Songfacts®:

• This was originally recorded by Brian Hyland in 1963, and released as the B-side of his single "I'm Afraid To Go Home." Hyland worked with producer Snuff Garrett, who also produced Gary Lewis & the Playboys. The group had two hits under their belt: "This Diamond Ring" and "Count Me In," so Garrett revived this song for their third single.
  
  Lewis told Songfacts: "'Save Your Heart For Me' was originally put out by Brian Hyland, and it went nowhere. Absolutely nowhere. Did just nothing. So Snuffy said, 'I want to try this one again. You've had two big hits now, I want to try that one again, slowing it down. Change the pace.'"
• This was written by Peter Udell and Gary Geld, who wrote many of Brian Hyland's songs, including "Sealed with a Kiss," which Gary Lewis & the Playboys also recorded. The team also wrote "Hurting Each Other" by the Carpenters and "The Tear of the Year" by Jackie Wilson.
• Lewis was 19 years old when he recorded this song. When we asked if he drew from personal experience to relate to the songs he performed, he said, "In 'Save Your Heart For Me,' I was never hurt by a girl going away for the summer and liking some other guy and then coming home and saying, 'Oh, it was just a fling and I'll hang with you, I'll stay with you.' That stuff never happened. But I guess it does happen to people who take their kids on family vacations to different parts of the country, and they probably find boyfriends there or girlfriends. And then come home and they'll never see that person again. I can relate to that stuff, but it's not personal experience."
• The Playboys played on this song and all other tracks by the band, but overdubs and solos were done by the top L.A. studio musicians who backed up most of the major west coast singers at the time. On this song, they needed a special performer, however: a whistler. Lewis tried doing the whistling part, but couldn't do it - he couldn't keep a straight face with the guys in the booth looking at him. Their arranger Leon Russell gave it a shot, but he couldn't do it either. After producer Snuff Garrett failed in his attempt, they got someone from the musician's union. "We looked up whistlers from Local 47 in Los Angeles. And there were two guys," said Lewis. "He came in and did it. Just an old guy, very straight-laced: 'This is my job and I'm going to do it.'"