Wild Wild Life

"Wild Wild Life"
Single by Talking Heads
from the album True Stories
B-side"People Like Us (Movie Version)"
ReleasedAugust 1986[1]
Genre
Length
  • 3:39 (album version)
  • 5:30 (extended version)
LabelSire
Songwriter(s)David Byrne
Producer(s)
Talking Heads singles chronology
"Once in a Lifetime (Live)"
(1986) 		"Wild Wild Life"
(1986) 		"Love for Sale"
(1986)
Official video
"Wild Wild Life" on YouTube

"Wild Wild Life" is a song by American rock band Talking Heads, released as the lead single from their seventh studio album True Stories. It was the band's third and last top 40 hit on the US Billboard Hot 100.

Critical reception

Cash Box called it "quirky and typically fun."[3] Billboard said that Talking Heads "put a minimal post-new wave accompaniment to a bouncy singalong tune."[4]

Music video

The video for the song won "Best Group Video" at the MTV Video Music Awards in 1987. Taken from the film True Stories, with some additional content, it includes band member Jerry Harrison parodying Billy Idol, Kid Creole, Ralph Macchio's character in The Karate Kid, and Prince. "My favorite T. Heads video, the most fun to make," Harrison recalled in the liner notes of Once in a Lifetime: The Best of Talking Heads. "I always wondered what Prince thought of it." The rest of the band also appears in various costumes.

The video is set in a 1960s ambienced cabaret bar, where a frantic series of unannounced performers lip sync to the song, imitating such singers as Madonna and Prince as disjointed images play across a wall of video screens behind them. Byrne wrote about this scene:

The song itself becomes a vehicle that can say anything they want it to. Some gestures and movements are obviously derived from well-known sources: television shows ... movies ... and, most recently, rock videos. Odd to think that some lip-synchers are imitating characters in videos, who are really musicians imitating other characters.[5]

Actor John Goodman, prior to his fame in the sitcom Roseanne, appeared in both the film and MTV versions of the video. Goodman was also featured on the B-side's "People Like Us", a song that also appeared in the film.

Track listing

7-inch single

No.TitleLength
1."Wild Wild Life"3:39
2."People Like Us" (movie version)4:23

12-inch single

No.TitleLength
1."Wild Wild Life" (extended mix)5:30
2."Wild Wild Life"3:39
3."People Like Us" (movie version)4:23

Charts

Weekly charts

Weekly chart performance for "Wild Wild Life"
Chart (1986) Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[6] 13
Dutch Singles Chart[7] 42
Irish Singles Chart[8] 9
New Zealand Singles Chart[9] 2
Swiss Singles Chart[10] 20
UK Singles Chart[11] 43
US Billboard Hot 100[12] 25
US Cash Box Top 100[13] 25

Year-end charts

Year-end chart performance for "Wild Wild Life"
Chart (1986) Position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[14] 92

Use in media

The song was covered by The Wailing Souls for the 1993 movie Cool Runnings.[citation needed]

The song was used in the trailers for Brother Bear,[15] Over the Hedge,[16] and Zookeeper, as well as the beginning of the 2006 animated film Open Season, for which it was included on the film's soundtrack. It was also used in the 2014 film United Passions as well as the aforementioned True Stories.[citation needed]

References

  1. ^ Strong, Martin Charles (1995). The Great Rock Discography. Canongate Press. p. 809. ISBN 9780862415419.
  2. ^ Tangari, Joe. "Talking Heads - Talking Heads Brick". Pitchfork. Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
  3. ^ "Single Releases" (PDF). Cash Box. August 23, 1986. p. 11. Retrieved 2022-08-04.
  4. ^ "Reviews". Billboard. August 23, 1986. p. 81. Retrieved 2022-08-04.
  5. ^ Sytze Steenstra (2010). Song and Circumstance: The Work of David Byrne from Talking Heads to the Present. A&C Black. p. 112. ISBN 9780826441683.
  6. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  7. ^ MegaCharts (October 4, 1986). "Dutch Singles Chart". Dutch Charts. Retrieved 2009-05-17.
  8. ^ Irish Recording Music Association (September 7, 1986). "Irish Singles Chart". Irish Charts. Retrieved 2009-05-17.
  9. ^ Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (September 14, 1986). "New Zealand Singles Chart". New Zealand Charts. Retrieved 2009-05-17.
  10. ^ "Swiss Singles Chart". Swiss Charts. September 28, 1986. Retrieved 2009-07-14.
  11. ^ The Official Charts Company. "UK Albums Chart". Every Hit. Retrieved 2010-05-17.
  12. ^ Billboard Magazine
  13. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2014). Cash Box Pop Hits: 1952-1996. Record Research.
  14. ^ "National Top 100 Singles for 1986". Kent Music Report. No. 650. December 1986. Retrieved January 24, 2023 – via Imgur.
  15. ^ SaneelGB (2013-01-01), Brother Bear Theatrical Trailer (2003), retrieved 2016-07-14[dead YouTube link]
  16. ^ cineAE (2006-12-08), Over the Hedge Trailer, archived from the original on 2021-12-21, retrieved 2016-07-14