About The Song
“Open Your Heart” is a song recorded by American singer Madonna from her third studio album True Blue (1986). Written by Gardner Cole and Peter Rafelson, it was conceived as a rock and roll song titled “Follow Your Heart” for singer Cyndi Lauper, although it was never played for her. At the time, Cole’s management was working with Madonna’s, who were looking for material for True Blue. “Follow Your Heart” was among the songs offered to the singer. She liked it and, alongside producer Patrick Leonard, turned it into a dance song, changed its title and re-wrote some of the lyrics, thus receiving a songwriting credit.
Lyrically, it’s an innuendo-laden love song where the singer expresses her determination and sexual desire for a man. In the United States, “Open Your Heart” was released as the fourth single from True Blue on November 12, 1986. Overseas, a release was issued on December 1. Besides positive critical feedback, it was Madonna’s fifth number one single in the US Billboard Hot 100. She became the second female artist –behind Whitney Houston– to score three number ones from one album. “Open Your Heart” also reached the top-ten of the charts in Canada, Belgium, Ireland, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom.
Directed by Jean-Baptiste Mondino, the song’s accompanying music video depicts Madonna as an exotic dancer at a peep show a little boy’s trying to sneak into. Seen as the singer’s first overtly sexual clip, it takes influence from Liza Minnelli’s performance in the 1972 film Cabaret. The visual received praise for presenting women as the dominant sex, but its sexual nature and plot of a child entering a strip joint received criticism. “Open Your Heart” has been performed on four of Madonna’s concert tours, the most recent being the Celebration Tour of 2023—2024. It has been covered by a handful of artists, and featured in movies and television series like Crossroads (2002) and Glee.
“Open Your Heart” was written by Gardner Cole and Peter Rafelson. Originally titled “Follow Your Heart”, it was conceived as a rock and roll song with singer Cyndi Lauper in mind, although she never even got to hear it. Band The Temptations was reportedly considered for the song as well. “Follow Your Heart” was inspired by a health-food restaurant Cole knew in Canoga Park, Los Angeles. Him and Rafelson then spent a year “perfecting” the track, even though they tended to work at a faster pace; “for some reason this didn’t really hit us as a hit song. We didn’t give up. We just kept working on it”, recalled Cole. A demo was recorded by the pair, which Tom Breihan from Stereogum described as a “pretty generic mid-’80s synth-rocker”. Benett Freed, who was Cole’s manager at the time, was working with Madonna’s team and offered them a handful of songs for the singer’s third studio album True Blue.
Video
Lyrics
Watch out!
I see you on the street and you walk on by
You make me wanna hang my head down and cry
If you gave me half a chance you’d see
My desire burning inside of me
But you choose to look the other way
I’ve had to work much harder than this
For something I want, don’t try to resist me
Open your heart to me, baby
I hold the lock and you hold the key
Open your heart to me, darlin’
I’ll give you love if you, you turn the key
I think that you’re afraid to look in my eyes
You look a little sad, boy, I wonder: why?
I follow you around but you can’t see
Too wrapped up in yourself to notice
So you choose to look the other way
Well, I’ve got something to say
Don’t try to run, I can keep up with you
Nothing can stop me from trying, you’ve got to
Open your heart to me, baby
I hold the lock and you hold the key
Open your heart to me, darlin’
I’ll give you love if you, you turn the key
Open your heart with the key
One is such a lonely number
Ah, ah, ah, ah
Open your heart, I’ll make you love me
It’s not that hard, if you just turn the key
Don’t try to run I can keep up with you
Nothing can stop me from trying, you’ve got to
Open your heart to me, baby
I hold the lock and you hold the key
Open your heart to me, darlin’
I’ll give you love if you, you turn the key
Open your heart with the key
Open your heart, I’ll make you love me