Song #463: "Heart of Glass" by Blondie

Date: Apr 28, 1979
Weeks: 1

One of the great things about Blondie's best songs is that you can hear the 70s turning into the 80s. This song
is a great example of that. The backing drums and bass are very disco, but the keyboards and vocals are pure New Wave. On review of Wikipedia, I discovered this song was a bit controversial among punk fans at the time because of its disco sound. Blondie was accused of selling out by making their sound more mainstream, but in retrospect it seems more like they were just interested in trying out different musical styles, and they found a good one here.

This is another example of that early 80s "thin" sound I've referenced before. There is almost no lead guitar in this sound. Most of the music is in the bass line, with keyboards providing most of the treble side. There are some guitar rhythms as accents, but they aren't exactly the main thing happening musically here. I think that the thinness of the sound makes every part you do hear more enjoyable. The bass stands out, and it's a really good bass line. The rhythmic guitar line, despite being very subtle, manages to be catchy.

Debbie Harry's vocals are a great match for this sound, too. Her voice isn't particularly strong, so the music's restraint allows you to hear her. And her voice is very pleasant, especially in this song.

The lyrics are pretty clever. While the music and the vocals are playing like this is a sweet little love song about lost love, the lyrics are actually about how the singer realized her loving relationship wasn't so great after all, and she's glad it's over. There are a lot of songs that get sad about lost love, but this one is actually happy about it. "It seemed like the real thing but I was so blind."

My verdict: Like it. Blondie is a great band with a great sound, and this is one of their best songs. I'm glad it made this list.