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It's My Life (Bon Jovi song)

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"It's My Life"
Song

"It's My Life" is Bon Jovi's first single from the album Crush. It was released on May 23, 2000. It was written by Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora, and Max Martin. The song hit #1 across several countries (although it only reached #33 in the US).[1]

Background

The song has many classic Bon Jovi features, such as Sambora's use of the talk box, and a line in the second verse "For Tommy and Gina, who never backed down" refers to Tommy and Gina, a fictional working class couple that Bon Jovi and Sambora first wrote about in the 1986 classic "Livin' on a Prayer."

"It's My Life" is also notable for its line referencing Frank Sinatra: "My heart is like an open highway / Like Frankie said / I did it 'My Way'." Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora apparently had a disagreement over those lines, with Bon Jovi recalling:[2]

I had just come home from making U-571 and I said "Sinatra made 16 movies and toured 'til he was 80. This is my role model". He [Sambora] said, "You can't write that damn lyric. Nobody cares about Frank Sinatra but you." And I wrote it anyway.

Response from fans

The song became an anthem that appealed to many fans. As Jon Bon Jovi later stated:[3]

When I was writing "It's My Life", I thought I was writing very self-indulgently about my own life and where I was in it. I didn't realize that the phrase "It's My Life" would be taken as being about everyone--by teenagers, by older guys, mechanics, whatever. "It's my life, and I'm taking control". Everyone kind of feels that way from time to time.

Music video

The music video was directed by Wayne Isham. Will Estes (as Tommy) and Shiri Appleby (as Gina) are the two main characters (as it says in the lyrics "for Tommy and Gina, who never back down"[original research?]). At the beginning, Tommy is watching a video of a Bon Jovi concert on his computer. Gina calls and during the whole video, Tommy runs through the streets of Los Angeles up to the concert, getting chased by dogs, running a marathon, posing for pictures, and jackknifing a truck. The video was inspired by the movie Run Lola Run.[4] Jon Bon Jovi met Will Estes on the set of U-571 and chose him to be in the video.

Track listings and versions

Major formats released for "It's My Life":

Official versions and remixes

The following versions and remixes were commercially released.

  • Main version — 3:46
  • Acoustic version — 3:41
  • Dave Bascombe Mix — 3:44

Acoustic version

A much slower, acoustic ballad version of the song is featured on Bon Jovi's 2003 album This Left Feels Right, a collection of their greatest hits that were readapted into new formats. This version was also released as a single.

Awards

Won:

  • "Video Of The Year" at the VH1 My Music Awards[5]
  • Chosen as one of the greatest songs of the year at the ASCAP Pop Music Awards

Nominated:

Charts and certifications

Cover versions

References

  1. ^ "Allmusic (Bon Jovi charts & awards) Billboard singles".
  2. ^ "Jon Bon Jovi recalls "It's My Life"". The Rock Radio. October 21, 2005. Retrieved 2009-01-26.
  3. ^ "Bon Jovi Popularity Soars in Germany". Deutsche Welle. October 12, 2005. Retrieved 2009-01-26.
  4. ^ Alex Gernandt: Bon Jovi, 2. edition, Goldmann, München 2001, ISBN 3442428513, p 261
  5. ^ "Creed, Hill Lead My VH1 Awards". Billboard. Retrieved 2010-10-10. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h Hit Parade (2000). "International charts". Retrieved 2009-01-26.
  7. ^ a b c d Billboard magazine (2000). "Billboard charts". All Music Guide. Retrieved 2009-01-26.
  8. ^ Sexton, Paul (July 10, 2000). "Corrs Bump Eminem From Top Of U.K. Chart". Billboard magazine. Retrieved 2009-01-26.
  9. ^ a b Universität Würzburg (2000). "German Annual Chart". ki.informatik.uni-wuerzburg.de. Retrieved 2009-01-26.
  10. ^ Irish Music Recording Association (May 25, 2000). "Irish Singles Chart (searchable database)". irishcharts.ie. Retrieved 2009-01-26.
  11. ^ a b Mariah-Charts (2000). "Weekly Charts". Retrieved 2009-01-10.
  12. ^ "Australian year-end chart". ARIA. 2000. Retrieved 2009-01-26.
  13. ^ Austrian Charts (2000). "Austrian Annual Chart". Retrieved 2009-01-26.
  14. ^ Ultra Top (2000). "Flemish Annual Chart". Retrieved 2009-01-26.
  15. ^ Ultra Top (2000). "Walloon Annual Chart". Retrieved 2009-01-26.
  16. ^ Syndicat national de l'édition phonographique (2000). "French Annual Chart". Disque En France. Retrieved 2009-01-26.
  17. ^ a b Sverigetopplistan (2000). "Swedish charts". Retrieved 2009-01-26.
  18. ^ Hit Parade (2000). "Swiss Annual Chart". Retrieved 2009-01-26.
  19. ^ http://www.rtl.de/cms/unterhaltung/tv-programm/show/die-ultimative-chartshow/hits-neue-jahrtausend-download.html
  20. ^ Austrian Recording Industry Association (2000). "Australian Certification". Retrieved 2009-01-26.
  21. ^ Australian Recording Industry Association. "Criteria". Retrieved 2009-01-26.
  22. ^ International Federation of the Phonographic Industry — Austria (August 2, 2000). "Austrian Certification (searchable database)". ifpi.at. Retrieved 2009-01-26.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  23. ^ a b c Recording Industry Association of Japan (2005). "Standard for Certifying Awards of Countries" (PDF). riaj.or.jp. Retrieved 2009-01-26.
  24. ^ a b Syndicat national de l'édition phonographique (2000). "French Certification". Charts In France. Retrieved 2009-01-26. [dead link‍]
  25. ^ Template:Cite gold platin
  26. ^ International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (2000). "Criteria" (PDF). musikindustrie.de. Retrieved 2009-01-26. [dead link‍]
  27. ^ NVPI (2000). "Dutch Certification (searchable database)". Retrieved 2009-01-26.
  28. ^ a b Hit Parade (2000). "Swiss Certification". Retrieved 2009-01-26.
  29. ^ [1] The Washington Post.
Preceded by Italian FIMI Singles Chart number-one single
May 18, 2000 - June 15, 2000
June 22, 2000 - July 6, 2000 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Dutch Singles Chart number-one single
May 20, 2000 - June 10, 2000 		Succeeded by
"Jij bent de zon" by Jop
Swiss Singles Chart number-one single
May 28, 2000 - June 4, 2000 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
"Ich vermiss' dich... (wie die Hölle)" by Zlatko
 Austrian Singles Chart number-one single
June 4, 2000 - June 18, 2000
Preceded by Eurochart Hot 100 Singles number-one single
June 24, 2000 - July 22, 2000 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Belgium (Flemish) Singles Chart number-one single
June 24, 2000 - July 22, 2000 		Succeeded by
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