Queen of Hearts is a country-pop song written by Hank DeVito, the pedal steel guitarist in Emmylou Harris's backing group The Hot Band. It was first recorded by Dave Edmunds on his 1979 album Repeat When Necessary. Edmunds' version was released as a single and reached number 11 in the UK and number 12 in Ireland that year, but failed to chart substantially elsewhere in the world. The most successful version of the song was recorded by Juice Newton in 1981 - her version reached number two in the United States and South Africa. Newton's version also reached the top 10 in Canada, Australia, Denmark, Switzerland and New Zealand.
British new wave and neo-rockabilly artist Dave Edmunds released the first recording of "Queen of Hearts" for his 1979 album Repeat When Necessary. The song came out as a single in the UK and was a hit there, reaching number 11. Edmunds wanted to have the single released in the US, but his label never released it: "I was just waiting for Swan Song, in their wisdom, to put it out in America, which they didn't do. ... Eventually, Juice Newton did it with an almost identical version and had a huge hit with it."
Following the Newton version, Edmunds felt uncomfortable performing the song live, as it was now associated primarily with Newton. He commented, "What bugged me is that I can't do it live now. 'Because to people it looks like, 'What's he doing a Juice Newton song for?' you know, but it's my song. Maybe now I could, but at the time, when it was a hit, I felt you would feel kinda weird about doing it, 'cuz there's no reason US audiences would know anything about my version of the song". In 1986, a live version by Dave Edmunds appeared on his album I Hear You Rockin'.
Following an appearance on the 1980 Rodney Crowell album But What Will the Neighbors Think, on which composer DeVito played guitar, "Queen of Hearts" had its highest-profile rendition in a version by country-rock singer Juice Newton from the 1981 album Juice. Newton would later recall: "I did ['Queen of Hearts'] live for about a year...Then I brought it to [producer] Richard Landis when we started the Juice album. He wasn't convinced at that point that it was a breakout song but I told him I think this is a real cool song … so we cut it". Newton's own favorite cut on the Juice album, "Queen of Hearts" was issued as the album's second single and would reach number two on the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks in September 1981, behind "Endless Love" by Diana Ross and Lionel Richie. While still at number two, "Queen of Hearts" was certified Gold for domestic sales of one million units.
"Queen of Hearts" also gave Newton her second huge international hit, with top 10 chart positions in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, and Switzerland, and more moderate success in Austria, Germany, and the Netherlands. Her recording of the song earned Newton a 1982 Grammy nomination for Best Female Vocalist, Country and Western category, "Queen of Hearts" having been a number 14 country hit. In June 2014, Newton's version of the song was ranked number 92 by Rolling Stone on its list of the 100 greatest country songs of all time.
Lyrics:
Midnight, and I'm a-waitin' on the twelve-oh-five
Hopin' it'll take me just a little farther down the line
Moonlight, you're just a heartache in disguise
Won't you keep my heart from breakin'
If it's only for a very short time?
Playin' with the Queen of Hearts
Knowin' it ain't really smart
The Joker ain't the only fool
Who'll do anythin' for you
Layin' out another lie
Thinkin' 'bout a life of crime
'Cause that's what I'll have to do
To keep me away from you
Honey, you know it makes you mad
Why is everybody tellin' everybody what you have done?
Baby, I know it makes you sad
But when they're handin' out the heartaches
You know you got to have you some
Playin' with the Queen of Hearts
Knowin' it ain't really smart
The Joker ain't the only fool
Who'll do anythin' for you
Layin' out another lie
Thinkin' 'bout a life of crime
'Cause that's what I'll have to do
To keep me away from you
Lovers, I know you've had a few
But hide your heart beneath the covers
And tell 'em they're the only one
And others, they know just what I'm goin' through
And it's a-hard to be a lover
When you say you're only in it for fun
Playin' with the Queen of Hearts
Knowin' it ain't really smart
The Joker ain't the only fool
Who'll do anythin' for you
Playin' with the Queen of Hearts
And knowin' it ain't really smart
The Joker ain't the only fool
Who'll do anythin' for you
Layin' out another lie
Thinkin' 'bout a life of crime
'Cause that's what I'll have to do
To keep me away from you
Playin' with the Queen of Hearts
Playin' with the Queen of Hearts
Playin' with the Queen of Hearts
Playin' with the Queen of Hearts