State of the Heart (Mondo Rock song)

"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 (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 (1981), and peaked at number 6 on the Australian Kent Music Report.

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, 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 concert in Philadelphia at JFK Stadium on 13 July 1985.

The song was featured in the 2016 movie, Lion starring Dev Patel and Nicole Kidman.

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 Mondo Rock 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 Rick Springfield 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" Single

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"State of the Heart"	Eric McCusker	4:17
2.	"Mona Lisa (She Smiles)"	Eric McCusker	3:52

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (1981/82)	Peak position
Australia (Kent Music Report)	6

Year-end charts

Chart (1981)	Position
Australian (Kent Music Report)	38

Cover versions

Australian Rick Springfield covered the song for his 1985 album, Tao. 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 Live Aid concert in Philadelphia at JFK Stadium on 13 July 1985.
Australian rock outfit Pollyanna for the soundtrack of the 1999 film Bigger Than Tina.

References

Mondo Rock - State Of The Heart at 45cat
Mondo Rock - State Of The Heart at Australian Music Database
"ERIC MCCUSKER: THE 'BESTO MONDO ROCK' TOUR INTERVIEW". Australian Musician. 5 July 2015. Retrieved 25 July 2017.
Mondo Rock - State Of The Heart (Australia Single) at Discogs
Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives: Australian Chart Book. p. 205. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
"National Top 100 Singles for 1981". Kent Music Report. 4 January 1982. p. 7. Retrieved 11 January 2022 – via Imgur.

External links

State of the Heart on Discogs

v t e Mondo Rock
Discography
Studio albums	Primal Park Chemistry Nuovo Mondo The Modern Bop Boom Baby Boom Why Fight It?
Compilations	Up to the Moment Mondo Rock The Best of Dragon and Mondo Rock The Essential Mondo Rock The Greatest Besto Mondo The Complete Anthology
EPs	Aliens
Singles	"The Fugitive Kind" "State of the Heart" "Cool World" "Chemistry" "Summer of '81" "No Time" "The Queen and Me" "In Another Love" "Come Said the Boy" "Baby Wants to Rock" "The Modern Bop" "Good Advice" "Rule of Threes "Primitive Love Rites" "The First Time" (Damon Boyd vs Mondo Rock)
Related articles	Ross Wilson Paul Christie

v t e Rick Springfield
Studio albums	Beginnings (1972) Comic Book Heroes (1973) Wait for Night (1976) Working Class Dog (1981) Success Hasn't Spoiled Me Yet (1982) Living in Oz (1983) Beautiful Feelings (1984) Tao (1985) Rock of Life (1988) Karma (1999) Shock/Denial/Anger/Acceptance (2004) The Day After Yesterday (2005) Christmas with You (2007) Venus in Overdrive (2008) My Precious Little One: Lullabies for a New Generation (2009) Songs for the End of the World (2012) Rocket Science (2016) The Snake King (2018)
Soundtrack albums	Mission: Magic! (1974) Hard to Hold (1984)
Live albums	Stripped Down (2015)
Compilation albums	Playlist: The Very Best of Rick Springfield (2008)
Singles	"Speak to the Sky" "Jessie's Girl" "I've Done Everything for You" "Love Is Alright Tonite" "Don't Talk to Strangers" "What Kind of Fool Am I" "Affair of the Heart" "Human Touch" "Love Somebody" "Bruce" "State of the Heart"
Related articles	Discography The Red Locusts Zoot Mission: Magic! TV series (1973) The Morris Springfield Project

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