We have some devil prompts this week for Song Lyric Sunday, hosted by Jim Adams! He has given us Cruel, Evil, Horrible, Monster and Wicked. My choice is Wicked Game by Chris Isaak. I hope you enjoy it.
“Wicked Game” is a tale of obsessive love. Chris Isaak spoke to us about the late-night event which inspired the song: “This one I wrote really late at night and it was written in a short time, because I remember that a girl had called me and said, ‘I want to come over and talk to you,’ and ‘talk’ was a euphemism. And she said, ‘I want to come over and talk to you until you’re no longer able to stand up.’ And I said, ‘Okay, you’re coming over.’ And as soon as I hung up I thought, ‘Oh, my God. I know she’s gonna be trouble. She’s always been trouble. She’s a wildcat. And here I am, I’m going to get killed, but I’m doing this.’ And I wrote ‘Wicked Game’: ‘world’s on fire and no one can save me but you.’ It’s like you start thinking about it, and by the time she came over to the house, I had the song written. And I think she was probably upset because I was more excited by the song. (Laughing) I was like, ‘Yes, you’re gorgeous, baby. But listen to this song!'”
Isaak told us “Wicked Game” came to him effortlessly: “I think that sometimes you get easy ones that come very quick and you’re really glad – you go, ‘Wow, where’d this come from?’ It’s so fast to write. And then there’s other songs that you do and it’s like doing your homework. It’s like you really are working and biting the pencil and working on that third verse. Most of the time you do work. But sometimes you get lucky.”
The song got a big boost when an instrumental version was featured in the 1990 movie Wild At Heart, which was directed by David Lynch and starred Laura Dern and Nicolas Cage. Isaak spoke to interviewer, Mike Ragogna, about David Lynch: “I enjoy talking about David Lynch because he’s such a great guy. The question I get about him is, ‘How is David Lynch? Is he scary or spooky or something?’ I don’t think it’s ever guys who make films like David makes or who have that kind of weird bent in their artwork–those guys are probably the nicest guys in real life because they’ve expressed all of their weird angles. The guys you have to watch are the guys who go, ‘I’m a scout master, the proud father of two children, and I’m also a deacon in the church.’ Then you go, ‘Be careful.’ If he’s out in the back yard at night with a shovel, be careful because he’s burying something.”
Lee Chesnut, who was music director of an Atlanta radio station and a huge fan of David Lynch films, helped popularize this song when he added it to his playlist after watching Wild At Heart. The song gradually gained an audience and charted in the US 18 months after Isaak’s album Heart Shaped World was released.
The fashion photographer Herb Ritts directed the track’s racy video. It features model Helena Christensen seducing Isaak on a beach. In 1991, it won MTV Video Music Awards for Best Male Video, Best Cinematography, and Best Video From a Film. It regularly features on “Sexiest Music Videos Ever” lists.
Courtesy of Songfacts
Lyrics The world was on fire and no one could save me but you It's strange what desire will make foolish people do I'd never dreamed that I'd meet somebody like you And I'd never dreamed that I'd lose somebody like you No I don't want to fall in love (this girl is only gonna break your heart) No I don't want to fall in love (this girl is only gonna break your heart) With you With you (this girl is only gonna break your heart) What a wicked game you played to make me feel this way What a wicked thing to do to let me dream of you What a wicked thing to say you never felt this way What a wicked thing to do to make me dream of you And I don't want to fall in love (this girl is only gonna break your heart) No I don't want to fall in love (this girl is only gonna break your heart) With you The world was on fire and no one could save me but you It's strange what desire will make foolish people do I'd never dreamed that I'd love somebody like you And I'd never dreamed that I'd lose somebody like you No I don't want to fall in love (this girl is only gonna break your heart) No I don't want to fall in love (this girl is only gonna break your heart) With you (this girl is only gonna break your heart) With you (this girl is only gonna break your heart) No I (this girl is only gonna break your heart) (This girl is only gonna break your heart) Nobody loves no one Written by Chris Isaak
