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