Healin' Heartbreak

"Healin' Heartbreal" is a song recorded by London recording artist Aurora Reed for her debut album Thoughts To Word (2011). The song was released on March 5th, 2012. The track was written by Aurora Reed & Jeff Bhasker. It contains a sample of You Don't Have To Say You Love Me by Dusty Springfield. It is a midtempo, dark urban song with hints of synthpop influence, that tell the story of seeing a loved one move on from you.

Music journalists gave a lot of praise to the track, frequently citing it as the best track from Thoughts To Word, noting the use of urban influences meshed with contemporary sounds, and the ingenius use of an unorthodox Dustry Springfield sample. Aurora herself has claimed it is an album favourite.

Writing and production
The song was one of the first tracks written by Aurora for her debut album, Thoughts To Word. It was one of many tracks that she worked on with Jeff Bhasker, who also went on to contribute a track to her second album, Haute Mess. The track was recorded at MSR Studios in New York City. Aurora claims she had always been a fan of the Dusty Springfield song "You Don't Have To Say You Love Me", praising it for it's dark and sad undertones, something she wanted to reinterpret for her own track.

Release
Aurora was initially due to release Mani Pedi as the album's fourth single, with Healin Heartbreak as the fifth and final release from the album. However, Aurora felt that she needed to progress onto a new album, and so in January 2012, Healin Heartbreak was announced as the final single from Thoughts To Word, with a release date of March 5th, 2012, available on both physical format and digital download. The song charted at #2 the following week. It went on to sell over 600,000 copies, breaking the record of the highest selling single not to chart at #1, and was named the second highest single of 2012, beaten only by Kleo.

On February 28th, 2012, a remix of the track featuring Sandi Cohen was made available as a download only release. It hit #2 in the download charts.

Composition
Healin' Heartbeak is an urban song which features influences from synthpop. It has a duration of 4 minutes and 32 seconds. Instrumentation consists of haunting piano keys and dark moody synths. The lyrics tell the story of a bitter lover who is trying extremely hard to get over an ex, unable to get over the empty void at the end of a relationship, with lyrics such as "I got broken frames and ripped pictures / Real example of just what an empty crib is". Blender commented on the 'genuine soreness' felt from the vibe of the song, with lyrics like "There's no getting over / I guess she's taking over" emphasising the inferiority you feel when you see your ex-lover happy with a new girl."

Video
The video was directed by Anthony Mandler, and was based on a script that both he and Aurora herself devised. The video was shot at Eltham Palace in London, and featured a longer edit. Aurora commented "The video isn't just for the single campaign, it's got a campaign of it's own! There's a bit of mystery to the story and I want fans to start to try and piece it all together before it hits screens. It's gonna be bombardment. Get ready!"

The video was released on February 10th, 2012, and was precluded by several teasers, which helped to set the scene for the story. The video was based around an older man, named Chuck, who reminisced of a love with his wife Martha, played by Aurora, in the 1950's. They lived the Hollywood lifestyle as A list actors, but their true love was ruined when Aurora caught her lover with someone else. Haunted by his infidelity, she killed herself. The video ends in present day with Chuck dying. He is reunited with Martha in heaven.

The video was nominated for 'Best Epic Video' at The Urapopstar Awards 22.

Format and track listing

 * Digital download
 * 1) "Healin' Heartbreak" - 4:23
 * 2) "Healin' Heartbreak" (Feat Sandi Cohen) - 4:14


 * Physical Format
 * 1) "Healin' Heartbreak" - 4:23
 * 2) "Healin' Heartbreak (Unplugged)" - 4:48
 * 3) "Ribbon On It" - 3:25