same year. Producing mainly Dance-Pop and Hi-NRG music, the label is best known for releasing remakes and remixes of mainstream pop songs...
. In 2004 Platinum Blonde NRG, Vol. 2: Nrgised Madonna Classics, a hi-NRG cover is performed by In-Deep. The song appears in the opening of the 2002 film Crossroads
Crossroads (2002 film)
Crossroads is a 2002 comedy-drama road film directed by Tamra Davis and starring American recording artist Britney Spears, Zoe Saldana and Taryn Manning...
. Britney Spears
Britney Spears
Britney Jean Spears is an American recording artist and entertainer. Born in McComb, Mississippi, and raised in Kentwood, Louisiana, Spears began performing as a child, landing acting roles in stage productions and television shows. She signed with Jive Records in 1997 and released her debut album...
' character lip syncs to the song in her room with a brush in her hand, pretending it's a microphone. A Madonna poster is visible during the scene. In 2010, the TV show Glee
Glee (TV series)
Glee is an American musical comedy-drama television series that airs on Fox in the United States, and on GlobalTV in Canada. It focuses on the high school glee club New Directions competing on the show choir competition circuit, while its members deal with relationships, sexuality and social issues...
covered it in the episode "The Power of Madonna
The Power of Madonna
"The Power of Madonna" is the 15th episode of the American television series Glee. The episode premiered on the Fox network on April 20, 2010...
" as a mash-up
Mashup (music)
A mashup or bootleg is a song or composition created by blending two or more pre-recorded songs, usually by overlaying the vocal track of one song seamlessly over the instrumental track of another...
with the song "Borderline
Borderline (song)
"Borderline" is a song by American pop singer Madonna from her self-titled debut album. It was released on February 15, 1984 as the fifth single from the album, by Sire Records. Written and composed by producer Reggie Lucas, the song received remix treatment from Madonna's then boyfriend John...
", performed by Cory Monteith
Cory Monteith
Cory Allan Monteith is a Canadian actor and musician, best known for his role of Finn Hudson on the Fox television series Glee.-Early life:...
and Lea Michele
Lea Michele
Lea Michele Sarfati , known professionally as Lea Michele, is an American actress and singer. Michele began working professionally as a child actress on Broadway in productions such as Ragtime and Les Misérables. She originated the role of Wendla in the musical Spring Awakening and currently plays...
.
Formats and track listing
- US 7" Single
- "Open Your Heart" – 4:12
- "White Heat" (LP Version) – 4:40
- US 12" Single / GER CD Maxi
- "Open Your Heart" (Extended Version) – 10:35
- "Open Your Heart" (Dub) – 6:43
- "White Heat" (LP Version) – 4:40
- UK 7" Single
- "Open Your Heart" (Remix) – 3:59
- "Lucky Star" (Edit) – 3:44
- UK 12" Single / UK Limited Edition 12" Picture Disc
- "Open Your Heart" (Extended Version) – 10:35
- "Open Your Heart" (Dub) – 6:43
- "Lucky Star" (Full-Length Version) – 5:33
- Rain 12" Picture Disc
- "Rain" (Radio Remix) – 4:33
- "Up Down Suite" (Dub) – 12:13
- "Open Your Heart" (LP Version) – 4:12
Credits and personnel
- MadonnaMadonna (entertainer)Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...
– vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
, background vocalsBacking vocalistA backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists... - Jonathan Moffett – drumDrumThe drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments, which is technically classified as the membranophones. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with the player's hands, or with a...
s - Paulinho da CostaPaulinho Da CostaPaulinho da Costa is a Brazilian percussionist born in Rio de Janeiro, considered one of the most recorded musicians of modern times. Playing over two hundred percussion instruments, he has participated in thousands of recording sessions, Grammy Award-winning albums, hit songs, soundtracks, radio...
– percussionPercussion instrumentA percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration... - David WilliamsDavid Williams (guitarist)David Williams was an American rhythm guitarist who performed and recorded with Michael Jackson, Madonna, Herbie Hancock and the Temptations, among others.-Career:...
– guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with... - Patrick LeonardPatrick LeonardPatrick Raymond Leonard is an American songwriter, keyboardist and music producer, known for his longtime collaboration with Madonna on many different recordings....
– keyboardsKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
Credits adapted from the album's liner notes.
Charts
| Chart (1986–87) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Kent Music Report Kent Music Report The Kent Music Report was a weekly record chart of Australian music singles and albums which was compiled by music enthusiast David Kent from May 1974 through to 1998... |
16 |
| Austrian Singles Chart Ö3 Austria Top 40 Ö3 Austria Top 40 is the name of the official Austrian singles chart, as well as the radio show which presents it, aired Fridays on Hitradio Ö3. The show presents the Austrian singles, ringtones and downloads chart. It premiered on 26 November 1968 as Disc Parade and was presented by Ernst Grissemann... |
18 |
| Belgian VRT Top 30 VRT Top 30 The VRT Top 30 or Radio 2 Top 30 is a Belgian record chart that runs on the VRT, more specifically on Radio 2. The list is the new version of the old BRT Top 30, that changed along with the media group's name in 1992.... |
4 |
| Canadian RPM Singles Chart RPM (magazine) RPM was a Canadian music industry publication that featured song and album charts for Canada. The publication was founded by Walt Grealis in February 1964, supported through its existence by record label owner Stan Klees. RPM ceased publication in November 2000.RPM stood for "Records, Promotion,... |
8 |
| Dutch Top 40 Dutch Top 40 The Dutch Top 40 is a weekly music chart, which started as the "Veronica Top 40", because the offshore radio station Radio Veronica was the first to introduce it. It remained "The Veronica Top 40" until 1974, when the station was forced to stop broadcasting... |
7 |
| French Singles Chart Syndicat National de l'Edition Phonographique The Syndicat national de l'édition phonographique is the inter-professional organization which protects the interests of the French record industry... |
24 |
| German Singles Chart Media Control Charts The official music charts in Germany are gathered and published by the company Media Control GfK International on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindustrie... |
17 |
| Irish Singles Chart Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association and compiled on behalf of the IRMA by Chart-Track. Chart rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through over-the-counter retail data captured... |
2 |
| Italian Singles Chart Federation of the Italian Music Industry The Federation of the Italian Music Industry is an umbrella organization that keeps track of virtually all aspects of the music recording industry in Italy.... |
6 |
| New Zealand Singles Chart Recording Industry Association of New Zealand The Recording Industry Association of New Zealand is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell music in New Zealand... |
12 |
| Swiss Singles Chart Swiss Music Charts The Swiss Music Charts are Switzerland's main music sales charts. The charts are a record of the highest-selling singles and albums in various genres in Switzerland.The Swiss Charts include:* Singles Top 75... |
11 |
| UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
4 |
| US Billboard Hot 100 Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
1 |
| US Hot Dance Music/Club Play | 1 |
Year-end chart
| Charts (1986) | Position |
|---|---|
| Canadian RPM Singles Chart | 68 |
| Italian Singles Chart | 62 |
| US Billboard Hot 100 | 30 |
| US Hot Dance Music/Club Play | 24 |