Music Review: Bon Jovi "Wanted Dead Or Alive"
Bon Jovi
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Wanted Dead or Alive
Album: Slippery When Wet
Year: 1986
Jon Bovi Jovi, lead singer of Bon Jovi, is a fugitive from the law in the contrived "Wanted Dead or Alive."
A gusty wind opens the single. It's followed by a low, ominous drum and a drunken, hillbilly guitar. Bon Jovi snivels his story is true but he cannot disclose any names. He spews uninsightful commentary about how people are destroying their lives. People are cruel towards each other for no reason. He thinks other people should stop complaining and wonder what it would be like to not have a home. Since he's an outlaw, he can't return home...or atone for his crimes for that matter. "It's all the same, only the names will change/Everyday it seems we're wasting away/Another place where the faces are so cold/I'd drive all night just to get back home."
In the chorus, the redemptive strings swell as he says he's a cowboy. He spends his life evading the law "I'm a cowboy, on a steel horse I ride/I'm wanted dead or alive/Wanted dead or alive."
He is able to get some rest from the police and sleeps wherever he can hide. But mostly he remains awake and alert for someone who could recongnize him. Although he meets people, he If he has drunk a whole bottle of wine, he knows at least three days have gone by. He broods all day, deluding himself as a heroic figure. "Sometimes I sleep, sometimes it's not for days/And the people I meet always go their separate ways/Sometimes you tell the day/By the bottle that you drink/And times when you're all alone all you do is think."
After the chorus, Bon Jovi yells "all right!" as the guitars burst with a melodramatic flair. He segues into the bridge with the proud declaration that he's a cowboy.
In the bridge, he adds that he travels around the country with guitar. If he finds something in the street which could be useful to him, he takes it. He needs it to survive. He boasts that he's seen every tourist spot in the nation without being found by the police. He's also charmed at least a million people along the way. "I walk these streets, a loaded six string on my back/I play for keeps, 'cause I might not make it back/I've been everywhere, still I'm standing tall/I've seen a million faces and I've rocked them all."
In the final chorus, he notes the night conceals him from the people hunting for him. "I'm a cowboy, on a steel horse I ride/I'm wanted dead or alive/I'm a cowboy, I got the night on my side/I'm wanted dead or alive/Wanted dead or alive."
The gusty wind ends the single.
The cocky "Wanted Dead or Alive" has Bon Jovi begging for sympathy. However, his crime is never revealed which damages his credibility. What exactly did he do for the authorities to be after him? If it's something horrible enough, he would not be walking in the daylight and taking in the scenery, as suggested.
The glamorization of the troubled criminal in the single is neither intelligent or original. It's a cliche that reaches its already pre-determined outcome.
Album: Slippery When Wet
Year: 1986
Jon Bovi Jovi, lead singer of Bon Jovi, is a fugitive from the law in the contrived "Wanted Dead or Alive."
A gusty wind opens the single. It's followed by a low, ominous drum and a drunken, hillbilly guitar. Bon Jovi snivels his story is true but he cannot disclose any names. He spews uninsightful commentary about how people are destroying their lives. People are cruel towards each other for no reason. He thinks other people should stop complaining and wonder what it would be like to not have a home. Since he's an outlaw, he can't return home...or atone for his crimes for that matter. "It's all the same, only the names will change/Everyday it seems we're wasting away/Another place where the faces are so cold/I'd drive all night just to get back home."
In the chorus, the redemptive strings swell as he says he's a cowboy. He spends his life evading the law "I'm a cowboy, on a steel horse I ride/I'm wanted dead or alive/Wanted dead or alive."
He is able to get some rest from the police and sleeps wherever he can hide. But mostly he remains awake and alert for someone who could recongnize him. Although he meets people, he If he has drunk a whole bottle of wine, he knows at least three days have gone by. He broods all day, deluding himself as a heroic figure. "Sometimes I sleep, sometimes it's not for days/And the people I meet always go their separate ways/Sometimes you tell the day/By the bottle that you drink/And times when you're all alone all you do is think."
After the chorus, Bon Jovi yells "all right!" as the guitars burst with a melodramatic flair. He segues into the bridge with the proud declaration that he's a cowboy.
In the bridge, he adds that he travels around the country with guitar. If he finds something in the street which could be useful to him, he takes it. He needs it to survive. He boasts that he's seen every tourist spot in the nation without being found by the police. He's also charmed at least a million people along the way. "I walk these streets, a loaded six string on my back/I play for keeps, 'cause I might not make it back/I've been everywhere, still I'm standing tall/I've seen a million faces and I've rocked them all."
In the final chorus, he notes the night conceals him from the people hunting for him. "I'm a cowboy, on a steel horse I ride/I'm wanted dead or alive/I'm a cowboy, I got the night on my side/I'm wanted dead or alive/Wanted dead or alive."
The gusty wind ends the single.
The cocky "Wanted Dead or Alive" has Bon Jovi begging for sympathy. However, his crime is never revealed which damages his credibility. What exactly did he do for the authorities to be after him? If it's something horrible enough, he would not be walking in the daylight and taking in the scenery, as suggested.
The glamorization of the troubled criminal in the single is neither intelligent or original. It's a cliche that reaches its already pre-determined outcome.
