from the album
Blake Lewis (EP)
"You Give Love a Bad Name" is a song written by Jon Bon
Jovi, Desmond Child, Jack Ponti, and Richie Sambora about a
nameless woman who has jilted her lover. Although originally
written for the band Loverboy, the song was recorded by Bon
Jovi. The track was released as the first single from the hard
rock album
Slippery When Wetand hit number one on the Hot 100 on
November 29, 1986, Bon Jovi's first number one hit. The song
reentered the charts at #29 after Blake Lewis performed it on
American Idol. In 2009 it was named the 20th greatest hard rock
song of all time by VH1.
The song was written with several catchy repeated lines and
associated hooks to appeal to mainstream audiences including
the chorus as well as several bridges.
The album version of the song ends with the title being
repeated until it fades.
The music video for the song used all-color concert footage
(the only all-color video song from
Slippery When Wet) and Soteria photogenic shots
primarily of Jon Bon Jovi as well as other band members in
concert. This video was filmed at the Olympic auditorium in Los
Angeles, CA.
In 1989 Bananarama did a live version of this song during
their World Tour.
The song was also covered by the metalcore band Atreyu and
is available on the Japanese Version of their 2004 album
The Curse. It was covered on the Kerrang! CD, High
Voltage. It is frequently played during their shows even though
it was voted one of the years biggest rock atrocities in Total
Guitar.
In 2005, Polish singer Mandaryna released a version of "You
Give Love a Bad Name" as the second single from her number one
album
mandaryna.com2me. The song reached #1 on the Polish
Singles Chart.
Jonathan Fin covered this song, but, talking about how Barry
Bonds gave baseball a bad name. The line, "shot through the
heart and you're to blame, you give love a bad name,' was
changed to, "Shot in the ass before the game, you give baseball
a bad name."
Some critics say that the song has the same chorus structure
as "If You Were A Woman And I Was A Man" by Bonnie Tyler. The
Tyler song was also cowritten by Desmond Child. There is also a
remix called "Shock From The Heart" with a new rapper named
Famouz. Desmond Child has stated that the song is effectively a
reuse of the musical structure of the earlier song.
Demi Lovato performed a version of the song during a concert
at the Wiltern Theatre in December 2008.
Ranked Number 20 in VH1's "
100 Greatest Hard Rock Songs".
In the popular game Warcraft 3, the Night Elf Archer unit
will quote after multiple mouse clicks, "Shot through the
heart, and I'm to blame."
The song was used in the commercial of a 1995 Kia Pregio.
(released in South Korea). [1]
The song was made playable in the music video game,
GuitarFreaks 6th Mix/
Drummania 5th Mix, as well as
Lego Rock Band,
Guitar Hero On Tour: Decades, and
Guitar Hero 5.
This song was played on a recorder by Rainn Wilson's
character Dwight Schrute on the NBC TV Show "The Office" in
Episode 4 of Season 4 (Money).
In the TV sitcom How I Met Your Mother, the song features
prominently (and repeatedly) on Barney's "Get Psyched" mix in
the episode "The Limo."
On Australian music TV channel MAX, it was name #131 on
their top 1000 80's vs. 90's countdown over Easter weekend
2009.
In
Thunderbolts#131, Black Widow shot Deadpool in the
chest. After examining the hole, Deadpool dropped to his knees
and sang the chorus.
On the 9th Season of Dancing with the stars Donny Osmond,
Joanna Krupa, Kelly Osbourne and there partners danced to this
song for their Team Tango.