The Way We Make A Broken Heart

Album: King's Record Shop (1987)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • "The Way We Make A Broken Heart" was written by John Hiatt and first recorded by Ry Cooder, who included it on his 1980 album Borderline. Hiatt was a member of Cooder's group at the time and played guitar on that version. (In 1987 Cooder played on Hiatt's album Bring The Family). The song gained some renown around Nashville and was covered in 1985 by Asleep At The Wheel.

    At some point, Hiatt recorded the song as a duet with Rosanne Cash that Hiatt didn't release until 1998, when it appeared on his greatest hits album. When Cash made her 1987 album King's Record Shop she remembered the song and recorded it herself. Released as the first single, it went to #1 on the Country chart.
  • This is a very forthright song about infidelity, with Cash playing the part of the mistress, acknowledging the pain she's inflicting on the wife or girlfriend. By the end of the song, we get the sense that she's done this before, as she seems to know exactly what's going to happen on the way to breaking this poor woman's heart. In the duet version, Cash and John Hiatt portray the cheating couple.
  • Cash loved the backing vocals on Ry Cooder's original version, so she got the same singers - Bobby King and Willie Greene, Jr. - so sing on hers.
  • This is one of several songs written by John Hiatt that were popularized by other artists. Others include "Thing Called Love" by Bonnie Raitt and "Angel Eyes" by Jeff Healey. Cash had previously recorded Hiatt's songs "It Hasn't Happened Yet" and "I Look for Love," both on her 1982 album Somewhere In The Stars.

    Hiatt was little known as an artist when the original version of the song was released in 1980, but in 1987 when Cash released her version, Hiatt put out his album Bring The Family, which got some attention - more than his previous releases, at least. The title track to his next album, Slow Turning, ended up being his most popular song as an artist.
  • The song is part of Rosanne Cash's sixth album, King's Record Shop, produced by Rodney Crowell, her husband at the time.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Stand By Me: The Perfect Song-Movie Combination

Stand By Me: The Perfect Song-Movie CombinationSong Writing

In 1986, a Stephen King novella was made into a movie, with a classic song serving as title, soundtrack and tone.

Modern A Cappella with Peder Karlsson of The Real Group

Modern A Cappella with Peder Karlsson of The Real GroupSong Writing

The leader of the Modern A Cappella movement talks about the genre.

Jeff Trott

Jeff TrottSongwriter Interviews

Sheryl Crow's longtime songwriting partner/guitarist Jeff Trott reveals the stories behind many of the singer's hits, and what its like to be a producer for Leighton Meester and Max Gomez.

Michael Schenker

Michael SchenkerSongwriter Interviews

The Scorpions and UFO guitarist is also a very prolific songwriter - he explains how he writes with his various groups, and why he was so keen to get out of Germany and into England.

Loudon Wainwright III

Loudon Wainwright IIISongwriter Interviews

"Dead Skunk" became a stinker for Loudon when he felt pressure to make another hit - his latest songs deal with mortality, his son Rufus, and picking up poop.

Little Big Town

Little Big TownSongwriter Interviews

"When seeds that you sow grow by the wicked moon/Be sure your sins will find you out/Your past will hunt you down and turn to tell on you."