Secret Heart

It opens Ron Sexsmith at 3:16 and was used in The X-Files episode "Babylon". Sexsmith told The Line of Best Fit in November 2024 that it was one of two love songs on the album, that his publisher Ronnie Vance did not initially want him to record it, and that Feist's version is better known. We found no statement from him about its subject. Writer Michael Barclay called it a classic of Canadian music in November 2025, and Sexsmith plays it in every show; setlist.fm counts 185 plays, second among his songs behind "Strawberry Blonde" at 186, out of 595 setlists. Vox ran a piece headlined "Secret Heart: Ron Sexsmith's simple voice" in May 1995.

Rod Stewart recorded it in 1998 for When We Were the New Boys, as track five at 4:07, released May 25, 1998 on Warner Bros; Elvis Costello suggested the song and Nick Lowe's "Shelly My Love" for that album, which reached 2 in the UK and 44 on the Billboard 200. Terry Gross noted the Stewart cover on Fresh Air in 2001 and had Sexsmith sing part of it. Feist recorded it on Let It Die (2005 per Wikipedia, 2004 per another source), and her version was used in the film Take This Waltz. Katey Sagal covered it on Covered (2013) and Raul Malo also sang it. One search summary claimed Nick Lowe covered it too, which we could not confirm. We do not know which recording our upload is, though it is presumably the album version.