It's My Life (Talk Talk song)

"It's My Life" is a song by the British synthpop band Talk Talk. Written by Mark Hollis and Tim Friese-Greene, it was the title track on the band's second album in 1984. The song was released as a single in January 1984, then again in 1985, and a third time in 1990 when it finally became a hit and reached #13 in the UK. In 2003, it was covered by No Doubt whose version also made the UK Top 20.

Talk Talk version

History

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.  The single reached #46 in the UK charts, but did better in other countries; it reached #31 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and #1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Play, #30 in Canada and Netherlands, #33 in Germany, #32 in New Zealand, #25 in France and #7 in Italy.

The single was re-released in the UK in 1985, but this time only reached #93.  However, in 1990, "It's My Life" was reissued again to promote the compilation album Natural History:  The Very Best of Talk Talk.  This time, the song was a hit in the UK, reaching number 13, the band's highest chart-placing single.

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. It also is one of the songs played during gameplay for Activision Anthology for the Playstation 2. The song is featured on Saints Row: The Third on 'The Mix 107.77' radio station.

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 wildlife documentaries, interspersed with shots of Talk Talk lead singer Mark Hollis standing in the midst of 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 on guitar and vocals as well as his two bandmates as they lip-synched and mimed the song, deliberately poorly and with comic exaggerated gestures.

Track listings

Chart

No Doubt version

No Doubt recorded a cover version of the song to promote their greatest hits album The Singles 1992–2003. Because the band was on hiatus, while lead singer Gwen Stefani recorded her solo debut album Love. Angel. Music. Baby., they decided to record a cover to avoid having to write a new song.^[9] The band listened to hundreds of songs and narrowed it down to "It's My Life" and INXS' 1982 song "Don't Change".^[10] No Doubt were dubious about recording a cover and contemplated writing new material.^[9] However, they decided on "It's My Life" after rehearsing the song with producer Nellee Hooper,^[10] referring to it as a "feel good" song.^[9] The song was nominated for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal at the 47th Grammy Awards.^[11] 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.^[12]

This version was featured on the video game Karaoke Revolution Volume 2. On 9 December 2008 it was also made available as downloadable content for the Rock Band series.

Chart performances

The cover was successful in the United States, reaching number ten on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and remaining on the chart for 28 weeks.^[13] It was moderately successful on adult contemporary stations, reaching number 20 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 16 on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart, and had some play on modern rock stations, reaching number 32 on the Modern Rock Tracks.^[14] The Recording Industry Association of America certified the digital download gold for selling half a million copies.^[15]

On the UK Singles Chart, "It's My Life" debuted at number 20 but was unable to reach a higher position until it was released with a remix of the No Doubt song Bathwater which boosted the single up to number 17. The single dropped off the chart after seven weeks. It was more of a success across Europe, reaching the top ten in Italy, Finland, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden and the top 20 in Austria, Belgium, France, and Switzerland.^[13] The single reached number seven on the ARIA Singles Chart, lasting 17 weeks on the chart,^[13] and was listed at number 81 on the 2004 end-of-year chart.^[16] The Australian Recording Industry Association certified the single platinum in 2004 for shipping 70,000 copies.^[17]

Music video

The 1930s-style music video was directed by David LaChapelle.^[18] In the song's music video, Stefani portrays a black widow whose look closely resembles that of actress Jean Harlow,^[19] who is put on trial and sentenced to die for the murders of three men she knew, who are portrayed by the other members of the band. 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) is electrocuted in a bathtub after Stefani tosses her hairdryer into the tub. 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 in the afterlife, 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^[20] and was on the countdown as late as January 2004.^[21] The video peaked at number eight on MuchMusic's Countdown and remained on the program through March 2004.^[22] 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.^[23]

Formats and track listings

CD single / Australian CD

1. "It's My Life" – 3:48
2. "Sunday Morning" (2002 live) – 4:49
3. "Rock Steady" (2002 live) – 5:53
4. "Bathwater" (2002 live) – 4:01

2-track

1. "It's My Life" – 3:48
2. "Rock Steady" (live) – 5:53

Official versions

• "It's My Life" - 3:48
• "It's My Life" (Jacques Lu Cont's Thin White Duke Mix) - 6:59
• "It's My Life" (Chocolate O'Brien Remix) - 6:30 (unreleased)
• "It's MY Life" (Dave Aude Remix) - 3:51 (unreleased)

Charts

Certifications

References