About The Song
“When You Put Your Heart in It” is a country-pop single recorded by Kenny Rogers and released on Reprise Records on August 13, 1988. Written by Jimmy (James P.) Dunne and Austin Roberts, it was issued as the first single from Rogers’ 1989 studio album Something Inside So Strong. The track runs around three minutes and forty seconds and originally appeared on 7-inch singles with an instrumental version on the B-side. On the charts, it reached No. 26 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks survey in the United States and No. 16 on Canada’s RPM Country Tracks, giving Rogers a solid late-1980s country hit.
The song belongs to a transitional period in Rogers’ recording career. After several years with RCA, he moved to Reprise, and Something Inside So Strong became his twenty-first studio album. Recorded in 1988–1989 with producer Jim Ed Norman (and additional production from Steve Dorff on one track), the album mixed adult-contemporary ballads and modern country material, featuring guest appearances by Gladys Knight, Anne Murray, Holly Dunn and Ronald Isley. “When You Put Your Heart in It” was placed on the second half of the album alongside “The Vows Go Unbroken (Always True to You)” and “Maybe,” helping define the record’s emphasis on commitment, perseverance and shared effort.
Both of the song’s writers were already experienced in pop and country circles. Austin Roberts had enjoyed success as a singer and as the writer or co-writer of songs for other artists, while Jimmy Dunne (often credited as James P. Dunne) was active as a songwriter and producer in Nashville and Los Angeles. For Rogers they delivered a compact, radio-ready piece built around an easily understood central idea: that dedicating yourself fully to a shared goal can turn an unlikely dream into something real. Their composition left room for a strong chorus hook and a clean narrative progression, which suited Rogers’ conversational vocal style.
Lyrically, the song is framed as a reflection on a long, difficult journey that has finally started to pay off. The narrator recalls that their dream once looked like “one in a million” and “such a long shot,” but notes that somehow they have reached this point together. Verses describe a “long and winding” road that was “such a hard road,” emphasising setbacks and uncertainty, while the refrain repeats that “when you put your heart in it, it can take you anywhere.” Rather than focusing on one specific situation, the text uses broad, inclusive language—”we,” “together,” “the same dream that we share”—so the message can apply to relationships, careers, teams or any joint effort.
Musically, “When You Put Your Heart in It” sits comfortably in late-1980s country-pop. Jim Ed Norman’s production centres on reverb-tinged keyboards, electric piano and smooth rhythm guitar, supported by drums and bass in a steady mid-tempo groove. The arrangement leaves wide space around the vocal, adding background harmonies and light keyboard or string pads to lift the chorus without overwhelming it. The overall sound aligns with adult-contemporary radio of the period, but Rogers’ slightly rough, warm delivery keeps a country flavour at the core.
Although it was not one of Rogers’ biggest crossover hits, the single played an important role in keeping him on country playlists at the end of the 1980s. In the U.S. it gave him another Top 30 country entry; in Canada it fared even better by reaching the country Top 20. Beyond radio, the track found a second life in sports and television montages. It was used prominently in North American coverage of the 1988 Summer Olympics and later in official highlight videos for the 1991 World Series and Hockey Night in Canada’s closing montage for the 1991 Stanley Cup Finals, where its message about shared effort matched the imagery of teams reaching the top after long seasons of work.
Over time, “When You Put Your Heart in It” has come to be regarded as a representative deep cut from Rogers’ Reprise years. It appears on reissues and digital editions of Something Inside So Strong and on themed compilations that focus on inspirational or motivational songs in his catalogue. For listeners exploring his late-1980s work, the track offers a clear example of how he combined contemporary, radio-friendly production with lyrics that stress perseverance, partnership and belief in a shared dream.
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Lyric
We knew it was one in a million
It was such a long shot
But somehow we got here together
And who knows what will happen?
Anything can happen (anything can happen, anything)
If we keep getting better (keep getting better)
And we keep on believing
When you put your heart in it, it can take you anywhere
Who’s to say that we can’t make it?
It’s the same dream that we share
When you put your heart in it, it can take you anywhere
This road was so long and winding
It was such a hard road
But we couldn’t stop once we had started
We were always getting closer
Suddenly it happens (suddenly it happens, suddenly)
A chance in a lifetime (a chance in a lifetime)
Now we’re gonna take it, we can make it
When you put your heart in it, it can take you anywhere
Who’s to say that we can’t make it?
It’s the same dream that we share
Keep on believing (keep on believing, keep on believing)
Keep on believing (keep on believing)
When you put your heart in it (when you put your heart), it can take you anywhere (anywhere)
Who’s to say that we can’t make it? (It’s not the same dream)
It’s the same dream that we share
When you put your heart in it, it can take you anywhere