Wicked Game

This article is about the song. For the albums, see Wicked Game (Chris Isaak album) and Wicked Game (Il Divo album).

"Wicked Game"
Single by Chris Isaak
from the album Heart Shaped World
B-side	"Wicked Game" (Instrumental)
Released	1989
Format	CD single, CD maxi, 7" single, 12" maxi
Genre	Rockabilly, soft rock
Length	4:46 (album version) 4:06 (edit)
Label	Warner Brothers
Writer(s)	Chris Isaak
Producer	Erik Jacobsen
Chris Isaak singles chronology
"Don't Make Me Dream About You" (1989) "Wicked Game" (1989) "Blue Hotel" (re-release) (1991)

"Wicked Game" is a 1989 song by Chris Isaak from his third studio album Heart Shaped World. Despite being released as a single in 1989, it did not become a hit until it was later featured in the David Lynch film Wild at Heart (1990). Lee Chesnut, an Atlanta radio station music director who loved David Lynch films, began playing the song and it quickly became a nationwide top ten hit in January 1991, reaching #6 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, making it the first hit song of his career. James Calvin Wilsey played the distinctive lead guitar solo on the song.

The song is written in the mode of B Dorian. Through several years, many different versions and arrangements of the song were made before the final version was released. Both the bassline and drums (except the cymbals) were sampled from previous recordings of the song and then looped.

Composition

The song is a ballad about unrequited love, performed in what Allmusic describes as a "brooding, sorrowfully conflicted" tone.

Music videos

The music video of the song was directed by Herb Ritts, shot in Hawaii and featured top model Helena Christensen rolling and frolicking on the beach with Isaak. It was filmed in black and white. Christensen was topless and Isaak was shirtless through most of the video, although clever camera angles concealed any actual nudity. The video won the MTV Video Music Awards for Best Male Video, Best Cinematography and Best Video from a Film. A previous version of the video was commissioned for the Wild at Heart soundtrack, and was directed by David Lynch.

The video was ranked #13 on VH1's 100 Greatest Videos and was also ranked #4 on VH1's 50 Sexiest Video Moments. The video was ranked #73 on Rolling Stone magazine's "The 100 Top Music Videos". The video ranked #1 on Fuse's "40 Sexiest Videos" in 2010.

Use in popular culture

• The song was used in the 1989 film The Preppie Murder director by John Herzfeld
• The song was used as a theme for supercouple Jack and Jennifer in the soap opera Days of our Lives.
• The song was used in the Brett Ratner film, The Family Man, the Ridley Scott film, Matchstick Men, and the David Lynch film, Wild at Heart; each starring Nicolas Cage.
• The song was used in two episodes of Beverly Hills, 90210 "One Man and a Baby" from Season 1 and "Wildfire" from Season 2. It was also used in its spin-off 90210 in the season 3 episode "How Much Is That Liam in the Window".
• The song was used in two episodes of Friends Season 2; "The One with the Prom Video" (2x14) and "The One Where Ross And Rachel...You Know" (2x15).
• In Flight of the Conchords, the character Dave states that "Women like three things: Men in Kilts, Southern Comfort and Chris Isaak's Wicked Game."
• The song was used in The Mentalist in the Season 4 Finale, "The Crimson Hat".
• The song was used in the 1992 film Leaving Normal directed by Edward Zwick.
• The song has been used in the soap operas The Young and the Restless, One Life to Live and General Hospital.
• The master recording song was featured in Konami's rebooted version of their singing video game called Karaoke Revolution.
• The song is covered by Pink on her 2013 tour, The Truth About Love Tour.
• The song is covered by Phillip Phillips and available on the deluxe edition of his debut album, The World from the Side of the Moon.
• John Pritchard auditioned with the song on The Voice UK (series 2) in 2013, and will.i.am turned his chair to become his coach.
• The song is covered by Emika and available on her second album, Dva.

Track listings

CD maxi - Europe

1. "Wicked Game" by Chris Isaak
2. "Cool Cat Walk" by Angelo Badalamenti
3. "Dark Spanish Symphony" (string version) by Angelo Badalamenti — 2:34

CD maxi - Promo - U.S.

1. "Wicked Game" (album version) — 4:46
2. "Wicked Game" (edit) — 4:06
3. "Wicked Game" (instrumental) — 4:48

Cassette

1. "Wicked Game" (edit) — 4:06
2. "Wicked Game" (instrumental) — 4:48

12" maxi - UK

1. "Wicked Game" by Chris Isaak
2. "Cool Cat Walk" by Angelo Badalamenti
3. "Dark Spanish Symphony" (string version) by Angelo Badalamenti — 2:34

7" single - Europe

1. "Wicked Game" by Chris Isaak — 4:06
2. "Cool Cat Walk" by Angelo Badalamenti — 3:22

Charts

Peak positions

Chart (1990/91)	Peak position
Australian ARIA Singles Chart	15
Dutch Top 40	5
French SNEP Singles Chart	42
German Singles Chart	9
Irish Singles Chart	10
New Zealand RIANZ Singles Chart	7
Swedish Singles Chart	3
UK Singles Chart	10
US Billboard Hot 100	6
US Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks	12
US Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks	10
US Billboard Modern Rock Tracks	2

Year-end charts

Chart (1991)	Position
Dutch Top 40	30
US Billboard Hot 100	79

Certifications

Country	Certification	Date	Sales certified
U.S.	Gold	April 17, 1991	500,000

Cover versions

HIM cover

"Wicked Game"
Single by HIM
from the album Greatest Love Songs Vol. 666
Released	September 28, 1998
Format	CD Single
Genre	Rock (see HIM's genre)
Length	3:54
HIM singles chronology
"Your Sweet Six Six Six" (1998) "Wicked Game" (1998) "It's All Tears (Drown in This Love)" (1999)
Alternative covers "Wicked Game" cover (Finnish version) on Razorblade Romance

The Finnish band HIM remade this song, first using it in their demo This is Only the Beginning, then on their EP 666 Ways To Love: Prologue, followed by another recording of it on their first album Greatest Love Songs Vol. 666, and lastly on the British and American versions of their second album Razorblade Romance. The last recording they made of it then reappeared on their compilation album And Love Said No: The Greatest Hits 1997–2004. With "Wicked Game" on their EP and first album, HIM gained fame in their native Finland.^{[citation needed]} HIM frontman Ville Valo had this to say about "Wicked Game": "I went to Pasila's library and borrowed the soundtrack-vinyl of Wild At Heart and recorded it on tape. So with Linde we tried to 'learn' the song from the tape. It was kind of funny, that we learnt the song a bit wrong. We did not hear the guitar parts well enough from that 'bad quality' tape. We also heard the lyrics wrong, and when the song was later recorded to our first EP, there were a few funny mistakes in the lyrics."^{[citation needed]}

Track listings

German release

1. "Wicked Game" – 3:54
2. "For You" – 4:00
3. "Our Diabolikal Rapture" – 5:20
4. "Wicked Game" (666 Remix) – 3:58

Finnish release

1. "Wicked Game"
2. "For You"

2000 UK release

1. "Wicked Game" – 3:36
2. "When Love and Death Embrace" (Amnt mix) – 3:34
3. "The Heartless" (Serdlidlim Mix) – 3:11

2000 Swedish release

1. "Wicked Game" 2000
2. "When Love and Death Embrace" (Amnt mix) – 3:34

Other versions

• Australian musician Edward Guglielmino plays it as a cover at his live performances.
• American Rock band Daughtry perform a sample during Long Way on Leave This Town Tour in 2009 and 2010.
• The German dance/techno-outfit Novaspace recorded a version of the song for their 2004 album Cubes.
• Heather Nova included a cover on her 2005 album Redbird.
• The gregorian chant -inspired music group Gregorian made a cover of the song for their album Masters of Chant Chapter III.
• R.E.M. included a cover of the song on their 1995 Fan Club Christmas Single.
• Corey Taylor of Stone Sour and Slipknot performed this song acoustic in the band's tours of 2006 and 2007. A live acoustic version of the song is on the special edition version of the Stone Sour album Come What(ever) May.
• Three Days Grace performed this song acoustic on the band's tour in 2007, and this version is available for download on the iTunes version of their album, One-X.
• Siobhan Magnus performed this song in the first round of the semi-finals on the ninth season of American Idol.
• The video was parodied in the Bloodhound Gang video Screwing You on the Beach at Night.
• Bossasonic made a cover of Wicked Game that was released in 2008.
• Tangerine Dream, in their 2010 album Under Cover - Chapter One.
• Rebecca Ferguson performed it on the forth live show of The X Factor series seven.
• Jordan Winter covered this song for the promo for Emmerdale's Cain Dingle Judgment Day
• Trentemøller did a Dub remix of this song. It was never released but is available for download.
• Swedish pop singer Linda Pritchard released the song as a single in September/October 2011.
• Giant Drag covered the song on the album Hearts and Unicorns
• James Vincent McMorrow covered the song on the album Early in the Morning
• Girls Aloud recorded the track but is currently unreleased.
• In 2011, the song was covered by Il Divo with the title "Melanconia".
• Phillip Phillips released his rendition of the song on his 2012 album, The World from the Side of the Moon
• Pink performed the song live during her 2013 tour
• Emika has included a version on her upcoming album, Dva.

External links

• Full lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics