Baby Don't You Break My Heart Slow

Album: Vonda Shepard (1989)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Shepard first released this song on her 1989 debut album, but it was a duet version 10 years later with Indigo Girls' Emily Saliers that brought the song to the forefront. By 1999, Shepard had a regular gig playing herself in the hit TV series Ally McBeal, and she continued to record and perform during that time.

    Shepard tells us that the duet with Saliers didn't come quietly; it came screaming at her down the hallway of the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles. Vonda had just arrived at the theater for an Indigo Girls show, she explained in our interview.

    "And Emily came running down the hall, literally, like, 'Vonda f--king Shepard!' She said, 'Oh my God! I love you! I love the song 'Baby Don't You Break My Heart Slow,' she recalled.

    That night, Shepard took the stage with the Indigo Girls during their first encore to perform another song, "The Wildest Times of the World."

    Shepard and Saliers quickly bonded and ended up recording "Baby Don't You Break My Heart Slow" as a duet for the former's albums By 7:30 and Heart and Soul: New Songs from Ally McBeal (both released in 1999).
  • Many of Shepard's songs are based on the many complicated Ally McBeal-like relationships she went through with various guys. Sometimes they are composites of ex-boyfriends, but this song was about one particular guy, and Shepard tells us that it was the only song she wrote about him. (Here's the full Vonda Shepard interview.)

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Vanessa Carlton

Vanessa CarltonSongwriter Interviews

The "A Thousand Miles" singer on what she thinks of her song being used in White Chicks and how she captured a song from a dream.

Bill Medley of The Righteous Brothers

Bill Medley of The Righteous BrothersSongwriter Interviews

Medley looks back on "Unchained Melody" and "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" - his huge hits from the '60s that were later revived in movies.

Does Jimmy Page Worship The Devil? A Look at Satanism in Rock

Does Jimmy Page Worship The Devil? A Look at Satanism in RockSong Writing

We ring the Hell's Bells to see what songs and rockers are sincere in their Satanism, and how much of it is an act.

P.F. Sloan

P.F. SloanSongwriter Interviews

P.F. was a teenager writing hits and playing on tracks for Jan & Dean when he wrote a #1 hit that got him blackballed.

Bob Dylan Lyric Quiz

Bob Dylan Lyric QuizMusic Quiz

Think you know your Bob Dylan lyrics? Take this quiz to find out.

Who's Johnny, And Why Does He Show Up In So Many Songs

Who's Johnny, And Why Does He Show Up In So Many SongsSong Writing

For songwriters, Johnny represents the American man. He has been angry, cool, magic, a rebel and, of course, marching home.