Day After Day #79: Life's What You Make It

Day After Day is an ambitious attempt to write about a song every day in 2024 (starting on Jan. 4).  

Life's What You Make It (1986)

The early '80s was awash with new wave artists, but as the decade wore on, it was interesting to watch them evolve. In 1982, Talk Talk had almost immediate success in the U.K., scoring hits with the songs "Talk Talk" and "Today." The English band made a little headway in the U.S. with their debut album The Party's Over going to #132 on the Billboard Top 200 and "Talk Talk" hitting #75 on the Hot 100 singles chart. They had skinny ties and played the synth pop that the kids were into at the time.

Talk Talk released its second album, It's My Life, in 1984 and the title track was a hit pretty much everywhere but the U.K., going into the top 40 in both the U.S. and Canada and hitting #1 on the U.S. Dance Club Songs chart. It only got to #46 in the U.K.; it was re-released two more times, finally becoming a hit in 1990 when it went to #13. The video was notable because it featured singer Mark Hollis refusing to lip synch over scenes from a nature documentary; we didn't have MTV at the time, but I remember seeing it on a Boston afternoon TV show called Hot Hit Video. Almost 20 years later, No Doubt had a top 10 hit with a cover of "It's My Life."

The band changed up its sound on 1986's The Colour of Spring, replacing most of the synths with guitar, piano and organ as it moved toward a jazzier, more improvisational style. The album also featured a lot of guest musicians, including Steve Winwood and guitarist Robbie McIntosh of the Pretenders. The lead single, "Life's What You Make It," was a hit in the U.K., going to #16 on the singles chart. It did pretty well around the world but was less successful in the U.S., where it only got to #90 on the Billboard Hot 100 (although it was #22 on the Hot Dance Club Play chart and #26 on the Top Rock Tracks chart; it always cracks me up that there are so many different charts).

It's a majestic song, driven by an insistent piano line, steady percussion and a guitar hook played by David Rhodes (known for his work with Peter Gabriel, among others). Like "It's My Life," this song is highlighted by Hollis' emotional vocal delivery. Lyrically, it's repetitive, but it doesn't feel that way because the song is so great.

"Baby, life's what you make it/Can't escape it/Baby, yesterday's favorite/Don't you hate it?/(Everything's all right)/Life's what you make it/(Everything's all right)."

While Hollis doesn't get into details, the song seems to be saying that you can't dwell on what you did in the past, you need to live in the present. But it's unclear whether he is simultaneously implying that such a statement is also kind of trite. Whatever the case, it's a gripping song delivered by one of the more unique voices of that era.

Talk Talk only released two more albums before breaking up in 1991 after Hollis said he wanted to spend more time with his family. The other members went on to other projects and Hollis eventually released a solo album in 1998 that echoed the minimalist post-rock sound of the band's later work. He pretty much retired after that. He died of cancer at age 64 in 2019.

I didn't know much about Talk Talk other than their hits, but listening to some live performances from 1986, it's striking how much they had changed from when they first came on the scene.