"Shape of My Heart" is a song by the Backstreet Boys, it was written and produced by Max Martin and Rami, and co-written by Lisa Miskovsky. It was released on October 3, 2000, as the lead single from the band's fourth studio album, Black & Blue. The song is also featured on The Hits - Chapter One. The song earned a Grammy Award nomination during the 44th Grammy Awards for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals.
Background[]
Due to the success of rival boy band NSYNC's album No Strings Attached selling over 2.4 million copies in its first week, there were high expectations from industry experts and fans that the Backstreet Boys' next album Black & Blue would break the first week sales of No Strings Attached. "Shape of My Heart" was widely anticipated as the lead single of Black & Blue, which would follow their previous singles "Quit Playing Games (With My Heart)", "Everybody (Backstreet's Back)", and "I Want It That Way".
Composition[]
"Shape of My Heart" is stated to be "the sound of a boy band becoming a group of men". It consists of a bubblegum chorus, a clean pop structure, along with various vocal harmonies from Max Martin's production. It also contains soft-pop guitar, low-key percussion, and a lyrical emphasis on the reflection of past mistakes.
The song is performed in D major with a key change to E major at the third chorus.
Critical reception[]
Craig Seymour of Entertainment Weekly gave the song a C- in his review, stating that the "mid-tempo ballad is more a joyless retread than a maturing makeover." Jason Lipshutz of Billboard considered the song to be a disappointment, stating that it was a muted mid-tempo reflection on mistakes and weaknesses, as well as being "miscast as a flashy comeback that would return serve against *NSYNC and hijack pop radio for months".
Chart performance[]
The song debuted at number 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States while reaching number 8 on the US Mainstream Top 40 chart. It also topped the charts in Canada, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, and Switzerland as well as the top 10 in several other countries.
Music video[]
The video's monochrome and blue-tinted style are inspired by "classic photography" to showcase the band's maturity in contrast to their earlier upbeat music videos.
Background[]
The music video for "Shape of My Heart" was directed by Matthew Rolston at the Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles. The entire video is shot in monochrome with a blue tint, creating a black and blue atmosphere about the album's name. Rolston was inspired by "classic photography", utilizing the blue tint to evoke earlier periods of photography, as well as showcasing a mature side of the band in place of their previous over-the-top videos. On MTV's Total Request Live the music video broke the Backstreet Boys' own record for the longest-running number-one song, which was previously held by "Larger than Life" (1999). The video spent 61 days at the top position. As of February 2020, the music video has over 172 million views on YouTube.
Synopsis[]
The video shows the Backstreet Boys rehearsing lines for a production titled The Shape of My Heart, printed on a script around an empty theater in places such as the backstage wall, and the stage. The actress (Sara Foster) and the actor (Ryan McTavish) rehearse on the stage while another couple watches from a desk in front of the audience. Each of the people introduced is also featured alongside the Backstreet Boys as they rehearse.
Lyrics[]
Trivia[]
- On MTV's Total Request Live the music video broke the Backstreet Boys' record for the longest-running number-one song, which was previously held by "Larger Than Life" (1999).
- The video spent 61 days at the top position. The song also earned a Grammy Award nomination during the 44th Grammy Awards for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals.
- This was featured on the 2001 compilation album, "Now That's What I Call Music! 6 (U.S. Series)"
- In the 2000s "Around the World in 100 Hours" Black & Blue promo trip, Backstreet Boys sang a cappella version of the song on every continent they landed on. In 2008, one of the song's writers, Lisa Miskovsky, released her version of the song, "Another Shape of My Heart" on her 2008 album Last Year's Songs: Greatest Hits.