Beating Heart (Ellie Goulding song)

British singer-songwriter Joe Janiak wrote the original version of "Beating Heart" on banjo in 2012. He took inspiration from dropping off his American girlfriend at the London airport, before Goulding heard the song and reworked some of the lyrics.[2] On 23 January 2014, it was confirmed that Goulding's "Beating Heart" would be included on the soundtrack to the 2014 film Divergent, based on the dystopian novel of the same name by Veronica Roth. According to Divergent director Neil Burger, "We started working on the film with songs from Ellie Goulding's album Halcyon and soon found that the texture of her music and the tone of her voice matched perfectly with our film."[3] In an interview with Matt Lauer on the American morning television show Today on 12 March, Goulding said, "I had the song, and I performed it and recorded it, and I had given it to Greg Kurstin to produce it. I didn't know they were gonna use it for the film, but actually, when I thought about it, I thought it was kind of perfect, and it really suited the whole theme."[4] The song plays over the end credits of Divergent.[5]

While filming the music video for "Beating Heart", Goulding told MTV News that the song is about "being away from someone or knowing that you're always going to have to be apart from someone that you really love." She added, "And it's painful, but it's hopeful because there's always a chance that they'll collide again like two people collide. Like the universe will bring them back together. I think the song is basically that. Sort of relying on the fact that if you're meant to be drawn back together you will be."[6]

A lyric video for "Beating Heart" premiered on the Entertainment Weekly website on 24 February 2014, featuring scenes from Divergent.[7][8] That same day, the song debuted on BBC Radio 1 as Zane Lowe's Hottest Record.[1][9][10] On 25 February, the track was made available for pre-order as part of the Divergent soundtrack album on iTunes in North America.[11] "Beating Heart" was officially sent to contemporary hit radio stations in the United States on 22 April 2014 and in the United Kingdom on 28 April.[12][13]

Goulding appeared on the NBC morning television show Today on 12 March 2014 to perform an acoustic version of the song.[4] On 13 April, Goulding performed "Beating Heart" at the 2014 MTV Movie Awards, followed by a performance of Zedd's song "Find You"—also from the Divergent soundtrack—featuring Matthew Koma and Miriam Bryant.[14] She also performed the song on The Ellen DeGeneres Show on 15 April.[15]

"Beating Heart" made its first chart appearance on the Canadian Hot 100, where it debuted and peaked at number 79 on the issue dated 15 March 2014.[16] The song debuted at number 98 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart dated 5 April 2014, having sold 55,000 downloads as of 23 March.[17] The following week, it rose to its peak position of number 88.[18] In Australia, "Beating Heart" entered the ARIA Singles Chart at number 52,[19] peaking at number 38 the following week.[20] The single debuted at number 20 on the New Zealand Singles Chart, falling to number 27 the following week.[21] In early June 2014, "Beating Heart" debuted on the UK Singles Chart at number nine with 23,849 copies sold, becoming Goulding's seventh top-10 single.[22]

The music video for "Beating Heart" was directed by Ben Newbury,[23] and shows Goulding in her fear landscape. The video begins with Goulding standing in a dark room drinking the simulation serum like the serum in the film and sees herself in a simulation, where she is in a misty forest. She meets a mysterious boy (model Diego Barrueco)[24] in the forest, and as she turns to walk away, she is pulled closer to him. The simulation ends and Goulding is seen standing in the same dark room.

Following the premiere of the video on 11 March 2014 on MTV and MTV.com, Goulding joined Divergent stars Shailene Woodley and Theo James for an interview with MTV News correspondent Christina Garibaldi to discuss the film, streaming live from MTV's New York City studio.[25] The video was made available exclusively for 24 hours on MTV.com after it premiered.[26] On 28 March 2014, the music video was uploaded to Goulding's official YouTube account.[27]

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Divergent: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack.[30]

• Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics