Cold Hearted
1989 single by Paula Abdul
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"Cold Hearted" is a song by American singer Paula Abdul, released in June 1989 as the fifth single from her debut album, Forever Your Girl (1988). It was written and co-produced by Elliot Wolff and reached number one on the US Billboard Hot 100, becoming the album's third song to top the US chart.
| "Cold Hearted" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ||||
| Single by Paula Abdul | ||||
| from the album Forever Your Girl | ||||
| B-side | "One or the Other" | |||
| Released | June 2, 1989 | |||
| Studio | JHL Sound (Pacific Palisades, California)[1] | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 3:51 | |||
| Label | Virgin | |||
| Songwriter | Elliot Wolff | |||
| Producer | Elliot Wolff | |||
| Paula Abdul singles chronology | ||||
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| Music video | ||||
| "Cold Hearted" on YouTube | ||||
Composition
"Cold Hearted" is written in the key of G minor and follows a tempo of 122 beats per minute. The song follows a chord progression of Gm – E♭maj7 – Dm7, and Abdul's vocals span one-and-a-half octaves, from F3 to B♭4.[4]
Critical reception
Paul Lester from Melody Maker wrote, "'Cold Hearted' has been fabulously cluttered up and fleshed out by Chad Jackson, weighed down with details yet buoyed up by a deliciously light, slippery beat. Simply irresistible."[5]
Chart performance
"Cold Hearted" topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart for one week in September 1989, giving Abdul her third US number-one single.[6] "Cold Hearted" was ranked sixth on Billboard's Year-End Hot 100 ranking of 1989.[7] It spent a total of 21 weeks within the Billboard Hot 100.[6] In Canada, "Cold Hearted" peaked at number one according to The Record magazine and number two according to RPM magazine, while in Finland, in entered the top 20.[8][9][10]
Music video
The official music video for "Cold Hearted" was directed by David Fincher and spent more than three weeks on top of MTV's video rotation list. It uses the album version of the song, with the rap section from the extended 12" version spliced in after the 3rd chorus. The inspiration for the video came from Bob Fosse's choreography of the "Take Off with Us" scene in the movie All That Jazz.[11] Abdul dances for music executives with a group of semi-nude dancers. Abdul was wearing a black fishnet dress which exposed her belly button and was sporting a hat of the German "Kriegsmarine". The dance floor included scaffolding where Abdul and her dancers hang and dance suggestively. The video was filmed in Downtown Los Angeles where Christina Aguilera's music video for "What a Girl Wants" would also be filmed at.[12]
The video and its "late-'80s energy" served as a visual inspiration for the music video of Ariana Grande's 2024 single "Yes, And?".[13]
Track listings
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Non-UK 7-inch and cassette single[14][15]
US 12-inch single[16]
Canadian, European, and Australian 12-inch single[17][18][19]
Japanese maxi-CD single[20]
|
Japanese mini-CD single[21]
UK 7-inch and cassette single[22][23]
UK 12-inch single[24]
UK 12-inch picture disc[25]
UK CD single[26]
|
Personnel
- Paula Abdul: Vocals
- Dann Huff: Guitars
- Elliot Wolff: Keyboards, synthesizers, drum programming
Production
- Arranged and produced by Elliot Wolff; co-produced by Keith "KC" Cohen
- Recorded and mixed by Keith "KC" Cohen
Charts
Weekly charts
|
Year-end charts
|
Certifications
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| Canada (Music Canada)[43] | Gold | 50,000^ |
| United States (RIAA)[44] | Platinum | 1,000,000‡ |
|
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. | ||