Put Your Hearts Up

"Put Your Hearts Up"
Single by Ariana Grande
Released	December 12, 2011 (2011-12-12)
Format	Digital download
Recorded	2011
Genre	Bubblegum pop teen pop
Length	3:30
Label	Universal Republic Records
Writer(s)	Linda Perry Martin Johnson Matt Squire
Producer(s)	Matt Squire
Ariana Grande singles chronology
"It's Not Christmas Without You" (2011) "Put Your Hearts Up" (2011) "L.A. Boyz" (2012)

"Put Your Hearts Up" is the debut single by American singer Ariana Grande.^[1] She released the single under Universal Republic Records on December 12, 2011. The song samples "What's Up?" by 4 Non Blondes.

Although originally intended to be the lead single for her debut album, her next single "The Way" peaked at number 9 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and replaced it. "Put Your Hearts Up" as well as the majority of the original recorded songs intended for the album were scrapped and did not end up making Yours Truly.

3 years later, Grande revealed that she in fact hated the song and its music video altogether. She called it "the worst moment of my life" and "straight out of hell" in a Rolling Stone interview back in 2014 and criticizes it every time it's mentioned.

Background

Grande began working on her debut album while she was filming Victorious and formally started to work on it with a record label after she was signed to Universal Republic Records on August 10, 2012.^[2][3] By September 10 of that year, Grande already had twenty songs prepared and was going through the process of narrowing it down to thirteen.^[4] "Put Your Hearts Up" was written by Matt Squire, Linda Perry, and Martin Johnson. It was released the first single on December 12, 2012. It's a "50s, 60s doo-wop-inspired" bubblegum pop song which talks about making the world a better place.^[5] The single was aimed at young audiences, perhaps intending to cater to Grande's core audience, which at that time was almost entirely made up by kids who knew her from Victorious.

Release and cover

Grande decided to let her fans be a part of choosing the single's artwork by showing four possible covers for the single via her account on Twitter.^[6] After the fans voted, the cover was chosen and the release date for the single was announced via Ariana Grande's Twitter account on November 29, 2012. "Put Your Hearts Up" was originally going to be released on December 20, 2012, but was later decided to be released earlier. "Put Your Hearts Up" premiered on On Air With Ryan Seacrest on December 9, 2012 and became available for digital download through iTunes three days later.^[7] Although Grande originally released this song as the lead single from her album, "The Way" replaced it. "Put Your Hearts Up" as well as the majority of the original songs intended for the album were scrapped and did not end up making Yours Truly.

After release

In a 2012 interview she said, "'Put Your Hearts Up' is the first single [of my album] because it has a great message and, in some people’s opinion, is the best option for a newcomer, most commercial, yeah. You know, it screams 'newbie coming to town'. It’s kind of my, like, not like 'Genie In A Bottle', but it's my first single that is somewhat different and somewhat going with the flow for now."^[8]

In March 2013, Grande released a new song titled "The Way" that replaced "Put Your Hearts Up" as the lead single for her debut album. During the promotion of that single, Grande publicly spoke of her disappointment with "Put Your Hearts Up" several times. She stated in an interview with KIIS-FM that "Put Your Hearts Up" was a "terrible first impression. ... I didn't want to promote it because I didn't like it and I wasn't confident about it and I hated the video and I didn't like anything about it. So I sort of gave up on it and wanted to pretend that it didn't happen before it already happened."^[9] In an interview on Kidd Kraddick in the Morning she said, "It was a learning experience for sure. Sonically it's just not my vibe. I think it would've been a great hit song for somebody else maybe, but it's just not what I like to sing. It's a bubblegum pop record for sure, and I like to sing stuff that's a little more soulful. I love pop music, I'm a huge pop music fan, but I just didn't think that that record was right for me."^[10] In an interview published in the August 2013 issue of Seventeen, Grande said, "It was bubblegum pop, which isn’t me, but it was something I thought my fans wanted."^[11]

In an interview with Rolling Stone in 2014, Grande said that "Put Your Hearts Up" "was geared toward kids and felt so inauthentic and fake. That was the worst moment of my life. For the video, they gave me a bad spray tan and put me in a princess dress and had me frolic around the street. The whole thing was straight out of hell. I still have nightmares about it, and I made them hide it on my Vevo page."^[12]

Music video

The music video for "Put Your Hearts Up" was shot on November 23, 2012. It was directed by Meiert Avis and Jeremy Alter. On February 14, 2013, the official music video was uploaded on YouTube under ArianaGrandeVevo at a length of 3 minutes and 49 seconds.^[13] The video has gained more than 40 million views as of May 2014.^[14]

Later in March 2013, when "The Way" music video was released, the music video for "Put Your Hearts Up" was made private on Grande's VEVO account at Grande's request.^[12] The video was then made public again in April 2014 and was deleted shortly after.^[15]

Commercial performance

"Put Your Hearts Up" never debuted on any official charts. It has sold 120,000 downloads by March 2013.^[16] On July 20, 2014 it was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), for combined sales and streams of 500,000 units in the US.^[17]

Track listing

Digital download^[18]

• "Put Your Hearts Up" – 3:30

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/Sales
United States (RIAA)[17]	Gold	500,000
sales+streaming figures based on certification alone

References

External links

• Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics