It's My Life (Talk Talk song)

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“It's My Life”
“It's My Life” cover
Single by Talk Talk
from the album It's My Life
B-side "Does Caroline Know?"
Released January 1984
1990
Format 7" vinyl
12" vinyl
Recorded 1983
Genre Synthpop
Length 3:53
Label EMI
Parlophone
Writer(s) Mark Hollis
Tim Friese-Greene
Producer Tim Friese-Greene
Talk Talk singles chronology
"Another Word"
(1984)		 "It's My Life"
(1984)		 "Such a Shame"
(1984)
"I Believe in You"
(1988)
"It's My Life"
(1990)
"Life's What You Make It"
(1991)
Alternate cover
1990 cover
1990 cover
For other uses of the title, see It's My Life.

"It's My Life" is a synthpop song written by Mark Hollis and Tim Friese-Greene for Talk Talk's second album It's My Life (1984).

Contents

[edit] Talk Talk version

[edit] Background and writing

The song was the first collaboration between Hollis and Friese-Greene.[1] "It's My Life" was released as the album's lead single in January 1984 (see 1984 in music), which started their drift from straightforward New Romantic sound into more experimental albums. Both the song and the album are synthpop, but their instrumentation is richer than in the debut album. The single went #46 in UK charts - a relative disappointment - but reached #31 in the U.S. and Netherlands charts, #33 in Germany, #25 in France and #7 in Italy (where Talk Talk had a huge success).

In 1990, "It's My Life" was reissued to promote the compilation Natural History: The Very Best of Talk Talk. This time, the song was a major hit in the UK Top 40, charting at #13.

The song is also featured on the Rockstar Games video game for PlayStation Portable and PlayStation 2 Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories on the 'Flash FM' radio station. No Doubt released a cover version of "It's My Life" for its 2003 compilation album The Singles 1992-2003.

[edit] Music video

There are two versions of the video for "It's My Life." The first, envisioned by director Tim Pope as a statement against the banality of lip-synching, consists almost entirely of footage from nature documentaries, interspersed with shots of Talk Talk lead singer Mark Hollis standing in the midst of the London Zoo, with his mouth pointedly shut tight and often obscured by hand-drawn animated lines. The second version, recorded at the behest of EMI, consisted of the entirety of the original video projected on a green screen behind Hollis and his two bandmates as they lip-synched and mimed the song, deliberately poorly and with comic exaggerated gestures.

[edit] Formats and track listings

1984 release
7"-Single
  1. "It's My Life" – 3:53
  2. "Does Caroline Know?" – 4:36
12"-Single - North American
  1. "It's My Life" (extended version) – 6:14
  2. "It's My Life" (single version) – 3:51
  3. "Again, a Game…Again" – 4:09
12"-Single - Europe
  1. "It's My Life" (12" remix) – 6:16
  2. "Does Caroline Know?" – 4:33
  3. "It's My Life" (7" version) – 3:50
1990 reissue
7"-Single
  1. "It's My Life" – 3:53
  2. "Renée" (live) – 7:28
CD-Maxi
  1. "It's My Life" – 3:54
  2. "Renée" (live) – 7:28
  3. "It's My Life" (live) – 7:58

[edit] Chart

Chart (1984)[2] [3] [4] [5] Peak
position
Dutch Singles Chart 31
French Singles Chart 25
Italian Singles Chart 7
UK Singles Chart 46
US Billboard Hot 100 31
Chart (1985) Peak
position
German Singles Chart 33
UK Singles Chart 93
Chart (1990) Peak
position
UK Singles Chart 13
German Singles Chart 49
Irish Singles Chart 23

[edit] Cover version by No Doubt

“It's My Life”
“It's My Life” cover
Single by No Doubt
from the album The Singles 1992-2003
Released December 30, 2003
Format CD, digital download
Recorded 2003
Genre Rock, new wave
Length 3:45
Label Interscope
Producer Nellee Hooper, No Doubt
Certification Platinum (ARIA), Gold (RIAA)
No Doubt singles chronology
"Running"
(2003)		 "It's My Life"
(2003)		 "TBA"
(2008/2009)

No Doubt recorded a cover version of the song to promote its compilation album The Singles 1992-2003. Because the band was taking a break while lead singer Gwen Stefani recorded her solo debut album Love. Angel. Music. Baby., it decided to do a cover to avoid having to write a new song.[6] The band listened to hundreds of songs and narrowed it down to "It's My Life" and INXS' 1982 song "Don't Change".[7] No Doubt had doubts on recording a cover and contemplated writing new material.[6] However, they decided on "It's My Life" after rehearsing the song with producer Nellee Hooper,[7] referring to it as a "feel good" song.[6] The song was nominated for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal at the 47th Grammy Awards but lost to Los Lonely Boys' "Heaven".[8] Jacques Lu Cont, the song's programmer, created the Thin White Duke mix of "It's My Life", which won the award for Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical.[9]

[edit] Chart performance

The cover was successful in the United States, reaching number ten on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and remaining on the chart for twenty-eight weeks.[10] It was moderately successful on adult contemporary stations, reaching number twenty on the Adult Contemporary chart, but had high longevity and appeared atop the Adult Top 40's recurrent chart. The single was more successful in clubs, peaking at number sixteen on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart, and had some play on modern rock stations, reaching number thirty-two on the Modern Rock Tracks.[11] The Recording Industry Association of America certified the digital download gold for selling half a million copies.[12]

On the UK Singles Chart, "It's My Life" debuted at number twenty but was unable to reach a higher position and dropped off the chart after seven weeks. It was more across Europe, reaching the top ten in Italy, Finland, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden and the top twenty in Austria, Belgium, France, and Switzerland.[10] The single reached number seven on the ARIA Singles Chart, lasting seventeen weeks on the chart,[10] and was listed at number eighty-one on the 2004 end of year chart.[13] The Australian Recording Industry Association certified the single platinum in 2004 for shipping 70,000 copies.[14] "It's My Life" reached number two behind OutKast's "Hey Ya!" for three weeks on the United World Chart. It spent over six months on the chart, during two thirds of which it remained in the top ten.[10] The song was listed at number seven on the 2004 countdown with recorded sales of 4,827,000 copies.[15]

[edit] Music video

Gwen Stefani in trial from the music video.
Gwen Stefani in trial from the music video.

The 1930s-style music video was directed by David LaChapelle.[16] In the song's music video, Stefani portrays a black widow whose look closely resembles that of actress Jean Harlow.[17], who is put on trial and sentenced to die for the murders of three men she knew. The first victim (played by Tom Dumont) dies when Stefani laces his dinner with rat poison, the second victim (Tony Kanal) dies when Stefani runs him down with her car, and the third victim (a house painter played by Adrian Young) dies in a bathtub after Stefani throws her hairdryer in there. In between the death scenes are scenes of Stefani in court and being dragged to the gas chamber where she is executed. The video ends with the three murder victims alive, laughing and watching her televised execution.

The music video was moderately successful on video chart programs. On MTV's Total Request Live, it reached number seven in November 2003[18] and was on the countdown as late as January 2004.[19] The video peaked at number eight on MuchMusic's Countdown and remained on the program through March 2004.[20] At the 2004 MTV Video Music Awards, "It's My Life" won the awards for Best Group Video and Best Pop Video. It also received nominations for Best Direction, Best Cinematography, and Best Art Direction but lost to Jay-Z's "99 Problems" twice and "Hey Ya!" respectively.[21]

[edit] Formats and track listings

CD single
  1. "It's My Life" – 3:48
  2. "Sunday Morning" (live) – 4:49
  3. "Rock Steady" (live) – 5:53
  4. "Bathwater" (live) – 4:01

[edit] Charts

Chart (2003)[10][11][22] Peak
position
Austrian Singles Chart 12
Belgian Singles Chart 11
German Singles Chart 9
Irish Singles Chart 6
UK Singles Chart 17
Chart (2004) Peak
position
Australian ARIA Singles Chart 7
Dutch Top 40 4
Italian Singles Chart 7
French Singles Chart 19
Swedish Singles Chart 4
Swiss Singles Chart 12
United World Chart 2
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 10
U.S. Billboard Top 40 Adult Recurrents 1
U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play 16
U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary 20
U.S. Billboard Modern Rock Tracks 32

[edit] References

  1. ^ Irvin, Jim. "Paradise Lost". Mojo: 50–6. February 2006.
  2. ^ "It's My Life", in various Singles Chart Lescharts.com (Retrieved February 15, 2008)
  3. ^ Billboard Billboard.com (Retrieved February 15, 2008)
  4. ^ German Singles Chart Charts-surfer.de (Retrieved February 15, 2008)
  5. ^ Irish Singles Chart Irishcharts.ie (Retrieved February 15, 2008)
  6. ^ a b c Vineyard, Jennifer and Pak, SuChin."No Doubt To Tell Fans 'It's My Life'". MTV News. September 15, 2003. Retrieved September 5, 2007.
  7. ^ a b Montoya, Paris and Lanham, Tom. "It's My Life". The Singles 1992-2003. Interscope Records. November 25, 2003.
  8. ^ "Grammy Awards 2005: Key winners". BBC News. February 14, 2005. Retrieved September 5, 2007.
  9. ^ "47th Grammy Award Winners Announced". American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers. Retrieved September 5, 2007.
  10. ^ a b c d e "No Doubt - It's My Life - Music Charts". αCharts.us. Retrieved September 5, 2007.
  11. ^ a b "The Singles 1992-2003". All Music Guide. Retrieved January 8, 2007.
  12. ^ "Searchable Database". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved September 5, 2007.
  13. ^ "ARIA Charts - End Of Year Charts - Top 100 Singles 2004". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved September 5, 2007.
  14. ^ "ARIA Charts - Accreditations - 2004 Singles". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved January 8, 2007.
  15. ^ "Tracks Countdown 2004". Media Traffic. 2005. Retrieved August 18, 2007.
  16. ^ Vineyard, Jennifer and Moss, Corey. "Gwen Stefani Bumps Off Bandmates In 'It's My Life'". MTV News. October 27, 2003. Retrieved December 30, 2006.
  17. ^ Vineyard, Jennifer. "Gwen Stefani Feeling Hella Good About Role In Scorsese Flick". MTV News. February 13, 2004. Retrieved May 21, 2007
  18. ^ "The TRL Archive - Recap - November 2003". ATRL. Retrieved September 5, 2007.
  19. ^ "The TRL Archive - Recap - January 2004". ATRL. Retrieved September 5, 2007.
  20. ^ "MuchMusic Countdown". MuchMusic. Retrieved September 5, 2004.
  21. ^ "MTV Awards 2004: The winners". BBC News. August 3, 2004. Retrieved September 5, 2007.
  22. ^ It's my life by No Doubt peaked up to #1 in Argentina
Preceded by
"Hold Me Now" by Thompson Twins		 Hot Dance Club Play number-one single
(Talk Talk version)
April 14, 1984		 Succeeded by
"I Want It to Be Real" by John Rocca
v • d • e
No Doubt
Tom Dumont · Tony Kanal · Gwen Stefani · Adrian Young
John Spence · Eric Stefani
Touring band: Stephen Bradley · Gabrial McNair
Albums
Compilations
DVDs
Related articles