The Back-Burner: Aerosmith Outtakes & Demos

“Heart Of Passion” is a rejected ballad from Aerosmith’s Nine Lives sessions. A demo was recorded during the 1996 South Beach sessions under Glen Ballard’s production.

It’s a very soft, slow and Christmas-like song. The demo mix does not include drums, it is unknown if the song was intended to be a more acoustic song, or if a drum track was simply never recorded in time. The background instrumentation is somewhat lost in the mix, they don’t seem to be contributing much as only orchestrate the overall chords for Tyler to sing on top of. His vocals clearly shine as the predominant instrument, hitting outstandingly high pitched notes in the chorus. The demo features a couple of different synth keyboard sounds, a distorted guitar and soft percussion bongos during the chorus and a click-track to keep the tempo, making it obvious that this mix was a work in progress with additional instruments yet to be recorded. It follows more of the format and chord structure of Get a Grip’s “Amazing” (considering how Aerosmith songs tend to be riff-oriented with few chord changes, rather than this more complex multi-section chord pattern).

The song starts directly with the first section of the verse, keyboard and voice together leading to the second section of the verse. A melodic pre-chorus announces the arrival of the chorus with trademark screaming high pitched vocals by Tyler. As the song comes to a pause, the second verse hits followed by a reiteration of the chorus that feels more powerful, and this time comes is complemented with a second section to extend the chorus where the bongos in the background complement the melody. This leads to an vocal jam section with unfinished lyrics that is intended to work as a bridge with a jazzy feel, resulting in an additional break. The chorus hits again after a reprise of the B section of the verse is played, and after a final pause after the chorus, a softer A section of the verse is played again, taking the song full circle.

As with any romantic ballad, the lyrics talk of love, passion and broken hearts. It seems to speak of a man falling in love for the very first time, feeling great for a while (“love loves to high, in the roads of emotion, I couldn’t die, in the throes of emotion:), only to find out that love can also be terribly hurtful, hence considering quitting (“well I don’t want no more, that’s why I’m out the door”).

Other than the fact that the demo never got all its tracks fully recorded, the song was possibly omitted because it feels like more of a Tyler solo pop track, rather than an Aerosmith song. It could perhaps be a better fit for a Disney soundtrack.

It’s unknown who the writers of the song could have been, but an ASCAP entry lists Riche Supa and Steven Tallarico as the writers for a song called “Throws of Emotion”, a phrase heavily repeated during the chorus. It is quite possible then that “Hear of Passion” was only a working title.

During backstage footage of the 2007 tour, Steven can be heard warming vocals with Russ Irwin when Tyler recalls the melody of the chorus of “Heart of Passion” but is uncertain of the name of the song. When Irwin is asked to play the song, he is unsure which song Tyler is talking about and plays the chords of one of his own compositions with a similar chord structure, confusing Tyler and disregarding the song.

A couple of fan covers exist online in 2 different keys that follow the original song structure.

Heart Of Passion
(Tyler, Ballard?, Supa?, ?)

Love is the passion of the heart,
Sometimes the arrow finds its mug,
I wish I may I wish i might,
Somehow to make it be alright,

The light crisps in, the day begins,
With voices in my head,
A sleeping crib, I can’t forget,
The sake of her in bed,

Every end my heart must bear,
It’s like a friend who turns and walks away,
From here it’s like a tear,
But sometimes pains too much,
A price to pay…

Love loves to high,
In the roads of emotion,
I couldn’t die,
In the throws of emotion,

Sometimes the love you get ain’t good enough,
Although you love is tough,
And ’cause it crows your floor,
Is that what people say that love is for,
Well I don’t want no more,
That is why I’m out the door…

Love is the passion of the heart,
Sometimes the arrow finds its mug,
I wish I may I wish I might,
Somehow to make it be all right,

Love loves to high,
In the throws of emotion,
I couldn’t die,
In the throws of emotion,

Una,una,una,una,una,una,una,una,una,
una,una,una,una,una,una,una,ahhhh!!!…

Una,una,una,una,
Una,una,una,uuu,
Labadabatau, labadababadabu…

When your heart is torn,
And your brose is torn,
And your frozen in your fills,

Your nightmare dreams,
Are a full of screams,
No one ever feels,

Love loves to high,
In the throws of emotion,
I couldn’t die,
In the throws of emotion,

Sometimes the love you get ain’t good enough,
Although you love is tough,
And cause it cows your floor,
Is that what people say that love is for,
Well I don’t want no more,
That is why I’m out the door…

Love is the passion of the heart,
It’s like a bridge into the dark,
I wish i may i wish i might,
Somehow to make it be all right…

Chords:
Verses:
F – A# – C – F – F – A# – C
Dm – Am – A# – C – F
Dm – F – Dm – F – A# – C (x2)
Pre-chorus:
Dm – A# – G – C
F – A# – G – C
Chorus:
F – D# – A# – C
F – D# – A# – C
A# – G# – D# – C#