#64 - Wild is the Wind

Artist: Bon Jovi
Album: New Jersey
Other Versions: None
Era: Late 80s "hair metal"

Lyrics

The first time I heard this song I was sitting in the backseat of a car on the way to P-funk, next to my sister. When the chorus hit I flung out my arms and smacked her in the face. That's my "Wild is the Wind" story.

I love this song. Absolutely love it. I don't really love the intro, the little bit of clicky drumming and the acoustic guitar thing, but other than that I am madly in love with it. And I mean the very very intro when it's clicky thumping, silence, a little guitar, silence, THEN the song kicks in, because the clicky thumping together with the guitar is nice.

I love love love love love the drumming in the verses. PUM PUM. Sing a little. PUM PUM. It's so thumpy and deep and just yes. Love it, love it, love it. When someone mentions this song that PUM PUM is the first thing to come to mind. That is Wild is the Wind for me.

I like the way Jon sings the verses. This is one of the first real glimpses of how his voice still sounds good when he goes really low and husky. It's low, it's quiet, and it's extremely intense and you know he feels it. The quiet intensity and the PUM PUM and this is a song that just hits you and goes right into your veins and down your spine and makes your heart beat with it.

And then the chorus. Oh holy Lord, the chorus. Jon is quiet and the instruments are subdued and the drum is just quiet and thumpy and then WI - I - I - I - ILD kicks in and yes. Like I said above, the very first time I heard this the chorus made me fling my arms out even though I couldn't sing it because I didn't know it. The chorus is loud and both triumphant and defiant in this amazing collaboration of lyrics and tone of voice and volume and all the instruments just bang right in. It's possibly the best chorus they've ever done as far as mood.

To be honest, with this song the lyrics are totally secondary to me here. This song is a feeling, I think that's why so many people love it so much. This is the first song to win unanimously (David winning unanimously doesn't count, he's a man, not a song) and there's good reason for that. I think "Wild" resonates with people so much because it's not so much a song but a five minute, nine second emotional ride. Not that the lyrics are bad, they just take a backseat to the overall tone.

The best part of the song, hands-down: The guitar solo into "maybe a better man/would live and die for you/baby a better man would *super intense* never say goodbye to you/WI-I-I-I-ILD". That is so not up for dispute. That song makes me want to punch someone, in the best way possible. Just shout "OH FUCK YEAH" and punch a Bon Jovi hater in the nose. That's a good thing, for serious.

My Rating: 10/10

Tomorrow I'll do something from the box set:

• Why Aren't You Dead?
• Rich Man Living in a Poor Man's House
• Ordinary People
• Out of Bounds

One thing I'd like to mention: I got a cd today called "Steinway to Heaven", it's rock keyboardists playing classical piano pieces. David does Moonlight Sonata (brilliantly, I might add). But what I thought was really cool was in the booklet each artist wrote a little blurb about the piece they chose and why. Here are a couple things I have written about David in here:

It's one of David's strong points, moreso even than the band's as a whole, that he can take you on this emotional journey of his choosing.

David just has this way of making me feel what he wants me to feel. I listen to his "In These Arms" and even if I don't have anyone to miss I just settle right in to the emotion of the song, I listen to "Memphis Lives in Me" and Hell if I've ever been to Memphis but it just resonates with me. He's an extremely passionate musician, it comes across in his voice and in his playing, and I like that. He feels it, he makes me feel it, and I love it.

and here is what David wrote about Beethoven:

While other pieces by other famous classical composers were more technically difficult, not many could reach a place way down inside the soul and touch an emotion as strongly as Beethoven...When music can touch upon an emotion so strongly it is truly a gift from above.

and I just thought the parallels between how I feel about David and how he feels about Beethoven were interesting.