"Break My Heart" is a song by English singer Dua Lipa from her second studio album, Future Nostalgia (2020). The song was written by Lipa, Ali Tamposi, Stefan Johnson, Jordan K. Johnson, and Andrew Watt, while the production was handled by Watt alongside the Monsters & Strangerz. Due to a similarity to the guitar riff in INXS's 1987 song "Need You Tonight", band members Andrew Farriss and Michael Hutchence are also credited as writers, and the similarity is credited as an interpolation. The song was released for digital download and streaming through Warner Records as the third single from Future Nostalgia on 25 March 2020, just two days before the album's release. It is a retro-futuristic dance-pop and disco-funk song with elements of house and 1980s music that is set to a Europop beat. A vulnerable song, it sees Lipa questioning whether a new love will leave her broken-hearted.

Several music critics commended the production elements of "Break My Heart" as well as its "Need You Tonight" interpolation; some thought it sounded too similar to its influences. The song placed on numerous best of 2020 year-end lists, including ones published by Billboard, The New York Times and NPR, while also receiving numerous awards as well as nominations including Song of the Summer at the 2020 MTV Video Music Awards and Song of the Year at the 46th People's Choice Awards. Commercially, the song reached the top ten of charts in twenty-one countries, including a number one peak in Israel. This also included the UK Singles Chart, where the song peaked at number six. It also peaked at number 13 on the US Billboard Hot 100. The song is certified platinum or higher in ten countries, including a double diamond certification in Brazil, a diamond certification in France, a double platinum certification in Australia and a platinum certification in the UK.

The music video for "Break My Heart" premiered on 26 March 2020. It was directed by Henry Scholfield and filmed in Bulgaria. The video features 1990s-influenced slide clips that see Lipa in numerous situations going from vulnerable to empowered after she falls for someone who's pulling away from her. Some of these situations include running through a traffic-jammed block, dancing in a club and dancing on the end of a broken plane. Several critics praised the high quality of the video and its use of colour. It won Best Pop Video at the 2020 UK Music Video Awards. Lipa performed the song on numerous occasions, including on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Big Brother Brasil 20 and Graduate Together. Several remixes including ones by Jax Jones, Joris Voorn and Moon Boots were also released.

Writing and production

"Break My Heart" was written by Dua Lipa, Ali Tamposi, Andrew Watt, Stefan Johnson and Jordan K. Johnson and was produced by the Monsters & Strangerz alongside Watt. The Monsters & Strangerz had wanted to work with Lipa for a while and had their management contact Lipa's A&R, Joe Kentish, and manager Ben Mawson. Their management knew the latter from a previous Ellie Goulding collaboration. A studio session was arranged between The Monsters & Strangerz, Tamposi, and Lipa, which was successful; however, the Monsters & Strangerz thought that they would have a better session with Watt. A session was arranged with him at his studio. Lipa was nervous going into the session due to the fact that she had not worked with Watt. Lipa found it hard to be open and vulnerable with people she did not know. However, Lipa later realised it is easy to do so. She additionally found it helpful that the co-writers knew her boyfriend, which allowed Lipa to be more open. Lipa intended to create a song that was cohesive and had a theme running through it.

The session started with all the writers staring at a "disco" sign in Watt's studio. Whenever he worked with a new artist, Watt always recorded a simple guitar riff on his phone as place to start with them. He broke the ice with Lipa by playing her the sample. She expressed her admiration for it, but thought it was not for her. To give him an idea of her musical style, Lipa played Watt about half of her Future Nostalgia album which he described as "perfect". The collaborators were unsure where to begin with the song, ultimately deciding to start with the melody. They started with the guitar before Lipa began putting her thoughts into song form. Watt played a bass lick, inspired by what he equated to be "funky music". Lipa loved the sound and told him to record it; they later decided to synchronize the hook with the bass line. All writers had many ideas for the melody and helped write it. Lipa recalled needing the melody to make sense of writing the lyrics. She was inspired by the initial stages of falling in love but thinking in the back of one's mind, "this is too good to be true". Lipa recalled being out of her comfort zone while writing the song, but learning a lesson to write in that state as she writes the best songs then.

"Break My Heart" was written, tracked and produced in one night. Watt recalled that the collaborators were "on fire" and "nailed it" while also mentioning that Lipa "such a confident place" and she "brought it on another level". While listening back to the song, Lipa and her collaborators noticed a similarity between the song and "Need You Tonight" (1987) by Australian rock band INXS. The collaborators did not want to get sued, so band members Andrew Farriss and Michael Hutchence were credited as writers and INXS were given a publishing credit. Lipa admired this situation as it "brought nostalgia even more to the forefront" of the album. Farriss later expressed his appreciation for Lipa for asking for permission to use the interpolation while saying it is "kind of bizarre" to hear Lipa interpret it in that way. "Break My Heart" was recorded and tracked at Gold Tooth Music in Beverly Hills, California and Oddities Studio in London; the vocals were also recorded at the latter location. Mark "Spike" Stent mixed the song at the Mixsuite in Los Angeles with Dave Kutch mastering it at the Mastering Palace in New York. Chad Smith of the Red Hot Chili Peppers was brought in at the suggestion of Watt during the end of the recording session for the purpose of overdubbing live drums. Smith recalled that the song was nearly complete by the time that he arrived at the recording studio and included a programmed drum machine part. "This was just literally putting drums over a pretty finished track. There was some drum machine on it already, but they just wanted that kind of disco-funk thing."

Music and lyrics

Musically, "Break My Heart" is a dance-pop and disco-funk song with house and 1980s elements. It has a length of 3:41 and is constructed in verse–chorus form. The song is composed in time and the key of E minor, with a tempo of 113 beats per minute. The verses and choruses have a chord progression of Em–G–Fdim–Em–C–Bm–D, while the bridges follow a Cmaj7–D6–Bm7–Em7–D6 sequence and the middle eight follows a C–D–G/B–Bm–Em–Bm/D–C–D–Em7–B7–B chord progression. The song interpolates the rhythm guitar melody from "Need You Tonight" by INXS. "Break My Heart" has a retro-futuristic sound, with the production consisting of a bouncing-ball bass, handclaps, a funk guitar line, disco violins, and a Europop beat.

"Break My Heart" opens with a bassline and synths, both of which were categorized as bouncy, and a hi-hat cymbal. In the pre-chorus, the song features a funky bassline and sweeping strings, while the music drops out in the middle and abruptly crashes back shortly after for the chorus. As the song eases into its chorus, the instruments are stripped back with a swaggering guitar riff underscoring each lyric, while a techno-adjacent bassline is also included, alongside a staccato bass rhythm. The second verse includes a drum kit and the second pre-chorus is driven by a string section. Lipa's vocals span a range of E3 to B4, and she makes use of spoken word deliveries. Described by Lipa as a "celebration of vulnerability", "Break My Heart" sees her question whether a new love will leave her broken hearted. She tells a cautionary love tale and mentions the "shoulda, woulda, coulda's" of relationship choices. The lyrics of the chorus were compared to the COVID-19 pandemic's social distancing measures.

Release and promotion It was first revealed that "Break My Heart" had been recorded for Future Nostalgia in January 2020, after the song leaked along with fellow album track "Physical". Later that month, the song was confirmed to be on the album's tracklist in the ninth position. Lipa confirmed that the song would serve as the third single from the album in March 2020, during an interview with Australian TV show Sunrise. She began teasing the release shortly thereafter. On 20 March 2020, Lipa announced that the song would be released a week later; however, Future Nostalgia leaked shortly thereafter, leading to the release of "Break My Heart" being pushed up. The song was released through Warner Records on 25 March 2020 for digital download and streaming, with it appearing on the album which was released two days later. "Break My Heart" was accompanied by a lyric video and Spotify vertical video, released on 9 and 25 April 2020, respectively. The song impacted contemporary hit radio formats in the United States on 31 March as well as adult contemporary radio on 27 April, serving as the album's second single in the US. It was released for radio airplay in Italy on 15 May 2020. In 2021, a sound pack for "Break My Heart" was included in GarageBand where users could create remixes for the song.

Animated video

"Break My Heart" was accompanied by an animated video, which is a fullscreen version of the vertical video. It was directed by Marco Pavone and premiered via YouTube on 8 May 2020. The video is set as taking place in the Andromeda Galaxy on the fictional planet of BMH1. The visual opens with an animated Lipa flying into BMH1, a colourless and desolate planet. She wears a pink space suit, reminiscent of animated TV series Totally Spies!. Lipa is in search of a jeweled heart, which she finds in a cave. However, when she begins to leave, a giant robot appears and begins to attack her. Lipa eventually fights off the robot and flies away. Throughout the animated video, clips of Lipa falling from the sky into a city, wearing a pink outfit, are also shown.

Live performances

Lipa has promoted "Break My Heart" with multiple live performances. She first performed the song with a virtual performance for Amazon Music UK on 30 March 2020. Lipa also gave a virtual performance of the song for The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on 8 April of that year. The performance featured Lipa sitting in front of a blank wall before the background started changing to city time-lapses and eventually to the Tonight Show set. On 22 April 2020, she virtually performed the song on Big Brother Brasil 20. Lipa performed the song for Graduate Together: America Honors the High School Class of 2020 on 16 May. Lipa performed an acoustic version of the song for the FIFA 21 world premiere on 1 October 2020. It was included on the setlist of Lipa's 2022 Future Nostalgia Tour.

Remixes