A bittersweet ode to a love that’s run its course.
For those of a certain age, the names Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell conjure a powerful sense of nostalgia, a soundtrack to a time of dusty roads, honky-tonks, and the kind of heartache that feels both universal and profoundly personal. Their collaborations, from the early days of Emmylou’s Hot Band to their later reunion on the magnificent album Old Yellow Moon, have always possessed a special kind of magic. And within that magic, few songs resonate as deeply as “Hanging Up My Heart.”
Released in 2013 on the album Old Yellow Moon, a record that felt like a long-awaited reunion of two musical soulmates, “Hanging Up My Heart” wasn’t a smash hit in the way some of their earlier work might have been. It didn’t climb to the top of the Billboard Hot 100, but that’s never been the measure of true artistry in country music. Its success was measured in a different currency: the quiet, profound appreciation of a generation that understood the weight of its words. It was a sleeper hit, finding its place on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart, a testament to its enduring appeal among true country music connoisseurs. This was a song for late nights and rearview mirrors, for those moments when you finally admit a truth you’ve been avoiding.
The story behind the song is one of shared experience and a deep, intuitive understanding between two artists. While Emmylou and Rodney have a long and intertwined history, “Hanging Up My Heart” was a new composition, penned by the masterful writer Hank DeVito. DeVito, a long-time member of Emmylou’s Hot Band, had a front-row seat to the triumphs and heartbreaks of the country music world, and he poured that wisdom into the lyrics. The song’s genesis lies in a simple, painful observation: the point at which you have to admit that a relationship, no matter how cherished, has reached its natural end. It’s about that final, weary decision to stop fighting for something that’s already gone.
The meaning of “Hanging Up My Heart” is right there in the title, but its true power lies in the quiet devastation of its delivery. It’s not an angry song; it’s a song of surrender. The lyrics paint a picture of someone who has tried, and tried again, to make a love work, but has finally reached the point of exhaustion. It’s the moment when you take all the hope and all the effort you’ve poured into a relationship and, with a heavy sigh, put it away for good. The imagery of “hanging up” the heart is so evocative, like an old coat no longer needed, a symbol of a life and a love that’s now in the past. It speaks to a profound sense of loss, not of a person, but of a dream.
The duet between Emmylou and Rodney is what elevates this song from a simple ballad to a masterpiece of emotional resonance. Their voices, both weathered and full of lived-in experience, intertwine with a seamless intimacy that can only come from decades of shared music and friendship. Rodney’s gentle, almost mournful lead vocal is met by Emmylou’s ethereal harmonies, a shimmering ghost of a past love. They don’t just sing the words; they inhabit them. You can hear the ache in their delivery, the shared knowledge of what it means to love and lose. For anyone who has ever had to walk away from a relationship they once believed in, this song is a mirror, reflecting a truth that’s both heartbreaking and strangely liberating. It’s the sound of letting go, of making peace with the past, and finally, of finding a quiet kind of freedom in the stillness that follows.