Listen to Your Heart

When Per Gessle and Mats Persson sat down to compose "Listen to Your Heart", the idea was to explore how far they could push an exaggerated American rock sound, almost to the point of absurdity. The inspiration for the lyrics came from a close friend of Gessle's who was going through a period of great emotional turmoil, torn between a past love and a new one. The song, originally released in September 1988 as the second single from the album Look Sharp!, became a resounding success. It reached the top spot on the charts in the United States and Canada around November 1989, marking a milestone as the first song to reach number one in the US without a commercially available 7-inch physical release.

The production was handled by Clarence Öfwerman, who helped shape this alternative rock ballad. The track, with a duration of 5:28 on its album version, was recorded in August 1988 at EMI Studios in Stockholm. Initially, in the United Kingdom, the song reached number 62 in October 1989. However, following the success of "It Must Have Been Love", it was re-released in August 1990 as a double A-side with "Dangerous", managing to climb to sixth place on the UK Singles Chart. The music video accompanying the song was directed by Doug Freel and filmed in Sweden. In 2005, the Belgian group DHT released a remixed version featuring Edmée, which also received an excellent reception, reaching the top 10 in several countries, including France, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States.