Life's What You Make It (Talk Talk song)

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"Life's What You Make It"

Original version
Single by Talk Talk
from the album The Colour of Spring
B-side "It's Getting Late in the Evening"
Released 1985 (Germany) (Netherlands)
1986 (other countries)
1990 (re-issue)
Format 7" single
12" maxi
CD maxi (1990 version)
Recorded 1985/6
Genre Art rock[1], New wave[2][3]
Length 4:25
Label EMI, Parlophone
Writer(s) Mark Hollis, Tim Friese-Greene
Producer Tim Friese-Greene
Talk Talk singles chronology
"Dum Dum Girl"
(1984)		 "Life's What You Make It"
(1985)		 "Living in Another World"
(1986)
Alternative cover
1990 release

"Life's What You Make It" is a song by the English band Talk Talk. It was released as a single in 1985, the first from the band's album The Colour of Spring. The single was a hit in the UK, peaking at no. 16, and charted in numerous other countries.

Filmed at Wimbledon Common, London, the promotional video for the single shows the band performing in the early hours in a natural history setting. The video, directed by Tim Pope, enjoyed heavy rotation on MTV.

The track was re-released as a single in 1990, charting for a second time.

Contents

Track listings [edit]

1985 release
7" single
  1. "Life's What You Make It" — 4:25
  2. "It's Getting Late in the Evening" — 5:47
12" maxi
  1. "Life's What You Make It" (extended version) — 6:39
  2. "It's Getting Late in the Evening" — 5:47
1986 release
2 x 12" maxi - UK
  1. "Life's What You Make It" (extended version) — 8:16
  2. "It's Getting Late in the Evening" — 5:43
  3. "It's My Life" (12" remix) — 6:16
  4. "Does Caroline Know?" — 4:33
  5. "It's My Life (7" version)" — 3:50
12 maxi - U.S.
  1. "Life's What You Make It" (extended mix) — 6:54
  2. "It's Getting Late in the Evening" (7" version) — 5:44
  3. "Life's What You Make It" (dub version) — 6:06
1990 release
CD maxi
  1. "Life's What You Make It" — 4:29
  2. "Tomorrow Started" (live from Hammersmith Odeon) — 7:47
  3. "Life's What You Make It" (live from Hammersmith Odeon) — 4:41
12" maxi
  1. "Life's What You Make It" (the fluke remix) — 6:16
  2. "Life's What You Make It" (the Dominic Woosey remix) — 8:21
12" maxi
  1. "Life's What You Make It" (the BBG remix) — 5:54
  2. "Life's What You Make It" (the fluke remix) — 6:00

Charts [edit]

Chart (1985) Peak
position
German Singles Chart[4] 24
Dutch Singles Chart[5] 11
Chart (1986) Peak
position
French SNEP Singles Chart[5] 49
Irish Singles Chart[6] 17
Italian Singles Chart 14
New Zealand Singles Chart[5] 11
Swiss Singles Chart[5] 17
UK Singles Chart[7] 16
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[8] 90
U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Play 1 [8] 22
U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales 1 [8] 40
U.S. Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks[8] 26
Chart (1990) Peak
position
Irish Singles Chart[6] 23
UK Singles Chart[7] 23

1 Remix

Conception [edit]

The song was one of the last to be conceived for The Colour of Spring, following concern from the band’s management at the lack of an obvious single among accumulated work. Initially unwilling, Mark Hollis and Tim Friese-Greene, the principal source of original material for the band, accepted the task as a challenge. Friese-Greene: "I had a drum pattern loosely inspired by Kate Bush’s Running Up That Hill and Mark was playing Green Onions organ over the top." (Making no. 3 in the UK Singles Chart, "Running Up That Hill" had been released in August 1985.) The track was embellished with David Rhodes’ guitar hook.[9]

Other recordings and uses [edit]

The Divine Comedy did an acoustic version of the song in 1993, available on the limited edition of A Secret History... The Best of the Divine Comedy. German rock band Zinoba recorded a version that featured in the film Gegen die Wand (Head-On), directed by Fatih Akın (2004), during the closing credits. The Gathering covered the song on their 2005 album Accessories - Rarities and B-Sides. Also, a cover version was included as a bonus track on the UK version of Weezer's 2008 album Weezer (The Red Album). And Australian post-punk singer Rowland S. Howard also covered the song, on his second solo album Pop Crimes in 2009. In 2011 the Danish band Dúné (http://www.dunesite.com) made a version of the song in connection to the movie ID:A.

The track appeared in the game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City in 2002, where it plays on the pop radio station, Flash FM.

References [edit]

  1. ^ http://www.allmusic.com/album/the-colour-of-spring-mw0000650865
  2. ^ http://www.archives80.com/musique/talk-talk/45-tours/life-s-what-you-make-it
  3. ^ http://pitchfork.com/news/47680-talk-talks-mark-hollis-resurfaces-with-new-music-for-the-kelsey-grammer-tv-show-boss/ "After hitting it big as new wave stars in the early and mid-80s, with massive singles like "It's My Life" and "Life's What You Make It", Talk Talk abandoned synth-pop and went experimental."
  4. ^ German Singles Chart Charts-surfer.de (Retrieved February 15, 2008)
  5. ^ a b c d "Life's What You Make It", in various singles charts Lescharts.com (Retrieved February 15, 2008)
  6. ^ a b Irish Singles Chart Irishcharts.ie (Retrieved February 15, 2008)
  7. ^ a b UK Singles Chart (1986 release) Chartstats.com, (1990 release) Chartstats.com, (1991 release) Chartstats.com (Retrieved August 21, 2008)
  8. ^ a b c d Billboard Allmusic.com (Retrieved August 21, 2008)
  9. ^ Jim Irvin, Mojo, April 2006

External links [edit]

Talk Talk
Albums
Live albums
  • London 1986
Singles
Compilations
Video
Related articles
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