HUMAN LEAGUE – OPEN YOUR HEART

Publicació: 2 d'octubre de 1981  

Llistes: Regne Unit: #6

"Open Your Heart" és un single de Human League escrit per Phil Oakey i Jo Callis. Va ser el tercer senzill llançat de l'àlbum “Dare”. Va sortir poc abans de l'àlbum, que va aconseguir arribar al primer lloc en les llistes del Regne Unit, mentre que el single va arribar a la sisena posició.

"Open Your Heart" va ser el tercer i últim senzill llançat sota l'estratègia de màrqueting que etiquetava les cançons com a “blaves” o “vermelles”. El color "Vermell" (assignat a “Sound of the Crowd” i “Love Action”) indicava un so més electrònic, mentre que "Blau" (assignat a “Open Your Heart”) estava dirigit a un públic més pop. En aquell moment, Susan Sulley va descriure aquesta estratègia com "Vermell per als presumits, Blau per als fans d'ABBA". Aquesta estratègia es va abandonar amb aquest llançament.

"Open Your Heart" tracta sobre permetre’s ser vulnerable i la dificultat d’afrontar el dolor potencial que comporta el fet d’obrir-se a estimar, reconeixent que l’alternativa, viure una vida tancada sense permetre’s estimar ni ser estimat, és molt pitjor. La cançó transmet com hem de suportar el dolor i vessar llàgrimes per poder gaudir de la vida al màxim, i com hem de “deixar de dissimular i provar de revelar” per obrir els nostres cors.

El videoclip es basa en imatges de The Human League per promocionar tant el single com l'àlbum, mostrant la banda a l’escenari amb diapositives i imatges creades per Philip Adrian Wright, tal com feien en els seus concerts. La imatgeria del vídeo va ser intencionadament similar a la portada del senzill i de l'àlbum, mostrant els primers plans dels membres de la banda, tal com es va representar en ambdues portades.

HUMAN LEAGUE – OPEN YOUR HEART

Released: October 2, 1981  

Charts: UK: #6

 “Open Your Heart” is a single by Synth-pop stars The Human League. The song was written by Phil Oakey and Jo Callis and was the third single to be released from the album “Dare”. “Open Your Heart” was released as a final teaser for “Dare”, with the album coming out just a few weeks after the single. It reached #6 in the UK charts, while the album sat at #1 on the UK album charts. 

“Open Your Heart” was the third and final single released under the marketing ploy designating the songs either “blue” or “red”. “Red” (as designated to “Sound of the Crowd” and “Love Action”) indicated a more electronic sound, with “Blue” (“Open Your Heart”) aimed at a more pop market. At the time, Susan Sulley described it as “Red for posers, Blue for ABBA fans”. The idea was discontinued with this release.

 “Open Your Heart” is a song about allowing yourself to be vulnerable and how to deal with the potential heartbreak linked with allowing yourself to love, while acknowledging that the alternative, living a closed life, without allowing yourself to love or be loved, is so much worse. It tells how we must endure pain and shed the tears if we are to get the best out of life, how we must “End concealing, try revealing” and open our hearts.

The video for the single just relied on The Human League's visuals to promote both single and the forthcoming album, showing the band on stage, interspersed with slides and images by Philip Adrian Wright, just as their live shows did. That imagery was deliberately aimed to mimic the sleeve of both single and album, showing the headshots of the band members as depicted on both.