Wikipedia

Achy Breaky Heart

Not to be confused with Achin', Breakin' Heart.
For the Filipino film of a similar name, see The Achy Breaky Hearts.

"Achy Breaky Heart" is a song written in 1990 by Don Von Tress. First released in 1991 by the Marcy Brothers with the title "Don't Tell My Heart", it was later recorded by American singer and actor Billy Ray Cyrus and released on his debut album, Some Gave All (1992). The song is Cyrus's debut single and signature song. It became the first single ever to achieve triple platinum status in Australia[2] and also 1992's best-selling single in the same country.[3][4] In the United States, it became a crossover hit on pop and country radio, peaking at No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and topping the Hot Country Songs chart, becoming the first country single to be certified platinum since "Islands in the Stream" by Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton in 1983.[5] The single topped in several countries, and after being featured on Top of the Pops in the United Kingdom, peaked at No. 3 on the UK Singles Chart. It was Cyrus's biggest hit single in the U.S. until he was featured on "Old Town Road" by rapper Lil Nas X, which peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 27 years later.[6]

"Achy Breaky Heart"
Single by Billy Ray Cyrus
from the album Some Gave All
ReleasedMarch 23, 1992
RecordedNovember 1991
GenreCountry[1]
Length3:23
Label
Songwriter(s)Don Von Tress
Producer(s)
Billy Ray Cyrus singles chronology
"Achy Breaky Heart"
(1992) 		"Could've Been Me"
(1992)
Music video
"Achy Breaky Heart" on YouTube

The music video for the song led to the explosion of the line dance into the mainstream.[7][8][9] The song is considered by some as one of the worst songs of all time, featuring at No. 2 on VH1 and Blender's list of the "50 Most Awesomely Bad Songs Ever".[10]

Background

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Achy Breaky Heart was written by amateur songwriter Don Von Tress from Cypress Inn, Tennessee, in 1990, according to him "just fooling around on the guitar and a drum machine".[11]

The song was initially to be recorded by the Oak Ridge Boys in the early 1990s, but the group decided against recording it after lead singer Duane Allen said that he disliked the words "achy breaky".[12] It was then recorded in 1991 under the title "Don't Tell My Heart" by the Marcy Brothers, although their version changed some lyrics.

Billy Ray Cyrus heard Von Tress's version of the song, and chose to include it on his debut album Some Gave All in 1992. It is written in the key of A major and has only two chords: A and E.

Critical reception

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J.D. Considine from The Baltimore Sun wrote, "It would be hard to think of a more perfect example of how contemporary country has co-opted the sound of rock 'n' roll than Billy Ray Cyrus's single, "Achy Breaky Heart". Between the down-home twang of the vocal and the foot-tapping insistence of the boogie guitar licks, it has no trouble walking the line between Southern rock and Nashville sentimentality."[13] A review from Cash Box magazine was also positive, stating that "The song is good, but it is his performance that will keep you wired."[14] Paul Mathur from Melody Maker said it's like "a country record done by an Eskimo."[15] Parry Gettelman from Orlando Sentinel felt it "has a catchy melody but the kind you wish were a lot less catchy. It sticks in your mind like a commercial jingle. The song also is annoyingly full of arch puns."[16]

The song reached No. 23 on CMT's 100 Greatest Videos in 2008, No. 2 on VH1's 50 Most Awesomely Bad Songs, and Blender magazine's 50 Worst Songs Ever.[10] In 2002, Shelly Fabian from About.com ranked the song No. 249 on the list of the Top 500 Country Music Songs.[17] In 2007, the song was ranked at No. 87 on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of the '90s.[18]

Despite its initially negative critical reviews, the song has become a cult classic. For his 2017 album Set the Record Straight, Cyrus recorded an updated version of the song.[19] Members of the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section participated in the recording Rolling Stone called "more faithful to songwriter Don Von Tress's swampy demo."[20]

Music video

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Two very similar versions of the video for the song exist. Directed by Marc Ball, it was filmed during a live performance at the Paramount Arts Center in Ashland, Kentucky. The version released to country stations begins with a shot of the theater and ends with extended applause from the audience. The version released to MTV (which is the version found on Cyrus's YouTube account), begins with Cyrus exiting a limo, and the ending cheer from the audience is much shorter.

Notable covers and parodies

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Alvin and the Chipmunks covered the song in 1992 on Chipmunks in Low Places. This version, which features speaking parts by Cyrus, reached No. 71 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, becoming their first entry on any Billboard chart in 32 years.[21] In the United Kingdom, this version peaked at No. 53 in late December 1992,[22] while in Australia, it reached No. 61 in early 1993.[23]

"Weird Al" Yankovic parodied the song on his album Alapalooza as "Achy Breaky Song", in which he pleads with the DJ not to play Billy Ray Cyrus's "Achy Breaky Heart" anymore; he can tolerate ABBA, Village People, New Kids on the Block, even Slim Whitman and Yoko Ono, but he'll really go bonkers if he has to hear "Achy Breaky Heart" once more.

In 2014, rapper Buck 22 released a hip-hop version of the song with Cyrus called "Achy Breaky 2", in which Cyrus reprised his role for the chorus. While Cyrus does never explicitly say the song is a parody, the lyrics and accompanying video clearly make several references to daughter Miley's bad-girl image at the time, with Billy Ray noting in a Rolling Stone article that he "[hopes] that she got to read the one critic who wrote that the video made her performance at the VMAs look like Sesame Street".[24]

A Spanish version of the song, called "No rompas más (mi pobre corazón)" (also known as "No rompas mi corazón") was made by Eduardo Gameros, singer and violinist of Mexican country music group Caballo Dorado, in 1994. The song is often paired at parties with other of their songs, "Payaso de rodeo".[25] A mixed language (English and Spanish) duet version by Cyrus and Caballo Dorado celebrated the 25th anniversary of the song in 2017.[26][27]

In 1999, Tom Smith recorded a parody "Telly Taley Heart", whose lyrics humorously retell Edgar Allan Poe's 1843 short story The Tell-Tale Heart, about a murderer trying to conceal the still-beating heart of his victim.[28]

Usage in sports

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Supporters of many UK football clubs have used chants based on the tune of the song, including West Ham United (about Dimitri Payet), Arsenal F.C. (about Mesut Özil), Newcastle United F.C.,[29] Tottenham Hotspur (about Dele Alli),[30] Cardiff City F.C. (about Malky Mackay),[31] Celtic F.C. and Manchester United F.C. (about Park Ji-sung).[29] It has also been adapted as "Don't Take Me Home", which has been sung by the supporters of several national football teams, including England, Wales, the Republic of Ireland and Sweden. The chant was particularly associated with Wales's run to the semi-finals of UEFA Euro 2016,[32] and lent its name to Don't Take Me Home, a documentary film about the team's performances at that tournament.[33]

Track listings

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Charts

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Cyrus's version of the song spent five weeks at the top of the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts in 1992. This was the longest time spent at the top of that chart by a debut single since "Skip a Rope" by Henson Cargill in 1967, and the last until "Austin" by Blake Shelton in 2001.[34]

Billy Ray Cyrus version

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Certifications

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Region Certification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[55] 2× Platinum 140,000^
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[67] Gold 45,000‡
New Zealand (RMNZ)[68] Platinum 10,000*
United Kingdom (BPI)[69] Silver 200,000^
United States (RIAA)[70] Platinum 1,000,000^

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

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  1. ^ Berger, Arion (January 29, 1997). "Some Gave All Review". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on July 26, 2008. Retrieved March 12, 2023. Kentucky hunk Billy Ray Cyrus, unsanctioned by Nashville or New York, has finally made the country single that pop audiences want to hear. And what a single it is: "Achy Breaky Heart" matches earnest breakup anguish with loony bemusement in a C&W; tradition that's only hairs away from novelty – redeemed in this case by the song's boogie-billy instrumentation.
  2. ^ "The ARIA Australian Top 100 Singles Chart – Week Ending 31 Jan 1993 and 7 Feb 1993 (1–60)". Imgur.com (original document published by ARIA). Retrieved August 30, 2017. N.B. The triangle symbol indicates platinum certification, with the number beside it indicating the level of platinum achieved. Both "Achy Breaky Heart" and Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You" were certified triple platinum during the same week.
  3. ^ Hurst, Jack (July 4, 1993). "Achy Breaky Start Bruised by the Critics, Billy Ray Cyrus is Coming Back For More". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved July 25, 2010.[dead link‍]
  4. ^ "ARIA Charts — End Of Year Charts — Top 50 Singles 1992". ARIA. Archived from the original on July 28, 2010. Retrieved July 25, 2010.
  5. ^ Cyrus Goes Triple-Platinum; Brooks Breaks 8 million. Billboard. August 15, 1992. Retrieved August 5, 2010.
  6. ^ "Top 100 Songs". Billboard. Retrieved August 16, 2019.
  7. ^ "Line dancing refuses to go out of style". Star-News. October 30, 1992. Retrieved August 12, 2010.[permanent dead link‍]
  8. ^ "Stepping to country fun". The Gazette (Cedar Rapids-Iowa City). April 17, 1993. Retrieved August 12, 2010.
  9. ^ "Cyrus sets off dance craze". The Daily Courier. July 25, 1994. Retrieved August 12, 2010. [dead link‍]
  10. ^ a b "VH1 & Blender Magazine Present: 50 Most Awesomely Bad Songs ... Ever". Archived at PR Newswire. VH1, Blender. May 12, 2004. Archived from the original on August 30, 2017. Retrieved June 2, 2013.
  11. ^ Shults, Lynn (May 30, 1992). "Country Corner". Billboard.
  12. ^ "The Ones That Got Away". Country Weekly. April 6, 2009.
  13. ^ Considine, J.D. (1992). "Billy Ray Cyrus – Some Gave All". The Baltimore Sun. – via Milwaukee Journal. (June 14, 1992).
  14. ^ "Feature Picks" (PDF). Cash Box: 19. March 28, 1992.
  15. ^ Mathur, Paul (July 4, 1992). "Singles". Melody Maker. p. 29. Retrieved February 19, 2023.
  16. ^ Gettelman, Parry (June 12, 1992). "Billy Ray Cyrus". Orlando Sentinel.
  17. ^ Fabian, Shelly (2002). "Top 500 Country Music Songs". About.com. Archived from the original on February 12, 2007. Retrieved March 14, 2007.
  18. ^ "100 Greatest Songs of the '90s". Music News — VH1 Music. Archived from the original on February 14, 2012. Retrieved October 27, 2014.
  19. ^ Howard, Michael (February 12, 2014). "Nothing Will Prepare You for Billy Ray Cyrus' 'Achy Breaky Heart' Sequel". ABC News.
  20. ^ Hudak, Joseph (April 28, 2017). "Billy Ray Cyrus Changes Name to 'Cyrus,' Re-Records 'Achy Breaky Heart'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved August 30, 2021.
  21. ^ a b "The Chipmunks Chart History (Hot Country Songs)". Billboard.
  22. ^ a b "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved January 15, 2021.
  23. ^ a b "The ARIA Australian Top 100 Singles Chart – Week Ending 14 Feb 1993 (61–100)". ARIA. Retrieved August 30, 2017 – via Imgur). N.B. The HP column displays the highest peak reached.
  24. ^ Grow, Kory (February 14, 2014). "Billy Ray Cyrus Explains 'Achy Breaky 2'". Rolling Stone.
  25. ^ ""No rompas más": el origen de una de las canciones más bailadas en fiestas mexicanas y su relación con Miley Cyrus". Infobae (in Spanish). January 28, 2023. Archived from the original on January 5, 2024. Retrieved January 5, 2024.
  26. ^ "Caballo Dorado y Billy Ray Cyrus graban a dueto 'No rompas más'". Excelsior (in Spanish). May 4, 2017. Archived from the original on January 5, 2024. Retrieved January 5, 2024.
  27. ^ "Billy Ray Cyrus, Caballo Dorado team for Achy Breaky Spanish remake". The Tennessean. May 3, 2017. Archived from the original on January 5, 2024. Retrieved January 5, 2024.
  28. ^ Telly Taley Heart lyrics.
  29. ^ a b Corking, Graham (February 7, 2016). "We've found the origin of the song West Ham and Arsenal fans are arguing over". HITC.com. Retrieved June 20, 2021.
  30. ^ Mannion, Damian (April 19, 2016). "Tottenham Hotspur FC: Video of fans' Dele Alli song – 'I just don't think you understand'". talkSPORT. Retrieved March 14, 2024.
  31. ^ Rogers, Gareth (November 24, 2013). "Cardiff City fans send 'Don't sack Malky Mackay' warning to owner Vincent Tan". Walesonline. Retrieved June 20, 2021.
  32. ^ Dutton, Tom (October 6, 2017). "'Don't take me home' - Wales fans head to Georgia dreaming of 2018 World Cup spot". standard.co.uk. Retrieved June 20, 2021.
  33. ^ Cochrane, Greg (March 2, 2017). "'Don't Take Me Home' – Film Review". nme.com. Retrieved June 20, 2021.
  34. ^ "Singles minded" (PDF). Billboard. September 8, 2001. p. 85.
  35. ^ "Billy Ray Cyrus – Achy Breaky Heart". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved May 25, 2011.
  36. ^ "Billy Ray Cyrus – Achy Breaky Heart" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved May 25, 2011.
  37. ^ "Billy Ray Cyrus – Achy Breaky Heart" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved March 5, 2018.
  38. ^ "Top RPM Singles: Issue 2022." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. July 25, 1992. Retrieved August 15, 2013.
  39. ^ "Top RPM Adult Contemporary: Issue 2004." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. July 25, 1992. Retrieved August 15, 2013.
  40. ^ "Top RPM Country Tracks: Issue 2170." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. June 27, 1992. Retrieved August 15, 2013.
  41. ^ "Top 10 Sales in Europe" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 10, no. 2. January 9, 1993. p. 12. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
  42. ^ "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 9, no. 37. September 12, 1992. p. 15. Retrieved January 15, 2021.
  43. ^ "Billy Ray Cyrus – Achy Breaky Heart" (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved May 25, 2011.
  44. ^ "Billy Ray Cyrus – Achy Breaky Heart" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved October 15, 2018.
  45. ^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Achy Breaky Heart". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved January 15, 2020.
  46. ^ "Nederlandse Top 40 – Billy Ray Cyrus" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40.
  47. ^ "Billy Ray Cyrus – Achy Breaky Heart" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved January 15, 2021.
  48. ^ "Billy Ray Cyrus – Achy Breaky Heart". Top 40 Singles.
  49. ^ "Billy Ray Cyrus – Achy Breaky Heart". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved May 25, 2011.
  50. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved June 13, 2011.
  51. ^ "Billy Ray Cyrus Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved May 25, 2011.
  52. ^ "Billy Ray Cyrus Chart History (Adult Contemporary)". Billboard. Retrieved May 25, 2011.
  53. ^ "Billy Ray Cyrus Chart History (Hot Country Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved May 25, 2011.
  54. ^ Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010. Mt. Martha, VIC, Australia: Moonlight Publishing.
  55. ^ a b "ARIA Top 100 Singles for 1992". ARIA. Retrieved January 15, 2021.
  56. ^ "Jaaroverzichten 1992" (in Dutch). Ultratop. Retrieved January 15, 2021.
  57. ^ "The RPM Top 100 Hit Tracks of 1992" (PDF). RPM. Vol. 56, no. 25. December 19, 1992. p. 8. Retrieved January 15, 2021.
  58. ^ "The RPM Top 100 Adult Contemporary tracks of 1992". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. December 19, 1992. Retrieved January 15, 2021.
  59. ^ "The RPM Top 100 Country tracks of 1992". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. December 19, 1992. Retrieved January 15, 2021.
  60. ^ "1992 Year-End Sales Charts – Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 9, no. 51/52. December 19, 1992. p. 17. Retrieved January 15, 2021.
  61. ^ "Top 100 Singles–Jahrescharts 1992" (in German). GfK Entertainment. Retrieved January 15, 2021.
  62. ^ "End of Year Charts 1992". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved January 15, 2021.
  63. ^ "Year End Charts: Top Singles". Music Week. January 16, 1993. p. 8.
  64. ^ "Billboard Year End listing for "Achy Breaky Heart"". Billboard. December 31, 1992. Archived from the original on July 20, 2009. Retrieved April 25, 2009.
  65. ^ "Best of 1992: Country Songs". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. 1992. Retrieved August 15, 2013.
  66. ^ Lwin, Nanda. "Top 100 singles of the 1990s". Jam!. Archived from the original on August 29, 2000. Retrieved March 26, 2022.
  67. ^ "Danish single certifications – Billy Ray Cyrus – Achy Breaky Heart". IFPI Danmark. Retrieved September 27, 2023.
  68. ^ "New Zealand single certifications – Billy Ray Cyrus – Achy Breaky Heart". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved April 22, 2020.[dead link‍]
  69. ^ "British single certifications – Billy Ray Cyrus – Achy Breaky Heart". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved February 3, 2021.
  70. ^ "American single certifications – Billy Ray Cyrus – Achy Breaky Heart". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved April 22, 2020.
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