For some reason, Chris Isaak's only hit was resonating in my head the past few days. I thought of making a search for the video just to hear it again, and I was lucky enough to stumble into one that came with lyrics and information.
"Wicked Game" is a 1989 song by Chris Isaak from his third studio album Heart Shaped World. Despite being released as a single in 1989, it didn't become a hit until it was later featured in the David Lynch film Wild at Heart. Lee Chesnut, an Atlanta radio station music director who was obsessed with David Lynch films, began playing the song and it quickly became a nationwide top ten hit in January 1991, reaching #6 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, making it the only hit song of his career in the U.S.
Wicked Game
CHRIS ISAAK
The world was on fire
No one could save me but you.
Strange what desire will make foolish people do
I never dreamed that I'd meet somebody like you
And I never dreamed that I'd lose somebody like you
No, I don't want to fall in love
[This love is only gonna break your heart]
No, I don't want to fall in love
[This love is only gonna break your heart]
With you
With you
What a wicked game you play
To make me feel this way
What a wicked thing to do
To let me dream of you
What a wicked thing to say
You never felt this way
What a wicked thing to do
To make me dream of you
And I don't wanna fall in love
[This love is only gonna break your heart]
And I don't want to fall in love
[This love is only gonna break your heart]
Nobody loves no one
CHRIS ISAAK
The world was on fire
No one could save me but you.
Strange what desire will make foolish people do
I never dreamed that I'd meet somebody like you
And I never dreamed that I'd lose somebody like you
No, I don't want to fall in love
[This love is only gonna break your heart]
No, I don't want to fall in love
[This love is only gonna break your heart]
With you
With you
What a wicked game you play
To make me feel this way
What a wicked thing to do
To let me dream of you
What a wicked thing to say
You never felt this way
What a wicked thing to do
To make me dream of you
And I don't wanna fall in love
[This love is only gonna break your heart]
And I don't want to fall in love
[This love is only gonna break your heart]
Nobody loves no one
Except for the fact that Isaak was a one-hit wonder, I find everything about Wicked Game so sexy. Even as a twelve year old I thought that. The lyrics suggest a forbidden longing; the music is something you can imagine a pole dancer sultrily moving to. Chris Isaak's voice is silky and mellifluous.
And that music video it was packaged in -- woah. Hot. Ness. From Here To Eternity (1935) love scene at the beach, done '90s style. It was rarely ever played on local programs (I guess it's because it's not entirely wholesome), but I happened to catch it on MTV (via cable) as a teen and haven't forgotten about it since. It's actually very simple, but there's nothing plain about it.
I also noted that Isaak didn't do bad in the sexy department himself; teenage Me crushed on him for momentarily sometime between a Michael Cade phase and a Marcus Schenkenberg phase. The gorgeous lady in there with him by the way, is former supermodel Helena Christensen (who also happens to be Miss Denmark 1986).
