"State of the Heart" is a song written by Eric McCusker. In Australia, it is best known for being recorded by Australian rock group

Mondo Rock Mondo Rock are an Australian rock band, formed in November 1976 in Melbourne, Victoria. Singer-songwriter Ross Wilson (musician), Ross Wilson founded the band, following the split of his previous band Daddy Cool (band), Daddy Cool. Guitarist Er ...

(of whom McCusker was a member); the track was released in October 1980 as the lead single from the band's second studio album, ''

Chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a physical science within the natural sciences that studies the chemical elements that make up matter and chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules a ...

'' (1981), and peaked at number 6 on the Australian

Kent Music Report The Kent Music Report was a weekly record chart of Australian music singles and albums which was compiled by music historian David Kent from May 1974 through to January 1999. The chart was re-branded the Australian Music Report (AMR) in July 19 ...

. Mondo Rock's recording of the song was not a hit outside of Australia. In the United States, "State of the Heart" is best remembered for a recording by

Rick Springfield Richard Lewis Springthorpe (born 23 August 1949), known professionally as Rick Springfield, is an Australian-American musician and actor. He was a member of the pop rock group Zoot from 1969 to 1971, then started his solo career with his debut ...

, which peaked at number 22 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 singles chart in 1985. Springfield's version of the song was also a minor hit in Canada and Germany. Springfield performed "State of the Heart" at a

Live Aid Live Aid was a two-venue benefit concert and music-based fundraising initiative held on Saturday, 13 July 1985. The event was organised by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise further funds for relief of the 1983–1985 famine in Ethiopia, a m ...

concert in Philadelphia at JFK Stadium on 13 July 1985. The song was featured in the 2016 movie, ''

Lion The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'', native to Sub-Saharan Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body (biology), body; a short, rounded head; round ears; and a dark, hairy tuft at the ...

'' starring

Dev Patel Dev Patel (; born 23 April 1990) is an English actor and filmmaker. List of awards and nominations received by Dev Patel, His accolades include a British Academy Film Award, in addition to nominations for an Academy Award and two Golden Globe A ...

and

Nicole Kidman Nicole Mary Kidman (born 20 June 1967) is an Australian and American actress and producer. Known for Nicole Kidman on screen and stage, her work in film and television productions across many genres, she has consistently ranked among the world ...

Background

In 1980 writer Eric McCusker was signed with Warner Chappell to write songs to sell to other people. He joined Mondo Rock the same year but didn't think they'd be interested in the song. In 2015 he explained "I didn’t think

would be interested in a ballad, we were playing fairly full on rockier stuff. Then I played the band the demos and they were like … what’s the matter? You keeping your best songs for other people?" McCusker added "The solo is pretty much a restating of the melody of the verses with a bit extra. Then Ross did the falsetto singing over the top of it. So the concept of not having a middle where it gets big and fills up, it sort of emptied out and took the emphasis to the bottom end with the bass playing. I thought it was a really interesting thing and then

recorded that song and got completely rid of that and wrote a vocal bridge for it … it was like … coward. Made me some money though so that was good!".

Track listing

AUS 7" SingleMondo Rock - State Of The Heart (Australia Single)
at

Discogs Discogs ( ; short for " discographies") is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. Database contents are user-generated, and described in ''T ...

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Cover versions

* Australian

covered the song for his 1985 album, ''

Tao The Tao or Dao is the natural way of the universe, primarily as conceived in East Asian philosophy and religion. This seeing of life cannot be grasped as a concept. Rather, it is seen through actual living experience of one's everyday being. T ...

''. This was the second of three singles from the album, and it peaked at number 22 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 singles chart in the United States. Springfield performed the song at a

concert in Philadelphia at JFK Stadium on 13 July 1985. * Australian rock outfit

Pollyanna ''Pollyanna'' is a 1913 novel by American author Eleanor H. Porter, considered a classic of children's literature. The book's success led to Porter soon writing a sequel, ''Pollyanna Grows Up'' (1915). Eleven more ''Pollyanna'' sequels, known a ...

for the soundtrack of the 1999 film '' Bigger Than Tina''.

References

External links

State of the Heart on Discogs
1980 songs 1980 singles 1985 singles Mondo Rock songs Rick Springfield songs Rock ballads Warner Music Group singles Atlantic Records singles RCA Records singles {{1980s-rock-song-stub