"You Give Love A Bad Name" is a song written by Jon Bon Jovi, Desmond Child and Richie Sambora about a woman who has jilted her lover. Although originally written for the band Loverboy, the song was recorded by Bon Jovi. The track was released as the first single from the album "Slippery When Wet" and hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 on November 29, 1986, Bon Jovi's first number one hit. The song reentered the charts at #29 after Blake Lewis performed it on American Idol. In 2009 it was named the 20th-greatest hard rock song of all time by VH1.
"Slipper When Wet" Bon Jovi's third studio album; of which "You Give Love A Bad Name" was Bon Jovi's first single from the album in August 1986. It is Bon Jovi's best selling album to date with 12 million copies in the U.S. and 28 million copies worldwide. Billboard named "Slippery When Wet" the best selling album of 1987 and the 21st best selling studio album of all time. The album spent eight weeks at #1 on the Billboard 200 and was the top selling album 0f 1987.
Below is the original Music Video of Bon Jovi's "You Give Love A Bad Name" singing in concert in 1986. I have also listed "You Give Love A Bad Name" Lyrics below, which is published on many websites today. Also, check out "You Give Love A Bad Name" Facts and Rumors that is included in this post. Congratulations to Bon Jovi on their 25th anniversary of their first number one single! Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! - Kenny Leibow
There are 100s of sources confirming the facts mentioned throughout this post. I will name a few: Billboard, Rolling Stone, m.songfacts.com, lyrics007.com, Deniz and Kenny Original Songs, Official and Non-Official Bon Jovi websites.
Bon Jovi - You Give Love A Bad Name 1986
You Give Love A Bad Name lyrics
Songwriters: Bon Jovi, Jon; Sambora, Richard S.; Child, Desmond
Shot through the heart and you're to blame
Darlin' you give love a bad name
An angel's smile is what you sell
You promise me heaven then put me through hell
Chains of love got a hold on me
When passion's a prison you can't break free
Oh! You're a loaded gun, yeah
Oh! There's nowhere to run
No one can save me
The damage is done
Shot through the heart and you're to blame
You give love a bad name
(Bad name)
I play my part and you play your game
You give love a bad name
(Bad name)
Hey, you give love a bad name
Paint your smile on your lips
Blood red nails on your fingertips
A school boy's dream, you act so shy
Your very first kiss was your first kiss goodbye
Whoa! You're a loaded gun
Whoa! There's nowhere to run
No one can save me
The damage is done
Shot through the heart and you're to blame
You give love a bad name
(Bad name)
I play my part and you play your game
You give love a bad name
(Bad name)
You give love, oh!
Oh! Shot through the heart and you're to blame
You give love a bad name
I play my part and you play your game
You give love a bad name
(Bad name)
Shot through the heart and you're to blame
You give love a bad name
(Bad name)
I play my part and you play your game
You give love a bad name
(Bad name)
You give love
You give love
(Bad name)
You give love
You give love
(Bad name)
You give love
You give love
(Bad name)
You give love
You give love
© DESMOBILE MUSIC COMPANY; POLYGRAM INT. PUBL., INC; AGGRESSIVE MUSIC; SONY/ATV TUNES LLC; BON JOVI PUBLISHING
You Give Love a Bad Name - Facts and Rumors
1. Desmond Child helped write this along with Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora. He was brought in by the record company to give Bon Jovi a more commercial sound. Among others, Child has written hits for Cher, Aerosmith, and Ricky Martin.
2. This was the first time Child worked with Jon and Richie. He came to New Jersey, where they worked on this in the basement of Sambora's mother's house. Child came up with the title, and Jon immediately thought up the first line ("Shot through the heart..."). From there, they put the rest of the song together, with "Shot Through The Heart" as the working title.
3. This song is about a guy whose girlfriend is extremely bad for him.
4. Jon Bon Jovi dated actress Diane Lane in the mid-'80s, and there are rumors that she was the inspiration for this song. We haven't found anything to confirm this.
5. This was the first big hit for Bon Jovi, but they did have a minor hit 2 years earlier. In 1984, "Runaway," from their first album, became popular in New Jersey and hit #39 in the US.
6. At one point, this was intended for the group Loverboy. Bon Jovi and Sambora started out writing it for them, but liked it so much they kept it for themselves.
7. This was the first Bon Jovi song to get played on MTV. Lead singer Jon Bon Jovi had big hair at the time.
8. The follow-up single, "Livin' On A Prayer", was also a #1 hit. Desmond Child also helped write and produce that one.
9. The album was recorded in Vancouver. They got the idea for the album title at a strip club they went to after recording sessions. "Slippery When Wet" is also a common road sign in America, but they were probably more inspired by the girls who danced in a shower at the club.
10. In 2005, this became a #1 hit in Poland when the Polish singer Mandaryna recorded it.
11. Blake Lewis performed this in 2007 on season 6 of American Idol, incorporating beatboxing into the song. The judges loved it, and Lewis performed it again on the season finale. Lewis came in second to Jordin Sparks. (thanks, Donovan Berry - El Dorado, AR, for above 2)
