"The Wild Side of Life" is a song made famous by

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

singer Hank Thompson. Originally released in 1952, the song became one of the most popular recordings in the genre's history, spending 15 weeks at number one on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

country chart Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...

,Whitburn, Joel, "Top Country Songs: 1944-2005," 2006. solidified Thompson's status as a country music superstar and inspired the

answer song An answer song, response song or answer record, is a song (usually a recorded track) made in answer to a previous song, normally by another artist. The concept became widespread in blues and R&B recorded music in the 1930s to the 1950s. Answer so ...

, "

It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels" is a 1952 country song written by J. D. "Jay" Miller, and originally recorded by Kitty Wells. It was an answer song to the Hank Thompson hit "The Wild Side of Life." The song — which blamed unfaith ...

" by

Kitty Wells Ellen Muriel Deason (August 30, 1919 – July 16, 2012), known professionally as Kitty Wells, was an American pioneering female country music singer. She broke down a barrier to women in country music with her 1952 hit recording "It Wasn't God W ...

.Malone, Bill, "Classic Country Music: A Smithsonian Collection" ((booklet included with '' Classic Country Music: A Smithsonian Collection'' 4-disc set). Smithsonian Institution, 1990).

Song history

"The Wild Side of Life" carries one of the most distinctive melodies of early country music, used in "Thrills That I Can't Forget" recorded by Welby Toomey and Edgar Boaz in 1925, "

I'm Thinking Tonight of My Blue Eyes "I'm Thinking Tonight of My Blue Eyes" is the title of a country/folk song by A. P. Carter. A. P. Carter was a collector of old songs and lyrics. ''I'm Thinking Tonight of My Blue Eyes'' is one of these old songs he discovered and it is said to ...

" by the

Carter Family Carter Family was a traditional American folk music group that recorded between 1927 and 1956. Their music had a profound impact on bluegrass, country, Southern Gospel, pop and rock musicians as well as on the U.S. folk revival of the 1960s. ...

in 1929, and "Great Speckled Bird" by

Roy Acuff Roy Claxton Acuff (September 15, 1903 – November 23, 1992) was an American country music singer, fiddler, and promoter. Known as the "King of Country Music", Acuff is often credited with moving the genre from its early string band and "hoedown ...

in 1936. By 1951, it was in the public domain, and neither songwriter shared credit for the music. That, along with the song's story of a woman shedding her role as domestic provider to follow the night life, combined to become one of the most famous country songs of the early 1950s. According to country music historian Bill Malone, "Wild Side" co-writer William Warren was inspired to create the song after his experiences with a young woman he met when he was younger—a honky tonk angel, as it were—who "found the glitter of the gay night life too hard to resist." Fellow historian Paul Kingsbury wrote that the song appealed to people who "thought the world was going to hell and that faithless women deserved a good deal of the blame."Kingsbury, Paul, "The Grand Ole Opry History of Country Music: 70 Years of the Songs, the Stars and the Stories," Opryland USA, Villard Books,

Random House Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by Germ ...

, New York, 1995. Jimmy Heap and His Melody Masters first recorded "Wild Side" in 1951, but never had a hit with the song. Thompson did, and his version spent three and one-half months atop the ''Billboard'' country chart in the spring and early summer of 1952. "Wild Side" was Thompson's first charting single since 1949's two-sided hit "Soft Lips"/"The Grass is Greener Over Yonder." Thompson had hooked up with producer Ken Nelson in the interim, and one of their first songs together was "Wild Side." Hank_Thompson_biography_at_AllMusic.html" ;"title="Huey, Steve, Hank Thompson biography at AllMusic">Huey, Steve, Hank Thompson biography at AllMusic] Clay Coppedge wrote a magazine article in 2006 called "A Classic Walk on the Wild Side" detailing the history of this song.

Title's influence

The song's title inspired Richard Flanagan
"Prophet of the neon wilderness"
', January 29, 2006 (reprinted as "Introduction", dated "October 2005", in the novel's digital edition, Canongate Books, 2009, ): ‘As

Algren Nelson Algren (born Nelson Ahlgren Abraham; March 28, 1909 – May 9, 1981) was an American writer. His 1949 novel ''The Man with the Golden Arm'' won the National Book Award and was adapted as the 1955 film of the same name. Algren articulated ...

admitted, the book “wasn’t written until long after it had been walked… I found my way to the streets on the other side of the Southern Pacific station, where the big jukes were singing something called ‘Walking the Wild Side of Life.’ I’ve stayed pretty much on that side of the curb ever since.” ’ the title of

Nelson Algren Nelson Algren (born Nelson Ahlgren Abraham; March 28, 1909 – May 9, 1981) was an American writer. His 1949 novel ''The Man with the Golden Arm'' won the National Book Award and was adapted as the 1955 film of the same name. Algren articulated ...

's 1956 novel ''

A Walk on the Wild Side ''A Walk on the Wild Side'' is a 1956 novel by Nelson Algren, also adapted into the 1962 film of the same name. Set in Depression era, it is "the tragi-comedy of Dove Linkhorn", a naive Texan drifting from his hometown to New Orleans. Algren n ...

'' (itself an influence on

Lou Reed Lewis Allan Reed (March 2, 1942October 27, 2013) was an American musician, songwriter, and poet. He was the guitarist, singer, and principal songwriter for the rock band the Velvet Underground and had a solo career that spanned five decades. ...

's 1972 song " Walk on the Wild Side").

Answer song

The lyric, "I didn't know God made honky tonk angels", and the tune's overall cynical attitude—Kingsbury noted the song "... just begged for an answer from a woman"—inspired "

", which was also based on the same melody. Recorded by

and released later in 1952, that song, too, became a No. 1 country hit. In "It Wasn't God…", Wells shifts the blame for the woman's infidelity to the man, countering that for every unfaithful woman there is a man who has led her astray.

Cover versions

There have been many cover versions of "The Wild Side of Life", several of which became hits in their own right.

Burl Ives Burl Icle Ivanhoe Ives (June 14, 1909 – April 14, 1995) was an American musician, actor, and author with a career that spanned more than six decades. Ives began his career as an itinerant singer and guitarist, eventually launching his own rad ...

had a top 10 hit with the song concurrent with Thompson's success, Ray Price recorded it on his "Night Life" LP in 1963, while

Freddy Fender Freddy Fender (born Baldemar Garza Huerta; June 4, 1937 – October 14, 2006) was an American Tejano, country and rock and roll musician, known for his work as a solo artist and in the groups Los Super Seven and the Texas Tornados. He was best ...

reached No. 13 on the ''Billboard'' Hot Country Singles chart in early 1976. It was also the only single by

Tommy Quickly Tommy Quickly (born Thomas Quigley, 7 July 1945, in Norris Green, Liverpool, Lancashire, England) is an English rock and roll singer who recorded mostly in the early 1960s. He was a later signing of artist manager Brian Epstein, whose biggest ac ...

to make the U.K. charts, reaching No. 33 in 1964. M.P.D Limited also did a much lesser known cover of this song on their 1967 LP - The Best Of M.P.D. Limited. Rod Stewart released a version of this song on his 1976 album, A Night On The Town. A version by the British rock band

Status Quo is a Latin phrase meaning the existing state of affairs, particularly with regard to social, political, religious or military issues. In the sociological sense, the ''status quo'' refers to the current state of social structure and/or values. W ...

reached the UK top 10 in 1976, peaking at #9. Quo's rock version featured, instead of

Alan Lancaster Alan Charles Lancaster (7 February 1949 – 26 September 2021) was an English musician, best known as a founding member and bassist of the rock band Status Quo, playing with the band from 1967 to 1985, with brief reunions in 2013 and 2014. As ...

(who had to go back to his family in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

Deep Purple Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in London in 1968. They are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal music, heavy metal and modern hard rock music, but their musical style has changed over the course of its existence. Ori ...

's bassist

Roger Glover Roger David Glover (born 30 November 1945) is a Welsh bassist, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known as the member of the hard rock bands Deep Purple and Rainbow. As a member of Deep Purple, Glover was inducted into the Rock and R ...

, who also produced the song. While "Wild Side of Life" was released as a non-album single, it can be found on the deluxe edition with bonus tracks on the album ''

Blue for You ''Blue for You'' is the ninth studio album by English rock band Status Quo. It was released in March 1976, and is the last album until 1980's ''Just Supposin that they produced themselves, which resulted in subsequent albums having a noti ...

''. In 1981, "Wild Side" and "It Wasn't God ..." were combined into a duet by

Waylon Jennings Waylon Jennings (June 15, 1937 – February 13, 2002) was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. He pioneered the Outlaw Movement in country music. Jennings started playing guitar at the age of eight and performed at age f ...

and

Jessi Colter Mirriam Johnson (born May 25, 1943), known professionally as Jessi Colter, is an American country singer who is best known for her collaborations with her husband, country musician Waylon Jennings, and for her 1975 country-pop crossover hit " I' ...

on their album '' Leather and Lace''; that version reached No. 10. Welsh singer

Bonnie Tyler Gaynor Sullivan (née Hopkins; born 8 June 1951), known professionally as Bonnie Tyler, is a Welsh singer who is known for her distinctive husky voice. Tyler came to prominence with the release of her 1977 album '' The World Starts Tonight'' a ...

recorded this song on her 1981 album '' Goodbye to the Island''.

Vic Dana Samuel Mendola (born August 26, 1942, Buffalo, New York, United States), known professionally as Vic Dana, is an American dancer and singer. Biography Discovered by Sammy Davis Jr., Dana was an excellent male dancer, particularly in tap, and ...

recorded a pop version of "The Wild Side of Life" with full orchestra backing. "The Great Speckled Bird" and "I'm Thinking Tonight of My Blue Eyes" are earlier adaptations of the same tune and have been recorded by country artists such as Kitty Wells, Slim Whitman and Gene Autry. Similar lyrics and crossover versions containing lyrics from all four songs have also been recorded.

Maury Finney Maury Finney (born in Humboldt, Minnesota) is an American country music saxophonist. Between 1976 and 1980, he recorded for the Soundwaves record label. Finney charted twelve times on the ''Billboard'' country singles charts. His highest-peaking ...

recorded an instrumental

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...

version in 1976. As the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

to his single " Rollin' in My Sweet Baby's Arms", it charted at No. 78 on the country music charts.

Charts

Status Quo version

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wild Side of Life 1952 singles Billboard Hot Country Songs number-one singles of the year Freddy Fender songs Hank Thompson (musician) songs Jessi Colter songs Waylon Jennings songs Status Quo (band) songs Pirates of the Mississippi songs Burl Ives songs Song recordings produced by Ken Nelson (American record producer) RCA Records singles 1952 songs Song recordings produced by Roger Glover