"Shape of My Heart" is a song by British musician Sting, released in August 1993 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]
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][10]
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.[11]
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."[12]Rolling Stone described the song as "brooding".[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.
^Sting; Miller, Dominic (18 November 2021). "The Sting Interview". Interviewed by Rick Beato. YouTube. Retrieved 5 June 2023. Relevant content occurs at 5:56-8:37.
