The Centre of the Heart

"The Centre of the Heart" is a song by Swedish pop music duo Roxette, released on 19 March 2001 as the lead single from their seventh studio album, Room Service. An uptempo pop song, it was written by Per Gessle and originally demoed in January 1998 during sessions for their previous album Have a Nice Day (1999). The single was backed by an exclusive B-side, "Entering Your Heart", along with several remixes by StoneBridge.

"The Centre of the Heart"
Single by Roxette
from the album Room Service
B-side"Entering Your Heart"
Released19 March 2001 (2001-03-19)
Recorded
  • January 1998
  • November 2000
Studio
GenrePop[1]
Length3:22
Label
  • Roxette Recordings
  • EMI
Songwriter(s)Per Gessle
Producer(s)
Roxette singles chronology
"Salvation"
(1999)		 "The Centre of the Heart"
(2001)		 "Real Sugar"
(2001)
Music video
"The Centre of the Heart" on YouTube

The track became one of the duo's biggest hits in their home country, spending four weeks on top of the Swedish Singles Chart. It also entered the top 10 in Romania and Spain and charted moderately in several other European territories. Longtime collaborator Jonas Åkerlund directed the song's music video, which was Roxette's most expensive and was criticised for negatively portraying women.[1]

Background and recording

The song was written by Per Gessle early in the development stages of Roxette's preceding studio album, Have a Nice Day (1999). It was first demoed in El Cortijo Studios in Marbella, Spain, in January 1998, and is the only track on Room Service to feature a co-production credit for Michael Ilbert.[2]

Release and promotion

The song is officially titled "The Centre of the Heart", although multiple promotional singles were issued which titled the track "The Centre of the Heart (Is a Suburb to the Brain)". Non-album track "Entering Your Heart" appears as a b-side on most editions of the single.[2] An extended version of the b-side, containing an extra verse, also appeared on Japanese editions of Room Service.[3] A maxi single was also issued, containing four remixes of the song by Swedish DJ StoneBridge, as well as an additional remix created by Jens Bjurman and Per Kalenius, titled the 'Yoga Remix'.[2]

Roxette debuted "The Centre of the Heart" live on 23 February during an interval at the Swedish Melodifestivalen 2001.[4] The song's music video was directed by longtime collaborator Jonas Åkerlund and was filmed over three days at The Madonna Inn in California.[5] It remains Roxette's most expensive music video to date, surpassing the budget of "Spending My Time" from their 1991 album, Joyride.[6]

Commercial performance

The song became one of the duo's biggest hits in their home country Sweden, topping the Sverigetopplistan chart for four consecutive weeks and being certified platinum by the Swedish Recording Industry Association for sales in excess of 30,000 copies.[7][8] It ended 2001 as the 14th-best-selling single in the country.[9] It was also a hit in Spain, topping the Spanish Airplay Chart and peaking at number seven on the national sales chart.[10][11] The single became a top-twenty hit in Finland, where it charted at number 13,[12] and peaked within the top thirty in Austria,[13] Belgium,[14] and Switzerland.[15] The track peaked at number 31 and spent nine weeks on the German Singles Chart.[16] It was not released as a single in Ireland or the United Kingdom.[2]

Track listings

All songs were written by Per Gessle.

  • CD single (Australia 8790312 · Europe 8791712)
  1. "The Centre of the Heart" – 3:22
  2. "Entering Your Heart" – 3:59
  • CD maxi – remixes (8792302)
  1. "The Centre of the Heart" – 3:22
  2. "The Centre of the Heart" (StoneBridge Club Mix Edit) – 3:37
  3. "The Centre of the Heart" (StoneBridge Club Mix) – 7:49
  4. "The Centre of the Heart" (Yoga Remix) – 3:29
  5. "The Centre of the Heart" (StoneBridge Peak Hour Dub) – 6:36
  6. "The Centre of the Heart" (StoneBridge More Vox Dub) – 6:36

Credits and personnel

Credits are adapted from the liner notes of The Pop Hits.[17]

Studios

  • Recorded at El Cortijo Studios (Marbella, Spain) in January 1998 and Atlantis and Polar Studios (Stockholm, Sweden) in November 2000
  • Mixed at Polar Studios (Stockholm, Sweden)

Musicians

Charts

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Sweden (GLF)[8] Platinum 30,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Release history
Region Date Format(s) Label(s) Ref.
Europe 19 February 2001 Radio
  • Roxette Recordings
  • EMI
 [24]
19 March 2001 CD
Australia 30 April 2001 [25]

References
  1. "Sweden's hot music talent for 2001" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 18, no. 21. 19 May 2001. p. 12. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
  2. Thorselius, Robert (May 2003). The Look for Roxette: The Illustrated Worldwide Discography & Price Guide (1st ed.). Sweden: Premium Förlag Publishing. ISBN 978-9197189484.
  3. "Roxette – Entering Your Heart". Roxette.co. Retrieved 10 August 2017.
  4. "Melodifestivalen har hippat till sig" [Melody Festival Is Hip Again]. Aftonbladet (in Swedish). 20 February 2001. Retrieved 10 August 2017.
  5. Williamson, Nigel (3 February 2001). "Global Music Pulse | The Latest Music News From Around The Planet". Billboard. Vol. 113, no. 5. Nielsen Holdings PLC. p. 71. ISSN 0006-2510.
  6. Ballad & Pop Hits - The Complete Video Collection (DVD liner notes). Roxette. EMI. 2003. 7243 4 90946 9 7.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  7. "Roxette – The Centre of the Heart". Singles Top 100. Retrieved 9 August 2017.
  8. "Guld- och Platinacertifikat − År 2001" (PDF) (in Swedish). IFPI Sweden. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 May 2011. Retrieved 9 August 2017.
  9. "Årslista Singlar, 2001" (in Swedish). Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
  10. Salaverri, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
  11. "Roxette – The Centre of the Heart" Canciones Top 50. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
  12. "Roxette: The Centre of the Heart" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat. Retrieved 9 August 2017.
  13. "Roxette – The Centre of the Heart" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved 9 August 2017.
  14. "Roxette – The Centre of the Heart" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 9 August 2017.
  15. "Roxette – The Centre of the Heart". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved 9 August 2017.
  16. "Roxette – The Centre of the Heart" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved 9 August 2017.
  17. Lindström, Sven (2003). The Pop Hits (CD liner notes). Roxette. Capitol Records. 72435 8215-0 1.
  18. "Roxette chart history, received from ARIA on 1 February 2022". ARIA. Retrieved 2 August 2022 – via Imgur. N.B. The High Point number in the NAT column represents the release's peak on the national chart.
  19. "Roxette – The Centre of the Heart" (in French). Ultratip. Retrieved 9 August 2017.
  20. "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 18, no. 17. 21 April 2001. p. 11. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
  21. "Roxette – The Centre of the Heart". Top Digital Download. Retrieved 9 August 2017.
  22. "Roxette – The Centre of the Heart" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 9 August 2017.
  23. "Romanian Top 100 | Top of the Year: 2001". Romanian Top 100. Nielsen Audio. Archived from the original on 9 December 2002. Retrieved 23 August 2017.
  24. Lofthus, Kai R. (24 March 2001). "It's service as usual from Roxette" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 18, no. 13. p. 14. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
  25. "The ARIA Report: ARIA New Releases Singles – Week Commencing 30th April 2001" (PDF). ARIA. 30 April 2001. p. 24. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 February 2002. Retrieved 20 April 2021.
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