SONG OF THE DAY

“It’s My Life” by The Animals (It’s My Life [Single], Columbia/UK, MGM Records/ US, 1965). Written by Roger Atkins, Carl D’Errico.

INTERESTING FACTS (a la wikipedia)

-The writers (D’Errico, who wrote the music, and Atkins, who wrote the lyrics) were professional songwriters associated with the greater Brill Building scene in New York City.

– “It’s My Life” was written specifically for The Animals as their producer Mickie Most was soliciting material for the group’s next recording sessions. (Other Animals hits to come out of this Brill Building call were “We Gotta Get Out of This Place” and “Don’t Bring Me Down”.)

– The single was a #7 hit on the UK pop singles chart. It did not fare as well in the United States, only reaching #23 on the pop singles chart in late 1965, but later became one of The Animals’ most-played tracks on FM rock stations due to its angry attitude.

– “It’s My Life” was visually premiered on the U.S. television show Hullabaloo in fall 1965, where in true mixed-up 1960s fashion the group sang live vocals against canned music on a den-type set that featured attractive young women sticking their heads through holes in the wall, where normally animal heads would be mounted.

– During the mid-1970s Bruce Springsteen began performing “It’s My Life” during his Born to Run tours. Preceded by the first iteration of Springsteen’s archetypical spoken narrative about how he and his father never got along about anything, the tempo of the song itself was greatly slowed down to further bring out the tense themes; renditions could easily run over ten minutes overall in duration, and lyrics were varied somewhat across almost every performance. Never released in any live album or box set collection, Springsteen’s take on the song has become part of his concert lore and fans’ bootleg collections.

VIDEO OF THE DAY

Here’s the link.