"It's My Life" is a song by the English new wave band

Talk Talk Talk Talk were an English band formed in 1981 by Mark Hollis (vocals, guitar, piano), Lee Harris (drums), Paul Webb (bass), and Simon Brenner (keyboards). Initially a synth-pop group, Talk Talk's first two albums, '' The Party's Over'' (198 ...

. Written by

Mark Hollis Mark David Hollis (4 January 1955 – February 2019) was an English musician and singer-songwriter. He achieved commercial success and critical acclaim in the 1980s and 1990s as the co-founder, lead singer and principal songwriter of the band ...

and

Tim Friese-Greene Timothy Alan Friese-Greene is an English musician and record producer, producer. He worked with the band Talk Talk from 1983 to their breakup in 1991. He currently releases solo albums under the name Heligoland. He is the grandson of filmmaker Cl ...

, it was the title track on the band's second album, '' It's My Life'' (1984), and released as its first single in January 1984. It reached number 46 on the UK Singles Chart but did better in several other countries, reaching number 33 in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, number 32 in

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

, number 25 in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and number 9 in Italy. It was their only hit on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, peaking at number 31 the weeks of 19 and 26 May 1984; and it peaked at number 30 in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. The song also peaked at number 1 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 advertis ...

Dance/Disco Top 80 The Dance Club Songs (also known as National Disco Action, Hot Dance/Disco Club Play, and Hot Dance Club Play) was a chart published weekly between 1976 and 2020 by ''Billboard'' magazine. It used club disc jockeys set lists to determine the mos ...

chart. The single was re-released in the UK in 1985, but only peaked at 93. In 1990, however, "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 in its native country.

Music video

There are two versions of the video for "It's My Life". The first, envisioned by director

Tim Pope Timothy Michael Pope (born 12 February 1956) is a film director most known for his music videos, for having directed feature films, and for a brief pop career. Early life and career Pope grew up in the north London suburb of Enfield. Both his ...

as a statement against the banality of

lip-synching Lip sync or lip synch (pronounced , like the word ''sink'', despite the spelling of the participial forms ''synced'' and ''syncing''), short for lip synchronization, is a technical term for matching a speaking or singing person's lip movements ...

, consists almost entirely of footage from the 1979

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

wildlife Wildlife refers to domestication, undomesticated animals and uncultivated plant species which can exist in their natural habitat, but has come to include all organisms that grow or live wilderness, wild in an area without being species, introdu ...

documentary '' Life on Earth'', interspersed with shots of Talk Talk lead singer

standing in various places throughout the

London Zoo London Zoo, previously known as ZSL London Zoo or London Zoological Gardens and sometimes called Regent's Park Zoo, is the world's oldest scientific zoo. It was opened in London on 27 April 1828 and was originally intended to be used as a colle ...

. Hollis deliberately avoids performing to the camera: He keeps his hands in his coat pockets and his mouth is taped shut, 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 EMI Group Limited (formerly EMI Group plc until 2007; originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At t ...

, 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.

Personnel

Talk Talk *

- lead and backing vocals, acoustic guitar *

Paul Webb Paul Douglas Webb (born 16 January 1962), also known by the stage name Rustin Man, is an English musician. He was the bassist for the English band Talk Talk. Biography Webb attended The Deanes School in Thundersley, Essex, with drummer Lee ...

- fretless bass guitar, backing vocals * Lee Harris - Simmons drums, snare drum Additional musicians *

Oberheim OB-X The Oberheim OB-X was the first of Oberheim Electronics, Oberheim's OB-series polyphony (instrument), polyphonic Analog synthesizer, analog Subtractive synthesis, subtractive synthesizers. First commercially available in June 1979, the OB-X was ...

and

Fairlight CMI The Fairlight CMI (short for Computer Musical Instrument) is a digital synthesizer, music sampler, and digital audio workstation introduced in 1979 by Fairlight. — with links to some Fairlight history and photos It was based on a commerc ...

synthesizers,

Roland TR-808 The Roland TR-808 Rhythm Composer, commonly known as the 808, is a drum machine manufactured by Roland Corporation between 1980 and 1983. It was one of the first drum machines to allow users to program rhythms instead of using preset patterns. ...

programming *Ian Curnow -

Roland Jupiter-8 The Jupiter-8, or JP-8, is an eight-voice polyphonic analog subtractive synthesizer introduced by Roland Corporation in early 1981. The Jupiter-8 was Roland's flagship synthesizer for the first half of the 1980s. Approximately 3,300 units have ...

synthesizers *

Robbie McIntosh Robbie McIntosh (born 25 October 1957) is an English guitarist. McIntosh is best known as a session guitarist and member of the Pretenders from 1982 until 1987. In 1988 he began doing session guitar work for Paul McCartney, joining his band ...

- electric guitar *

Morris Pert Morris David Brough Pert (8 September 1947 – 27 April 2010) was a Scottish composer, drummer/percussionist, and pianist who composed in the fields of both contemporary classical and jazz-rock music. His compositions include three symphonies, p ...

- percussion

Track listings

1984 release

7" single # "It's My Life" – 3:51 # "Does Caroline Know?" – 4:36 12" single – North America # "It's My Life" (Extended Version) – 6:14 # "It's My Life" – 3:51 # "Again, a Game...Again" – 4:09 12" single – Europe # "It's My Life" (12" Remix) – 6:16 # "Does Caroline Know?" – 4:33 # "It's My Life" – 3:51

1990 reissue

7" single # "It's My Life" – 3:51 # "Renée" (Live from

Hammersmith Odeon The Hammersmith Apollo, currently called the Eventim Apollo for sponsorship reasons, and formerly and still commonly known as the Hammersmith Odeon, is a live entertainment performance venue, originally built as a cinema called the Gaumont Pa ...

) – 7:28 CD maxi # "It's My Life" – 3:51 # "Renée" (Live from Hammersmith Odeon) – 7:28 # "It's My Life" (Live from Hammersmith Odeon) – 7:58

Charts

Certifications

No Doubt version

The American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

band

No Doubt No Doubt is an American rock band formed in Anaheim, California in 1986. For most of its career, the band has consisted of vocalist and founding member Gwen Stefani, guitarist Tom Dumont, bassist Tony Kanal and drummer Adrian Young. Keyboar ...

recorded a

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

of "It's My Life" to promote their first

greatest hits album A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be creat ...

The Singles 1992–2003 ''The Singles 1992–2003'' is a greatest hits album by American rock band No Doubt, released on November 14, 2003, by Interscope Records. It features 13 of the band's singles from three studio albums—''Tragic Kingdom'' (1995), '' Return of Sa ...

'' (2003). Because the band was on hiatus while lead singer

Gwen Stefani Gwen Renée Stefani Shelton ( ; born October 3, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter and fashion designer. Stefani rose to fame as a member and lead vocalist of the band No Doubt, whose hit singles include " Just a Girl", " Spiderwebs", an ...

recorded her solo debut album, '' Love. Angel. Music. Baby.'' (2004), they decided to record a cover to avoid having to write a new song. After considering hundreds of songs, they narrowed it down to two contenders – "It's My Life" by Talk Talk and "

Don't Change "Don't Change" is a song by Australian rock band INXS. It was released as a single from the album '' Shabooh Shoobah'' in October 1982. It has been described as the song that made the band internationally famous. Reception ''Cash Box'' reviewe ...

" by Australian rock band

INXS INXS (a phonetic play on "in excess") were an Australian rock band, formed as the Farriss Brothers in 1977 in Sydney. The founding members were bassist Garry Gary Beers, main composer and keyboardist Andrew Farriss, drummer Jon Farriss, gu ...

. "

A Question of Lust "A Question of Lust" is a song by the English electronic music band Depeche Mode from their fifth studio album, ''Black Celebration'' (1986). It was released on 14 April 1986 as the album's second single. It is the second Depeche Mode single ...

" by English

electronic Electronic may refer to: *Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductors * ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal *Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device *Electronic c ...

band

Depeche Mode Depeche Mode are an English electronic music, electronic band formed in Basildon, Essex in 1980. Originally formed with the line-up of Dave Gahan, Martin Gore, Andy Fletcher (musician), Andy Fletcher and Vince Clarke, the band currently consists ...

was another close contender.Paris Montoya and Tom Lanham "It's My Life". '' The Singles 1992-2003''.

Interscope Records Interscope Records is an American record label based in Santa Monica, California, owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. Founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture ...

. 25 November 2003. No Doubt later had second thoughts about recording a cover and contemplated writing new material. However, they became more comfortable after rehearsing "It's My Life" with producer

Nellee Hooper Paul Andrew "Nellee" Hooper (born 15 March 1963) is a British record producer, remixer and songwriter known for his work with many major recording artists beginning in the late 1980s. He also debuted as a motion picture music composer with Scot ...

, referring to it as a "feel-good" song. No Doubt's version of "It's My Life" was nominated for

Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal The Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as t ...

at the

47th Annual Grammy Awards The 47th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 13, 2005, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles honoring the best in music for the recording of the year beginning from October 1, 2003, through September 30, 2004. They were hosted by Queen Lat ...

Jacques Lu Cont Stuart David Price (born 9 September 1977) is an English electronic musician, DJ, songwriter, and record producer. His acts include his own band Zoot Woman (with Adam Blake and Johnny Blake), Les Rythmes Digitales (, literally "The Digital ...

, the song's

programmer A programmer, computer programmer or coder is an author of computer source code someone with skill in computer programming. The professional titles Software development, ''software developer'' and Software engineering, ''software engineer' ...

, created the Thin White Duke mix of "It's My Life", which won the award for

Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical The Grammy Award for Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical is an honor presented to producers for quality remixed recordings at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards. Honors in seve ...

Commercial performance

No Doubt's cover version was successful in the United States, reaching number 10 on the ''

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), o ...

, and remaining on the chart for 28 weeks. On the

Radio & Records ''Radio & Records'' (''R&R'') was a trade publication providing news and airplay information for the radio and music industries. It started as an independent trade from 1973 to 2006 until VNU Media took over in 2006 and became a relaunched sister ...

CHR/Pop Airplay chart, the song debuted at number 41 on 10 October 2003 issue, and after six weeks reached and peaked at number five, staying there for two non-consecutive weeks. It remained on the top-ten of the chart for nine weeks and remained on it for 20 weeks. It was moderately successful on

adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...

stations, reaching number 20 on the US

Adult Contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...

chart, but had high longevity and appeared atop the

Adult Top 40 The Adult Pop Airplay (formerly known as Adult Pop Songs and Adult Top 40) chart is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine and ranks "the most popular adult top 40 as based on radio airplay detections measured by Nielsen Broadcast Data Syste ...

's recurrent chart. The single was more successful at

nightclub A nightclub or dance club is a club that is open at night, usually for drinking, dancing and other entertainment. Nightclubs often have a Bar (establishment), bar and discotheque (usually simply known as disco) with a dance floor, laser lighti ...

s, peaking at number 16 on the US

Dance Club Songs The Dance Club Songs (also known as National Disco Action, Hot Dance/Disco Club Play, and Hot Dance Club Play) was a chart published weekly between 1976 and 2020 by ''Billboard'' magazine. It used club disc jockeys set lists to determine the mos ...

chart, and had some play on

modern rock Modern rock is an umbrella term used to describe rock music that is found on college and commercial rock radio stations. Some radio stations use this term to distinguish themselves from classic rock, which is based in 1960s–1980s rock music. ...

stations, reaching number 32 on the US

Alternative Songs Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks between 1988 and 2009, and Alternative Songs between 2009 and 2020) is a music chart published in the American magazine ''Billboard'' since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-play ...

chart. The

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

certified the digital download Platinum for selling one million copies. On the UK Singles chart, "It's My Life" debuted at number 20. It reached a higher position when it was released as a

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

single with the

Invincible Overlord Invincible Overlord is a side-project band by Tom Dumont (No Doubt) and Ted Matson. The duo was formed after No Doubt's vocalist, Gwen Stefani, decided to pursue a solo career, and the other members began starting families. Invincible Overlord's ...

remix of the song " Bathwater" which charted at number 17. 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 seven on the

ARIA Charts The ARIA Charts are the main Australian record chart, music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA beca ...

in Australia, lasting 17 weeks on the chart, and was listed at number 81 on the 2004 year-end chart. The

Australian Recording Industry Association The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) is a trade association representing the Australian recording industry which was established in the 1970s by six major record companies, EMI, Festival Records (Australia), Festival, Sony Music ...

certified the single Platinum in 2004 for shipping 70,000 copies.

Music video

The 1930s-style

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

for the song was directed by

David LaChapelle David LaChapelle (born March 11, 1963) is an American photographer, music video director, and film director. He is best known for his work in fashion and photography, which often references art history and sometimes conveys social messages. His ...

. In the video, Stefani portrays a black widow whose look closely resembles that of actress

Jean Harlow Jean Harlow (born Harlean Harlow Carpenter; March 3, 1911 – June 7, 1937) was an American actress. Known for her portrayal of "bad girl" characters, she was the leading sex symbol of the early 1930s and one of the defining figures of the ...

, whom Stefani portrayed in the

Martin Scorsese Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November17, 1942) is an American filmmaker. One of the major figures of the New Hollywood era, he has received List of awards and nominations received by Martin Scorsese, many accolades, including an Academ ...

film '' The Aviator''. She is put on trial and sentenced to death for the murders of three men she knew, who are portrayed by the other members of the band. She kills the first man (guitarist

Tom Dumont Thomas Martin Dumont (born January 11, 1968) is an American musician and producer. Dumont is a member of third wave ska band No Doubt, and during the band's hiatus, he began Invincible Overlord as a side project and produced Matt Costa's ''Song ...

) with rat poison mixed into his dinner, the second (bassist

Tony Kanal Tony Ashwin Kanal (born 27 August 1970) is a British-American musician, songwriter and record producer who is known for his work as the bassist and co-writer for the rock bands No Doubt and Dreamcar. His career outside of performing include ...

) by running him over with his car, and the third (drummer

Adrian Young Adrian Samuel Young (born August 26, 1969) is an American musician, best known as the drummer of the rock bands No Doubt and Dreamcar. He also serves as a producer in his free time. Biography When not performing, in the studio or touring, Youn ...

) 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 A gas chamber is an apparatus for killing humans or animals with gas, consisting of a sealed chamber into which a poisonous or asphyxiant gas is introduced. Poisonous agents used include hydrogen cyanide and carbon monoxide. History Donatie ...

, wearing a

prison uniform A prison uniform is a set of standardized clothing worn by prisoners. It usually includes visually distinct clothes worn to indicate the wearer is a prisoner, in clear distinction from civil clothing. Prison uniforms are intended to make prisone ...

, 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 MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

's ''

Total Request Live ''Total Request Live'' (commonly abbreviated as ''TRL'') is an American television program that premiered on MTV on September 14, 1998. The early version of ''TRL'' featured popular music videos played during its countdown and was also used as ...

'', it reached number seven in November 2003 and was on the countdown as late as January 2004. The video peaked at number eight on

MuchMusic Much is a Canadian English language discretionary specialty channel owned by BCE Inc. through its Bell Media subsidiary that airs programming aimed at teenagers and young adults. It is headquartered at 299 Queen Street West in what was o ...

's ''

Countdown A countdown is a sequence of backward counting to indicate the time remaining before an event is scheduled to occur. NASA commonly employs the terms "L-minus" and "T-minus" during the preparation for and anticipation of a rocket launch, and eve ...

'' and remained on the program through March 2004. At the

2004 MTV Video Music Awards The 2004 MTV Video Music Awards aired live on August 29, 2004, honoring the best music videos from the previous year. The show took place at the American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida, and, unlike in previous years, had no host. Background MT ...

, "It's My Life" won the awards for Best Group Video and Best Pop Video. It also received nominations for

Best Direction The MTV Video Music Award for Best Direction is an award given to the artist, the artist's manager, and the director of the music video. From 1984 to 2006, the full name of the award was Best Direction in a Video, and in 2007, it was briefly renam ...

, Best Cinematography, and

Best Art Direction The Academy Award for Best Production Design recognizes achievement for art direction in film. The category's original name was Best Art Direction, but was changed to its current name in 2012 for the 85th Academy Awards. This change resulted fro ...

Track listing and formats

2-track # "It's My Life" – 3:46 # "Rock Steady" (live) – 5:53 CD single # "It's My Life" – 3:46 # " Sunday Morning" (2002 live) – 4:49 # "Rock Steady" (2002 live) – 5:53 # " Bathwater" (2002 live) – 4:01 UK CD single # "It's My Life" – 3:46 # "Rock Steady" (2002 live) – 5:53 # "Bathwater" (2002 live) – 4:01 UK re-issue "It's My Life" / "Bathwater"

CD single # "It's My Life" – 3:46 # "Bathwater" (

Remix) – 3:07 # "It's My Life" (

's Thin White Duke Mix) – 6:59 # "It's My Life" (Chocolate O'Brian Remix) – 5:43 # "Bathwater" (Invincible Overlord Remix Video) # "It's My Life" (Video)

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{Authority control 1984 singles 1984 songs 1985 singles 1990 singles 1995 singles 2003 singles 2004 singles Talk Talk songs EMI Records singles Grammy Award for Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical Infinity Records singles Interscope Records singles Music videos directed by David LaChapelle Music videos directed by Tim Pope No Doubt songs Number-one singles in the Czech Republic Parlophone singles Protest songs Songs written by Mark Hollis (musician) Songs written by Tim Friese-Greene Song recordings produced by Tim Friese-Greene