1993 single by Sting

"Shape of My Heart" is a song by British musician Sting, released in August 1993 by A&M Records as the fifth single from his fourth solo album, Ten Summoner`s Tales (1993). The song was written by Sting and 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 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 Sting 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]

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 said that it was merely a warm-up exercise, but he and Sting nonetheless spent the morning developing it into a structured musical composition and recording a demo. Sting then went for a walk while playing the demo on his headphones. He felt that the music told the story of a gambler, and returned with a set of lyrics to accompany the composition.[10]

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."[11] Anthony DeCurtis from Rolling Stone described the song as "brooding".[12] Andrew Collins from Select noted the "musty deck-of-cards symbolism in the otherwise pretty `Shape of My Heart`."[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"

Year-end chart performance for
"Shape of My Heart"

Certifications

Certifications and sales for "Shape of My Heart"