114. Rock Goes The Gospel - Bon Jovi "It's My Life"

It's My Life" is Bon Jovi's first single from the album Crush. It was released on May 23, 2000. It was written by Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora, and Max Martin. The song charted in the top 10 across several countries and has the distinction of making Bon Jovi the only band once classified as 1980s glam metal to reach the top 40 in the 2000s, a testament to how the song managed to introduce the band to a new, younger fanbase.

The song is arguably their most well known post-1980s hit single and it has been performed live at almost all shows since its release.The song has many classic Bon Jovi features, such as Sambora's use of the talk box, and a line in the second verse "For Tommy and Gina, who never backed down" refers to Tommy and Gina, a fictional working class couple that Bon Jovi and Sambora first wrote about in their 1986 hit "Livin' on a Prayer". "It's My Life" is also notable for its line referencing fellow New Jerseyan Frank Sinatra: "My heart is like an open highway / Like Frankie said / I did it 'My Way'." Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora apparently had a disagreement over those lines, with Bon Jovi recalling: I had just come home from making U-571 and I said "Sinatra made 16 movies and toured 'til he was 80. This is my role model". He [Sambora] said, "You can't write that damn lyric. Nobody cares about Frank Sinatra but you." And I wrote it anyway.

This ain't a song for the broken-hearted
No silent prayer for the faith-departed
I ain't gonna be just a face in the crowd
You're gonna hear my voice
When I shout it out loud

[Chorus:]
It's my life
It's now or never
I ain't gonna live forever
I just want to live while I'm alive
(It's my life)
My heart is like an open highway
Like Frankie said
I did it my way
I just wanna live while I'm alive
It's my life

This is for the ones who stood their ground
For Tommy and Gina who never backed down
Tomorrow's getting harder make no mistake
Luck ain't even lucky
Got to make your own breaks

[Chorus:]
It's my life
And it's now or never
I ain't gonna live forever
I just want to live while I'm alive
(It's my life)
My heart is like an open highway
Like Frankie said
I did it my way
I just want to live while I'm alive
'Cause it's my life

Better stand tall when they're calling you out
Don't bend, don't break, baby, don't back down

[Chorus:]
It's my life
And it's now or never
'Cause I ain't gonna live forever
I just want to live while I'm alive
(It's my life)
My heart is like an open highway
Like Frankie said
I did it my way
I just want to live while I'm alive

[Chorus:]
It's my life
And it's now or never
'Cause I ain't gonna live forever
I just want to live while I'm alive
(It's my life)
My heart is like an open highway
Like Frankie said
I did it my way
I just want to live while I'm alive
'Cause it's my life!

This song from the year 2000 is a  song about determination. It's a song about living life the way you want to. It's a song about living out you convictions no matter what. "I just want to live while I'm alive" nails it lyrically and with hints to Frank Sinatra's "I did it my way" you get the impact of the song right from the start. "It's my life" may be something that we have all said at one point. It's a sentiment that you will have heard if you have teenagers among your children. It's a statement that echoes the heart's cry for freedom from conformity and the drudgery of life. It's a sentiment that runs deep and has much to commend it. It's not always a bad thing to know what you want in life and to stand up for what you believe in. It should not always be seen as a negative, or indeed an arrogant action. Paul the great apostle faced this issue more than most. When he was halted on the road to Damascus and transformed he was viewed with suspicion by the churches and their leaders.....he could have given up. when he began to preach he encountered opposition.....he could have given up. In fact we hear of Paul's hardships in 2 Corinthians 11.

Paul the apostle showed guts and determination to carry on with life. He could have given up......Paul was determined to live life to the full on behalf of Jesus. He would not give in. Paul's motto could have been the same as the lyrics of the Bon Jovi song "I want to live while I'm alive" "It's My Life" Paul was not deterred by the opposition or the persecution. He was not stopped by the outside pressures of people, of life. But he continued in it. He found ways in which to be true to himself and at the same time not deny Jesus who transformed him in Acts 9. One of Paul's greatest statement which is recorded for us in Romans chapter 1 shows where his heart and mind were.

In Bon Jovi's song we find the line"Your gonna hear my voice when I shout it out loud" This should have been written to commemorate Paul the apostle as this was Paul's heart concerning the preaching and teaching of the good news of Jesus.  He was relentless and his missionary journey's chart the adventures that he got up to in the quest for bringing the gospel and truth of Jesus across the Mediterranean.