Cold Hearted is a song by American singer Paula Abdul, released in June 1989 as the fifth single from her debut album, Forever Your Girl (1988). It was written and co-produced by Elliot Wolff and reached number one on the US Billboard Hot 100, becoming the album’s third song to top the US chart.
Cold Hearted is written in the key of G minor and follows a tempo of 122 beats per minute. The song follows a chord progression of Gm – E♭maj7 – Dm7, and Abdul’s vocals span one-and-a-half octaves, from F3 to B♭4.
Cold Hearted topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart for one week in September 1989, giving Abdul her third US number-one single. Cold Hearted was ranked sixth on Billboard’s Year-End Hot 100 ranking of 1989. It spent a total of 21 weeks within the Billboard Hot 100. In Canada, “Cold Hearted” peaked at number one according to The Record magazine and number two according to RPM magazine, while in Finland, in entered the top 20.
The official music video for “Cold Hearted” was directed by David Fincher and spent more than three weeks on top of MTV’s video rotation list. The inspiration for the video came from Bob Fosse’s choreography of the “Take Off with Us” scene in the movie All That Jazz. Abdul dances for music executives with a group of semi-nude dancers. Abdul was wearing a black fishnet dress which exposed her belly button and was sporting a German police hat. The dance floor included scaffolding where Abdul and her dancers hang and dance suggestively.
Cold Hearted Lyrics (1989)
He’s a cold-hearted snake
Look into his eyes, uh-oh
He’s been tellin’ lies
He’s a lover boy at play
He don’t play by the rules, uh-oh
Girl, don’t play the fool, no
You’re the one givin’ up the love
Anytime he needs it
But you turn your back, and then he’s off and runnin’ with the crowd
You’re the one to sacrifice
Anything to please him
Do you really think he thinks about you when he’s out?
He’s a cold-hearted snake
Look into his eyes, uh-oh
He’s been tellin’ lies
He’s a lover boy at play
He don’t play by the rules, uh-oh
Girl, don’t play the fool, no
It was only late last night
He was out there sneakin’
Then he called you up to check that you were waiting by the phone
All the world’s a candy store
He’s been trick or treatin’
When it comes to true love, girl, with him there’s no one home
He’s a cold-hearted snake
Look into his eyes, uh-oh
He’s been tellin’ lies
He’s a lover boy at play
He don’t play by the rules, uh-oh
Girl, don’t play the fool, no
You could find somebody better girl
He could only make you cry
You deserve somebody better girl
He’s c-cold as ice
He’s cold as ice
He’s cold as ice
He’s cold as ice
Stay away from him, girl
C-c-c-cold-hearted, ooh-ah-ah
C-c-c-cold-hearted, snake
C-c-c-cold-hearted, ooh-ah-ah
C-c-c-cold-hearted, snake
He’s a cold-hearted snake
Look into his eyes, uh-oh
He’s been tellin’ lies
He’s a lover boy at play
He don’t play by the rules, uh-oh
Girl, don’t play the fool, no
Ooh, ahh, look into his eyes
Ooh, ahh, he’s been tellin’ lies
Ooh, ahh, he don’t play by rules
Ooh, ahh, girl, don’t play the fool
He’s a cold-hearted snake
Look into his eyes, uh-oh
He’s been tellin’ lies
He’s a lover boy at play
He don’t play by the rules, uh-oh
Girl, don’t play the fool
He’s a cold-hearted snake
Look into his eyes, uh-oh
He’s been tellin’ lies
He’s a lover boy at play
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