"The Way We Make a Broken Heart" is a song written by John Hiatt

John Hiatt

John Hiatt is an American rock guitarist, pianist, singer, and songwriter. He has played a variety of musical styles on his albums, including New Wave, blues and country. Hiatt has been nominated for several Grammy Awards - although he has never won- and has been awarded a variety of other...

. It was recorded by Ry Cooder

Ry Cooder

Ryland Peter "Ry" Cooder is an American guitarist, singer and composer. He is known for his slide guitar work, his interest in roots music from the United States, and, more recently, his collaborations with traditional musicians from many countries.His solo work has been eclectic, encompassing...

 in 1980 on his album Borderline

Borderline (Ry Cooder album)

Borderline is a 1980 album by Ry Cooder and was released on the Warner Bros. label.- Side one :# "634-5789" – 2:56# "Speedo" – 3:20# "Why Don't You Try Me" – 4:54...

. "The Way We Make a Broken Heart" was covered by both John Hiatt and Rosanne Cash

Rosanne Cash

Rosanne Cash is an American singer-songwriter and author. She is the eldest daughter of the late country music singer Johnny Cash and his first wife, Vivian Liberto Cash Distin....

 in 1983 as a duet. The single was produced by Scott Mathews

Scott Mathews

.Scott Mathews is a multi-platinum selling music producer, composer, multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, and entrepreneur.-Early Days:...

 and Ron Nagle, however, Geffen Records did not release the single. Willy DeVille

Willy DeVille

Willy DeVille was an American singer and songwriter. During his thirty-five year career, first with his band Mink DeVille and later on his own, Deville created original songs rooted in traditional American musical styles. He worked with collaborators from across the spectrum of contemporary...

performed this song twice in Berlin 2002; once in an unplugged version and once with his electric band. This is documented on his 2002 album Live in Berlin.

1987 recording

• Rosanne Cash re-recorded the song in 1987 and it went all the way to number one on the US country charts where it became her sixth single to go to number one .

Chart performance

Chart (1987)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles	1
Canadian RPM Country Tracks	1