The Heart of the Matter (song)
"The Heart of the Matter" is a song recorded by American rock singer Don Henley from his third solo studio album, The End of the Innocence. Written by Henley, Mike Campbell, and J. D. Souther and produced by Henley, Campbell, and Danny Kortchmar, the song was released as the album's third single, reaching No. 21 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 2 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks in early 1990.
The shorter radio edit version omits the "I'm learning to live without you now, but I miss you baby" lyric and skips directly to "I've been trying to get down to the heart of the matter".
In 1994 Henley, along with the Eagles, played an acoustic version of the song at their reunion concert; the performance was omitted from the Hell Freezes Over live album, but was included in the concert DVD.
The song was covered by American soul singer India.Arie in 2006 on her third studio album, . Her version of the song is used in the second episode of Brothers & Sisters, entitled "An Act of Will", and in the theatrical trailer for the 2008 film adaptation of Sex and the City. It is also played briefly in a scene of the film.
The song has often been speculated to have been influenced by the 1948 Graham Greene novel of the same name. In 2010, best-selling author Emily Giffin released preview copies of her novel, also titled Heart of the Matter, which many sources believe to be loosely based on the song's core lyrics.
Stage and television actress Megan Hilty recorded a cover on her 2013 debut solo album It Happens All the Time.
Canadian singer Nikki Yanofsky recorded a live acoustic cover for her 2010 DVD Live in Montreal.
Composition
In a November 2003 interview with Songfacts, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers guitarist and primary songwriter Mike Campbell explained the song's origins:Charts
Don Henley version
;Weekly charts| Chart | Peak position |
| U.S. Billboard Billboard Hot 100 | 21 |
| U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks | 2 |
| U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary | 3 |
;Year-end charts
| Chart | Position |
| Canada Top Singles | 51 |