"
Give Your Heart a Break" is a song by American singer
Demi Lovato for her third studio album
Unbroken (2011). It was released on January 23, 2012 by
Hollywood Records, as the second and final single from the album. The song was written and produced by
Josh Alexander and
Billy Steinberg. "Give Your Heart a Break" incorporates
drums,
violin and
strings. The latter two, according to music critics, are reminiscent of those used in
Coldplay's "
Viva la Vida". Lyrically, the song chronicles the protagonist's attempt to win over her lover who has been hurt in a previous relationship and is fearful of committing again.
Music critics mostly praised the production and Lovato's vocals. The single debuted at number 72 on the
Billboard Hot 100 and peaked at number 16 on the chart, as well as reaching number one on
Billboard Pop Songs chart. The song has debuted at number 22 in New Zealand and has peaked at number nine, marking the first time Lovato had two top 10 singles from one album in the country.
Background[edit]
Originally, it was announced the second single from the album "Who's That Boy" (featuring
Dev), but later was scrapped due to Dev's pregnancy. "Give Your Heart a Break" was written and produced by Josh Alexander and
Billy Steinberg, who are known for their work on
The Veronicas' sophomore studio album,
Hook Me Up, as well as
JoJo's "
Too Little Too Late".
[2][3] Alexander is credited with having a bigger hand in the song's production, handling all the instruments while programming, recording and engineering the song.
[2] Chris Garcia shared engineering credits with Alexander while Scott Roewe is credited with providing logic and pro tools technology.
[2]According to
MTV, Lovato explained that despite the play on the word "heartbreak" in the title, the song is about the exact opposite. "Last year I began working on a song about a different kind of love," she said. "It's a song about showing someone you love that you're the one right in front of them. This is a song about faith."
[4]
Composition[edit]
"Give Your Heart a Break" is three minutes and twenty-five seconds long.
[5] The song uses the instruments such as the
suspenseful strings[4] that sounds similar to that used in
Coldplay's "
Viva la Vida".
[3] According to the digital music sheet published at Musicnotes.com by Kobalt Music Publishing America, Inc., "Give Your Heart a Break" is written in the key of
G♭ major.
[5] It is set in common time and has a moderate tempo of 123 beats per minute.
[5] The song follows the chord progression of C
♭2–G
♭–A
♭m
7 (add 4)–D
♭. Lovato's vocals span over two octaves, from E
♭3 to F
♯5.
[5]
Reception[edit]
Critical reception[edit]
Joe DeAndrea of
AbsolutePunk praised "Mistake" and "Give Your Heart a Break" as ballads going "far and beyond anything in Lovato's prior arsenal. It sets a mark as to what should be expected from similar artists such as her, but in the process, distancing herself from being grouped with them becoming a solo entity."
[6] Jason Scott of the
Seattle Post-Intelligencer noted that the song, along with "Mistake" and "Hold Up", feature "electrically forceful instrumentation".
[7] Jocelyn Vena of
MTV complimented it as a smart
dance song, along with "Hold Up".
[4]
In another extensive review, Laurence Green from
musicOMH praised the track, calling it an "exceptionally brilliant track," while commenting that she "becomes the true pop heroine; backed up by infinitely bigger, better choruses."
[8] Sam Lansky, a writer and editor for MTV's Buzzworthy Blog, lauded the recording for presenting Lovato's vocals as a masterpiece and praised the production as "superb".
[3]
Chart performance[edit]
The song peaked
Billboard Hot 100 at number 16, making Lovato's fifth highest peaking song.
[9] Also, it has peaked at number 12 on the US
Adult Top 40 chart and number 1 on the US
Pop Songs chart. It also reached number 16 on the US
Adult Contemporary chart and at number 21 on the US
Digital Songs chart. In Belgium (
Ultratop 50 Flanders), the song peaked at number 32, her first appearance and highest position on the chart and spent nine weeks on the chart. In New Zealand, the song debuted at number 33, her third song to chart on the top 40 and has so far peaked at number 9, marking the first time Lovato had two Top 10 singles from one album in the country. In April 2014, the song was certified three-times platinum by the
RIAA; as of October 2014, it has sold 2.1 million digital copies.
[10]
Music video[edit]
A collage of a photo of Lovato and on-screen love interest (Alex Bechet), created from other smaller images of the pair.
The music video for "Give Your Heart a Break" was filmed in late February 2012 and was directed by
Justin Francis. It was premiered on
E!on April 2, 2012. According to Lovato about "the new music video, I'm basically trying to convince a guy that I didn't break his heart, and we get into a fight and I try to win him over again" and "So I do something special for him at the end of the song".
[4]
The music video begins with Lovato and her boyfriend (portrayed by Alex Bechet) having an argument over the phone. After hanging up, she starts to recollect pictures and remember the memories of them together. Later, she walks to a place where her boyfriend in an apartment and pasting the photos collected by her on a wall. Each picture has a memory behind it, which is recounted by her. Lovato's boyfriend looks out the window as he sees a large collage of pictures, depicting a picture of them smiling. The video ends as Lovato walks away, as she turns around and smiles, confident that her plan has worked.
A lyric video was released on March 20, 2012, which features Lovato is sitting on the swing and writing the lyrics in a journal, right next to a
waterfall and
firepit, presumably writing her thoughts in the form of the song. At the end of the video, Lovato closes her journal and leaves it on the swing.
The music video in YouTube has 280 million views as of June 17, 2017.
[11]
Live performances[edit]
On December 31, 2011, Lovato promoted the song at the
MTV New Year's Eve's concert, which she co-hosted with
Tyler Posey.
[12] Lovato performed the song at the
People's Choice Awards on January 11, 2012, where she also received the "Best Pop Artist" award afterwards.
[13] On March 6, 2012, Lovato sang the single on
Today.
[14] On March 15, 2012, Lovato performed the single from the top eleven results of
American Idol season 11.
[15] The song was included on Lovato's set list for a free concert on July 6, 2012 as part of
Good Morning America's Summer Concert Series.
[16] Lovato performed the song at the
2012 MTV Video Music Awards pre-show on September 6, 2012.
[17] On September 25, 2012, Lovato performed the song on
Katie Couric's talk show
Katie.
[18][19] Lovato performed the song at the
VH1 Divas 2012, with the theme dance party on December 16, 2012.
[20][21]Lovato performed the song with
Fifth Harmony on the second-season finale of
The X Factor on December 19, 2012.
[22] Lovato performed the song along with "
Heart Attack" and "
Neon Lights" at the
2nd Indonesian Choice Awards on May 24, 2015.
Credits and personnel[edit]
Awards and nominations[edit]
Track listings[edit]
1. | "Give Your Heart a Break" |
|
| 3:25 |
2. | "Give Your Heart a Break" (Instrumental) |
| | 3:25 |
3. | "Give Your Heart a Break" (The Alias Radio Edit) |
| | 3:43 |
1. | "Give Your Heart a Break" |
|
| 3:25 |
1. | "Give Your Heart a Break" |
|
| 3:25 |
2. | "Give Your Heart a Break" (The Alias Club Mix) |
| | 5:58 |
3. | "Aftershock" |
| Dreamlab | 3:10 |
4. | "Yes I Am" |
| Dapo | 3:01 |
5. | "Give Your Heart a Break" (Instrumental) |
| | 3:25 |
Charts and certifications[edit]
Weekly charts[edit]
|
Certifications[edit]
Since May 2013 RIAA certifications for digital singles include on-demand audio and/or video song streams in addition to downloads.[46]
Year-end charts[edit]
|
Release history[edit]
Country | Date | Format |
United States | January 23, 2012 | Hot/Modern/AC radio[52] |
January 24, 2012 | Top 40/Mainstream radio[53] |
Europe | April 4, 2012 | Digital EP[54] |
United Kingdom | May 14, 2012 | Digital download[55] |
United States | December 11, 2012 | DJ Mike D Digital Remix[56]
|
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