It's My Life (Talk Talk song)



"It's My Life" is a song by the English new wave band Talk Talk. Written by Mark Hollis and Tim Friese-Greene, it was the title track on the band's second album and released as its first single in January 1984. It reached #46 in the UK charts, but did better in several other countries, reaching #33 in Germany, #32 in New Zealand, #25 in France and #7 in Italy. It was also a success in North America, entering the Top 40 in both the United States (#31) and Canada (#30). (Notably, it peaked at #1 on the U.S. Hot Dance Club Play chart.)

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 #13, the band's highest chart-placing single in its native country.

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 various places throughout the London Zoo. He keeps his hands in his coat pockets and his mouth pointedly shut tight, the latter often obscured by hand-drawn animated lines that occasionally appear in the documentary footage sequences as well.

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

 * 1984 release


 * 7" single
 * 1) "It's My Life" — 3:50
 * 2) "Does Caroline Know?" — 4:36


 * 12" single - North America
 * 1) "It's My Life" (extended version) — 6:14
 * 2) "It's My Life" — 3:50
 * 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" — 3:50


 * 1990 reissue


 * 7" single
 * 1) "It's My Life" – 3:50
 * 2) "Renée" (live) – 7:28


 * CD maxi
 * 1) "It's My Life" – 3:50
 * 2) "Renée" (live) – 7:28
 * 3) "It's My Life" (live) – 7:58

No Doubt version
The American rock band No Doubt recorded a cover version of the song to promote their first greatest hits album The Singles 1992–2003. Because the band was on hiatus, while lead singer Gwen Stefani recorded her solo debut studio album, they decided to record a cover to avoid having to write a new song. The band listened to hundreds of songs from the 1980s and narrowed it down to "It's My Life" and INXS' song "Don't Change". No Doubt were dubious about recording a cover and contemplated writing new material. However, they decided on "It's My Life" after rehearsing the song with producer Nellee Hooper, referring to it as a "feel good" song. The song was nominated for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal at the 47th Grammy Awards. 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.

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 performance
The cover was successful in the United States, reaching number 10 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and remaining on the chart for 28 weeks. On the Radio & Records CHR/Pop Airplay chart the song debuted at #41 on the October 10, 2003 issue and after six weeks reached and peaked at #5 staying there for two non-consecutive weeks, it remained on the top 10 of the chart for nine weeks and remained on it for twenty weeks. 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 Club Play chart, and had some play on modern rock stations, reaching number 32 on the Modern Rock Tracks. The Recording Industry Association of America certified the digital download gold for selling half a million copies.

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 7 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. The single reached number 7 on the ARIA Singles Chart, lasting 17 weeks on the chart, and was listed at number 81 on the 2004 end-of-year chart. The Australian Recording Industry Association certified the single platinum in 2004 for shipping 70,000 copies.

Music video


The 1930s-style music video was directed by David LaChapelle. In the song's music video, Stefani portrays a black widow whose look closely resembles that of actress Jean Harlow, 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. She kills the first man (Tom Dumont) with rat poison mixed into his dinner, the second (Tony Kanal) by running him over with her car, and the third (Adrian Young) by throwing her hair dryer into the bathtub to electrocute him. These scenes are intercut with moments of Stefani in court and being dragged to the gas chamber wearing a prison uniform where she is executed. The video ends with the three murder victims together presumably in the afterlife, laughing at her televised execution.

The music video was moderately successful on video chart programs. On MTV's Total Request Live, it reached number 7 in November 2003 and was on the countdown as late as January 2004. The video peaked at number 8 on MuchMusic's Countdown and remained on the program through March 2004. 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.

Formats and track listings

 * 2-track
 * 1) "It's My Life" — 3:46
 * 2) "Rock Steady" (live) — 5:53


 * CD single
 * 1) "It's My Life" — 3:46
 * 2) "Sunday Morning" (2002 live) — 4:49
 * 3) "Rock Steady" (2002 live) — 5:53
 * 4) "Bathwater" (2002 live) — 4:01


 * UK CD single
 * 1) "It's My Life" — 3:46
 * 2) "Rock Steady" (2002 live) — 5:53
 * 3) "Bathwater" (2002 live) — 4:01


 * UK re-issue "It's My Life" / "Bathwater" double A-side CD single
 * 1) "It's My Life" — 3:46
 * 2) "Bathwater" (Invincible Overlord Remix) — 3:07
 * 3) "It's My Life" (Jacques Lu Cont's Thin White Duke Mix) — 6:59
 * 4) "It's My Life" (Chocolate O'Brian Remix) — 5:43
 * 5) "Bathwater" (Invincible Overlord Remix Video)
 * 6) "It's My Life" (Video)

Official versions

 * "It's My Life" — 3:46
 * "It's My Life" (Jacques Lu Cont's Thin White Duke Mix) — 6:59
 * "It's My Life" (Chocolate O'Brien Remix) — 6:30
 * "It's My Life" (Dave Aude Remix) — 3:51 (unreleased)
 * "It's My Life" (Dave Aude Club Edit Mix) - 3:47