The Verdict: I Don't Want To Live Forever

Aloha !

Back when It's My Life was released I was very into this song. It was the first new single I bought and was very happy with the many b-sides. I knew Bon Jovi had released a few before for the These Days record and didn't expect to get so many for It's My Life.

I thought the diversity of b-sides was pretty cool as well. I Don't Want To Live Forever sounds like a solid pop/rock song. However, I've started buying more CD's lately and am into Stereophonics nowadys. Last week I received Word Gets Round, their first album, with this song on it:


What does this remember you off? For the people that have never bought the singles, here's the Bon Jovi song:


It's obviously a rip off. The Bon Jovi song was written after Destination Anywhere which makes sense as the Stereophonics song was a hit in the UK when Destination Anywhere had been released.

The Stereophonics song's lyrics, although being pretty simple, are way inferior to the Bon Jovi song. Listen to the lyrics and you might understand what the song is about.

I still like the Bon Jovi song though. I think it didn't make the Crush album because of the lyrics of the chorus containing the "I don't want to live forever, I want to live while I'm alive" thing. They must've thought that repeating it on the same album was a little too much. Repeating it on every other album after it appearantly wasn't though. But apart from that, the song is good, I think.

Apart from saying things like Stereophonics suck, eh, Thierry, what do you think about I Don't Want To Live Forever? Should it have made Crush?

Salaam Aleikum,
Sebastiaan

I have the Stereophonics GH and I do agree that the start mainly is exactly the same as IDWTLF.

Both good songs though and I've also liked 'I Don't want to live forever' as well.

I agree about the chorus part, about it possibly not being included because of it.

I quite like it, but feel like it was probably a pre-cursor to them writing It's My Life as it is the same kind of song (and, as you say, like others that followed) Also I think that it drags far too much towards the end. Even if it had been finished, I don't think that it would have worked on Crush - not unless they had made it a double album, given how many other good demos they had.

And I can't say as I hear the similarities with the Stereophonics track to be honest.

I love the song, bar the "Blood on Blood" melody reused. For so long I thought it was a band track, I feel so stupid for not noticing it was a Bandiara solo much much sooner. God I love the song though.

The Stereophonics are crap.. End of rant!

I always liked the verses, but the chorus is just flat... I'm glad they left this off the album. I would have prefered another B-Side instead. But I was quite fond of the "Frank Sinatra died today" part back then, they way it is sung, the groove... but the overall sound was too much garage.

It is??? A Big Dogs recording???

Yeah - isn't that obvious? It sounds the same as Rich Man In A Poor Mans House.

I prefer it as a song to It's My Life. I'd never heard that Stereophonics song before though, damn.

it's so-so. do like the verses but feel the chorus is a little weak for me. can see why it missed the cut.