"(I Just) Died in Your Arms" is a power ballad written by
Nick Van Eede and introduced by his band, Cutting Crew, in
1986. It was their biggest hit, peaking at #1 in the United
States, Canada and Norway, and reaching the top five in the UK,
South Africa, Sweden and Switzerland.
Vocalist Nick Van Eede founded the group along with Canadian
guitarist Kevin Scott MacMichael in 1985, and the two made
demos that led to a recording contract, before bassist Colin
Farley and drummer Martin Beadle joined in 1986. The band
recorded and released an album of all original material that
same year, and had an international hit.
The words "I just died in your arms tonight" originally came
to Van Eede while he was having sex with his girlfriend,
"death" being an often-used metaphor for orgasm. Writing down
the phrase, Van Eede later used it as the hook to "(I Just)
Died In Your Arms."
First released in Britain, the song peaked at #4 on the UK
charts in August 1986. Upon its release in the United States,
the previously unknown band's debut single shot to number one
on May 2, 1987, and stayed there for two weeks. It also reached
#4 on the Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, #24 on Billboard's
Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks chart and (in a remix version)
#37 on the Hot Dance/Club Play chart. The song spent three
weeks at #1 in Canada.
Cutting Crew's "(I Just) Died in Your Arms" is featured in
the 1999 film
Never Been Kissedstarring Drew Barrymore, as well as the
2007 movie
Hot Rod. It is also featured in the video games
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City(2002) and
Karaoke Revolution Presents: American Idol
Encore(2008).
The song was also featured in a season 25, episode 14
Saturday Night Live sketch titled "Wedding Singers." The sketch
featured Will Ferrell and Horatio Sanz as musicians who kept
starting the song before their cue. Finally, when they are
given the cue, they confess that they only remember the first
two sentences of the song.