[Posted January 18, 2016, updated regularly since then.]

There’s nothing wrong with rhyming the word “heart” with either “part” or “apart”. Shakespeare did it, Hal David did it, Bob Dylan has done it. But I’m always grateful when a lyricist avoids it and surprised when someone who has avoided it previously decides to use it. The recent Adele single “Hello” (yes, she’s back, she’s been on the phone) features the lines “I’m sorry for breaking your heart / But it don’t matter it clearly doesn’t tear you apart / anymore”. I was surprised to hear it. I don’t recall her using this rhyme before but she and her co-writer (Greg Kurstin) have gone with it on this song.

Over the years I have noted down, somewhere or other, most of the heart / apart rhymes that have come my way. Some days 2 or 3 songs in a row, on the radio, or an old episode of “Top of the Pops”, will feature the rhyme. Here’s my first listicle, with 57 well-known examples. It’s not a countdown, a “Top 57” as such, but the first 31 songs all got to #1 in the UK, though not always by the artist listed here. (Writer names, not yet complete, are in brackets if different from the artist listed.)

1. “Coz I luv you”, Slade
2. “Diana”, Paul Anka
3. “Don’t let the stars get in your eyes”, Perry Como
4. “First cut is the deepest”, Rod Stewart (Cat Stevens)
5. “Frozen”, Madonna
6. “Goodnight Girl”, Wet Wet Wet
7. “Hello”, Adele (Adele and Greg Kurstin)
8. “I can’t stop loving you”, Ray Charles (Don Gibson)
9. “I feel you”, Peter Andre
10. “Beautiful girls”, Sean Kingston
11. “Break your heart”, Taio Cruz
12. “I wanna be the only one”, Eternal (BeBe Winans and James Lawrence)
13. “Love won’t wait”, Gary Barlow (Madonna & Shep Pettibone)
14. “Mamma Mia”, Abba [rhymes “broken-hearted” with “the day you parted”]
15. “Me and my broken heart”, Rixton
16. “Nothing’s gonna stop us now”, Starship
17. “Now you’re gone”, Basshunter
18. “One day in your life”, Michael Jackson
19. “Only the lonely”, Roy Orbison (Roy Orbison and Joe Melson)
20. “Red, Red Wine”, UB40 (Neil Diamond)
21. “Rise”, Gabrielle
22. “Something’s gotten hold of my heart”, Gene Pitney
23. “Three times a lady”, Commodores
24. “Total Eclipse of the heart”, Bonnie Tyler (Jim Steinman)
25. “Umbrella”, Rihanna
26. “Welcome Home”, Peters & Lee (English Lyrics by Bryan Blackburn)
27. “What becomes of the broken-hearted?”, Jimmy Ruffin [rhymes “broken-hearted” with “departed”] (James Dean, Paul Riser, William Weatherspoon)
28. “Whole Again”, Atomic Kitten (Stuart Kershaw, Andy McCluskey, Bill Padley & Jim Godfrey)
29. “You are not alone”, Michael Jackson
30. “You win again”, Bee Gees
31. “You’re not alone”, Olive
32. “Devil in her heart”, Beatles, (Richard Drapkin)
33. “Don’t be cruel”, Elvis Presley (Otis Blackwell & Elvis Presley)
34. “Emotion”, Bee Gees
35. “Friday I’m in love”, The Cure
36. “Get what you give”, New Radicals
37. “Heatwave”, Martha Reeves & the Vandellas
38. “Hungry Heart”, Bruce Springsteen
39. “I say a little prayer”, Aretha Franklin, (Lyrics by Hal David, Music by Burt Bacharach)
40. “I second that emotion”, Smokey Robinson & the Miracles
41. “I swear”, All 4 One
42. “If you see her say hello”, Bob Dylan
43. “If you’re looking for a way out”, Odyssey
44. “It should have been me”, Yvonne Fair
45. “Love me”, Elvis Presley (Mike Stoller & Jerry Lieber)
46. “Love me tender”, Elvis Presley (Elvis Presley & Vera Watson)
47. “Love shine a light”, Katrina and the Waves
48. “Only love can break your heart”, Neil Young
49. “Sky full of stars”, Coldplay
50. “Stop”, Sam Brown
51. “Teenager in love”, Marty Wilde
52. “The best”, Tina Turner
53. “Why do lovers break each other’s hearts?”, Showaddywaddy
54. “Yesterday once more”, Carpenters,
55. “You’ll never get to heaven if you break my heart”, Dionne Warwick (Lyrics by Hal David, Music by Burt Bacharach)
56. “You’re a big girl now”, Bob Dylan
57. “Your love is king”, Sade

[An update from February, 24 2016]

Three more #1s that use the rhyme: “Woman” by John Lennon, “Everlasting Love” by Love Affair and “You to me are everything” by The Real Thing.

Update, May 2018, taking the list past 100

I have continued to note down examples of this rhyme in songs old and new, and here is an additional list, taking the number of songs that rhyme “heart” with either “part” or “apart” to well over 100, beginning with those three extra #1s listed in the update from February 2016. I will continue to add to this list. It will therefore incorporate songs released after May 2018.

58. “Woman”, John Lennon
59. “Everlasting Love”, Love Affair
60. “You to me are everything”, The Real Thing
61. “You give love a bad name”, Bon Jovi
62. “Kissing with confidence”, Will Powers
63. “The Scientist”, Coldplay
64. “Thank you”, Will Young
65. “Same old song”, Four Tops
66. “You gave me love”, Crown Heights Affair
67. “Six degrees of separation”, The Script
68. “Baby Mine”, Bette Midler
69. “Stardust”, Nat King Cole
70. “Just walk away”, Celine Dion
71. “The way you look tonight”, Fred Astaire
72. “Where you wanna go”, Black Eyed Peas
73. “Bloodstained heart”, Darren Hayes
74. “Affairs of the heart”, Fleetwood Mac
75. “What did I do to your heart?”, Jonas Brothers
76. “Don’t break my heart”, Sheena Easton
77. “Elastic Heart”, Sia
78. “Forever”, Westlife
79. “Let’s dance to Joy Division”, Wombats
80. “Ballerina Girl”, Lionel Richie
81. “Maneater”, Hall and Oates
82. “Step Inside Love”, Cilla Black
83. “What Goes On”, Beatles
84. “Don’t you forget about me”, Simple Minds
85. “Let it be”, Beatles [rhymes “broken-hearted” with “parted”; was a UK #1 for Ferry Aid in 1987]
86. “Invisible Touch”, Genesis
87. “Pyjamarama”, Roxy Music
88. “I get by “, Liam Gallagher
89. “Love Games”, Belle and the Devotions
90. “Ain’t no Mountain High Enough”, Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell
91. “Rock & Me”, Steve Miller Band
92. “Suzanne Beware of the Devil”, Dandy Livingstone
93. “It Ain’t Me Babe”, Bob Dylan
94. “Save the Last Dance for Me”, Drifters
95. “Hey Mr Snowman”, Kim Wilde
96. “I close my eyes and count to ten”, Dusty Springfield
97. “Poor Little Fool”, Ricky Nelson
98. “If only I could”,  Sydney Youngblood
99. “If I could turn back time”, Cher
100. “Girl I’m gonna miss you”, Milli Vanilli
101. “Ain’t that a shame”, Fats Domino
102. “Coming around again”, Carly Simon
103. “Dancing in the dark”, Bruce Springsteen
104. “Hello this is Joanie”, Paul Evans
105. “Say I’m your number one”, Princess
106. “Go the distance”, Michael Bolton
107. “Piano in the Dark”, Brenda Russell
108. “Nothing Breaks Like a Heart”, Mark Ronson featuring Miley Cyrus (2018)
109. “Baby Blue”, Neil Sedaka
110. “Every Beat of my Heart”, Rod Stewart
111. “Rescue Me”, Fontella Bass
112. “The Captain of Her Heart”, Double
113. “Little by Little”, Dusty Springfield
114. “Love’s Just a Broken Heart”, Cilla Black
115. “It’s Over”, Level 42
116. “Knock Three Times”, Dawn [Another UK #1]
117. “Constantly”, Cliff Richard
118. “Can’t You See That She’s Mine”, Dave Clark Five
119. “All Of My Heart”, ABC
120. “Hyperactive”, Thomas Dolby
121. “January February”, Barbara Dickson
122. “With This Ring”, The Fortunes
123. “Good Times Bad Times”, Led Zeppelin
124. “Open Your Heart”, M People
125. “Forever Your Girl”, Paula Abdul
126. “There’s a Whole Lot of Loving”, Guys & Dolls
127. “I Drove All Night”, Cyndi Lauper
128. “Me the Peaceful Heart”, Lulu
129. “I’ve Got You Under My Skin”, Frank Sinatra [Cole Porter]
130. “Run to me”, Bee Gees
131. “I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free”, Nina Simone
132. “My Sentimental Friend”, Herman’s Hermits
133. “Lately”, Stevie Wonder
134. “Mind of a Toy”, Visage
135. “Licence to Kill”, Gladys Knight
136. “Daughter of Darkness”, Tom Jones
137. “Head & Heart”, Joel Corry featuring MNEK (UK #1 in 2020)
138. “Back on the Chain Gang”, Pretenders
139. “The Power”, Snap (UK #1 in 1990)
140. “If I let you go”, Westlife (UK #1 in 1999)
141. “The Way To Your Love”, Hear’Say (UK #1 in 2001)
142. “Burn”, Usher (UK #1 in 2004)
143. “I’ll Be Loving You (Forever)”, New Kids on the Block
144. “I Will Be With You”, T’Pau
145. “Tearin’ Up My Heart”, NSYNC
146. “Save Your Tears”, The Weeknd
147. “Hats Off To Larry”, Del Shannon