It's My Life (Talk Talk song)
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| "It's My Life" | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
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| Single by Talk Talk | ||
| from the album It's My Life | ||
| Released | January 1984 | |
| Genre | Synthpop | |
| Length | 3:53 | |
"It's My Life" is a song originally written and recorded by band Talk Talk. It was released as a single from their album It's My Life.
"It's My Life" was the first single from Talk Talk's second album in January 1984, 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 US 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, it charted at #13.
Contents |
[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.
The song is also features on the Rockstar Games video game for PlayStation Portable and PlayStation 2 Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories on the 'Flash FM' radio station.
[edit] Cover version by No Doubt
| "It's My Life" | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
||
| Single by No Doubt | ||
| from the album The Singles 1992-2003 | ||
| Released | December 30, 2003 | |
| Format | CD Single | |
| Genre | Pop rock | |
| Length | 3:45 | |
| Label | Interscope | |
| Writer(s) | Tim Friese-Greene, Mark Hollis | |
| Producer(s) | Nellee Hooper, No Doubt | |
| Certification | Platinum (ARIA)[1], Gold (RIAA) | |
| Chart positions | ||
| No Doubt singles chronology | ||
| "Running" (2003) |
"It's My Life" (2003) |
|
No Doubt recorded a cover version of the song to promote their compilation album The Singles 1992-2003. This cover version was again a major international hit; it reached number ten on the U.S. Hot 100 with an impressive chart run of twenty-eight weeks, number twenty on the UK Singles Chart, number nineteen in France, number nine in Germany, number twenty-three in Canada and number fourteen in Argentina, where peaked up to #1 once. [1]
[edit] Music video
The 1930s-style music video was directed by David LaChapelle.[2] In the song's music video, Gwen Stefani murders her three bandmates: she poisons Tom Dumont, drives a car into Tony Kanal, and electrocutes Adrian Young by throwing a hairdrier into his bathtub.[2] Scenes of Stefani's trial, her being carried away, and her gassing appear throughout the video. At the end, the victims are shown alive and laughing as they watch the televised trial.
In 2004, the video won the MTV Video Music Awards for Best Group Video and Best Pop Video. It also received nominations for Best Direction, Best Cinematography, and Best Art Direction at the MTV Video Music Awards and a nomination for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocal at the 2005 Grammy Awards.
[edit] Chart performance
| Chart (2003) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Austrian Top 75[3] | 12 |
| Chart (2004) | Peak position |
| Argentina Top 40 Singles[4] | 1 |
| Finnish Top 20[5] | 14 |
| French Top 100[6] | 19 |
| Swedish Top 60[7] | 4 |
| Swiss Top 100[8] | 12 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100[9] | 10 |
| U.S. Billboard Top 40 Adult Recurrents[9] | 1 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play[9] | 16 |
| U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary[9] | 20 |
| U.S. Billboard Modern Rock Tracks[9] | 32 |
[edit] References
- ^ "ARIA Charts - Accreditations - 2004 Singles". ARIA. Retrieved January 8, 2007.
- ^ a b Vineyard, Jennifer and Moss, Corey. "Gwen Stefani Bumps Off Bandmates In 'It's My Life'". MTV News. October 27, 2003. Retrieved December 30, 2006.
- ^ "No Doubt - It's My Life (Song)". AustrianCharts.at. Retrieved January 9, 2007.
- ^ It's my life by No Doubt peaked up to #1 in Argentina
- ^ "No Doubt - It's My Life (Song)". FinnishCharts.com. Retrieved January 9, 2007.
- ^ "No Doubt - It's My Life (Song)". LesCharts.com. Retrieved January 9, 2007.
- ^ "No Doubt - It's My Life (Song)". SwedishCharts.com. Retrieved January 9, 2007.
- ^ "No Doubt - It's My Life (Song)". HitParade.ch. Retrieved January 9, 2007.
- ^ a b c d e "The Singles 1992-2003". All Music Guide. Retrieved January 8, 2007.
