"You Give Love a Bad Name" | ||||||||
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Single by Bon Jovi | ||||||||
from the album Slippery When Wet | ||||||||
B-side | "Raise Your Hands" (US) "Let It Rock" (UK) |
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Released | July 23, 1986 | |||||||
Format | CD single, 7" | |||||||
Recorded | 1986 | |||||||
Genre | Hard rock | |||||||
Length | 3:42 (album version) 4:06 (full version) |
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Label | Mercury | |||||||
Writer(s) | Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora, Desmond Child | |||||||
Producer(s) | Bruce Fairbairn | |||||||
Bon Jovi singles chronology | ||||||||
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"You Give Love a Bad Name" is a song by American rock band Bon Jovi, released as the first single from their 1986 album Slippery When Wet. Written by Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora, and Desmond Child about a woman who has jilted her lover, the song reached No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 on November 29, 1986 and became the band's first number one hit. In 2007, the song reentered the charts at No. 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. Despite the lyrics of the chorus, the song should not be confused with "Shot Through the Heart", an unrelated song from Bon Jovi's 1984 self-titled debut album.
"You Give Love a Bad Name" was originally written for Bonnie Tyler under the title "If You Were a Woman (And I Was a Man)" with different lyrics. Dissatisfied with its success in the US and the UK, Desmond Child re-wrote the song with Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora.
The song was written with several catchy repeated lines and associated hooks to appeal to mainstream audiences including the chorus as well as several bridges.
This song is written in the key of C minor and has a tempo of 123 BPM.
The album version of the song ends with the title being repeated until it fades.
The music video for the song used all-color concert footage (the only all-color video song from Slippery When Wet) and photogenic shots primarily of Jon Bon Jovi, as well as other band members in concert. This video was filmed at the Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles, California.