# Heart and Soul on the radio **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 14, 2025, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heart-and-soul-on-the-radio/1023964 "2025-10-14T16:54:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2025, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heart-and-soul-on-the-radio/1023964/1 "2025-10-14T16:54:49Z")
I’m in the local pharmacy picking up a couple refills, and like many companies do, they have a radio station playing songs quietly on the PA system. A new tune starts and my initial reaction is “Ha! They’re riffing on ‘Heart & Soul’, good satirical leadoff”. But they weren’t. Someone has actually recorded a cover of Heart and Soul and it’s making the airwaves! Maybe nobody not of my generation would understand why I was stifling giggles, but back in the day, when a high percentage of families had a piano in the house, all the kids would play this duet [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/4CSuPilb5I0/maxresdefault.jpg "Play "Heart and Soul" (Famous Piano Duet!) Piano Tutorial") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CSuPilb5I0&t=44) Parents everywhere would wince, “oh not THAT again…” And yes, always in C major, with exactly this arrangement in the bass, single-note melody in the treble, this rhythm, and no phrasing to speak of. ---
**Author:** ![Author\_Balk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Author\_Balk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Author_Balk)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2025, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heart-and-soul-on-the-radio/1023964/2 "2025-10-14T18:50:35Z")
A few years ago the group Train did a song called Play That Song. It borrows a lot from Heart and Soul. I like the song. I guess I don’t know the trick to put in a youtube video. ---
**Author:** ![Hatchie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hatchie/32/3983_2.png) [@Hatchie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hatchie)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2025, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heart-and-soul-on-the-radio/1023964/3 "2025-10-14T19:27:36Z")
It’s one of the easiest things to learn on the piano, after “Chopsticks”. When I was in first grade, I was jealous of anyone who could sit down and play an actual tune. That means you, Doug Bradley! I always pictured a woman doing a sexy walk when I heard it. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2025, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heart-and-soul-on-the-radio/1023964/4 "2025-10-14T21:32:07Z")
Jan and Dean and the Cleftones both charted in the same week in 1961 with two different recordings of “Heart and Soul”. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2025, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heart-and-soul-on-the-radio/1023964/5 "2025-10-14T21:36:58Z")
I take it we’re not talking about the Huey Lewis song. ---
**Author:** ![Jaycat.again](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat.again/32/11525_2.png) [@Jaycat.again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaycat.again)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2025, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heart-and-soul-on-the-radio/1023964/6 "2025-10-14T22:04:22Z")
Nor the Joy Division one. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2025, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heart-and-soul-on-the-radio/1023964/7 "2025-10-16T00:49:45Z")
> [@Hatchie](#): > > It’s one of the easiest things to learn on the piano, after “Chopsticks”. First “Chopsticks”, then “Peter, Peter Pumpkin Eater” (on the black keys). Then “Heart and Soul”. ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2025, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heart-and-soul-on-the-radio/1023964/8 "2025-10-16T11:19:04Z")
I like it because it is the easiest way to explain to some what a I-vi-ii-V chord progression sounds like…“Like Heart and Soul” And that progression is almost as common as a ii-V-I, and shows up pretty much everywhere as a turnaround in jazzier tunes. ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2025, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heart-and-soul-on-the-radio/1023964/9 "2025-10-16T16:29:59Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > like many companies do, they have a radio station playing songs quietly on the PA system Aside, I’m surprised it wasn’t the Elton/Dua Cold Heart mix which seems to be played about every second or third song in retail PAs. Those hooky popworms really smooth the wrinkles on my brain. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2025, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heart-and-soul-on-the-radio/1023964/10 "2025-10-16T16:53:16Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > I take it we’re not talking about the Huey Lewis song. > [@Jaycat.again](#): > > Nor the Joy Division one. Nor the T’Pau one. ---
**Author:** ![Author\_Balk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Author\_Balk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Author_Balk)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2025, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heart-and-soul-on-the-radio/1023964/11 "2025-10-16T17:05:19Z")
Have we eliminated Play That Song by Train? [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/J5qWnG5RQTk/maxresdefault.jpg "Train - Play That Song (Official Video)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5qWnG5RQTk) ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2025, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heart-and-soul-on-the-radio/1023964/12 "2025-10-17T20:40:35Z")
If only that were possible.