Bringin’ On the Heartbreak

As it says, this song pieced together by Def Leppard in ‘81 is made up of straight up heartbreak. The narrator is emotionally and mentally dazed and caught in a trap over someone that they feel for. They feel heartbroken and feel that this person they love is burning them and getting the best of them. Prime example and piece of 80’s love songs and rock-related love and the power of emotion as a whole. The song hit top charts and featured in one of Def Leppard’s biggest concerts known as the “In the Round in Your Face Hysteria World Tour” spanning from 1987 to 1988. The played the song most popularly known in Denver in ‘88 and in video / VHS it can be seen that thousands of fans are holding up lighters as the band plays a special acoustic / electric duo version of the song. Many people like to leave the song to their own interpretation but this one feels to be at most universal. Joe Elliot told Rolling Stone: We treat every song the same — we couldn’t distinguish the ugly from the beautiful. But Mutt [producer Robert John “Mutt” Lange] being more of a passive observer, if you like, he was the one who realized if we had a shot at radio it was with this song. So when we were recording the album [High ‘n’ Dry], it was the one that got the most attention. I’d say for every hour we spent working on another song, we spent three or four on this one. And Mutt put me through the fucking mill singing the thing, because he wanted me to be accepted in the same league as a Paul Rodgers or a Lou Gramm or whoever. Meanwhile, I was just a young kid who was happy enough to be Ian Hunter! The funny thing is, Mutt kept saying to us, “This is the one.” And as it happens, it wasn’t the one! Not at radio, at least. But we had the foresight to shoot a kind of a video for it, which was just a live performance. And the fledgling MTV, having nothing to play, liked the idea of this young U.K. rock band, so they picked it up. So six months, maybe a year after High ‘n’ Dry came out, we were making Pyromania and we started getting these telexes from the States saying, “Your album is selling 6,000, 7,000, 8,000 copies a week.” Then it was 10, 15, 20,000 copies a week. It was heading toward platinum by the time we had Pyromania in the bag. Because of MTV, by 1982 the whole country was playing “Heartbreak.”

Bringin’ On the Heartbreak Lyrics Def Leppard From The Album High ‘n’ Dry (1981) Def Leppard Gypsy, sittin' looking pretty A broken rose with laughin' eyes You're a mystery, always runnin' wild Like a child without a home You're always searchin', searchin' for a feeling But it's easy come and easy go Oh, I'm sorry but it's true You're bringin' on the heartache Takin' all the best of me, oh, can't you see? You got the best of me, oh, can't you see? You're bringin' on the heartbreak Bringin' on the heartache You're bringin' on the heartbreak Bringin' on the heartache Can't you see? Oh You're such a secret, misty eyed and shady Lady, how you hold the key Oh, you're like a candle, your flame slowly fadin' Burnin' out and burnin' me, can't you see Just tryin' to say to you You're bringin' on the heartache Takin' all the best of me, oh, can't you see? You got the best of me, oh, can't you see? You're bringin' on the heartbreak Bringin' on the heartache You're bringin' on the heartbreak Bringin' on the heartache Can't you see, can't you see No, no, no You got the best of me, oh, can't you see? You got the best of me, oh, can't you see? You're bringin' on the heartbreak Bringin' on the heartache You're bringin' on the heartbreak Bringin' on the heartache You're bringin' on the heartbreak Bringinn' on the heartache You're bringin' on the heartbreak Produced By Robert John Lange Written By Pete Willis, Joe Elliott & Steve Clark Recorded At Battery Studios, London, England Release Date November 13, 1981