Skip to main content

It’s hard for me to get sick of anything having to do with classic rock. However, one of Bon Jovi’s songs is too ubiquitous for its own good. The track doesn’t need to be shoved down everyone’s throats all the time. After all, there are far better 1980s hair metal songs — and far better Bon Jovi songs.

1 Bon Jovi song seemed to be widely liked but rarely loved

“Tommy used to work on the docks.” That one line should be able to conjure up the whole song for you. “Livin’ on a Prayer” went from being a popular 1980s rock song to being the 1980s rock song. It’s everywhere. That’s pretty interesting, considering that no one has ever put “Livin’ on a Prayer” on any of those tedious lists of the 100 or 500 or 1,000 songs of all time.

Everybody seems to like “Livin’ on a Prayer,” even if nobody loves it. However, that goodwill should dry up immediately. Nobody needs to hear “Livin’ on a Prayer” for the next 20 years because it’s been far too overexposed. I’d rather hear “Wanted Dead or Alive” a hundred more times than hear “Livin’ on a Prayer” once more. 

Bon Jovi didn’t write their biggest behemoth alone

The track was co-written by Desmond Child, the same musician who gave us Aerosmth’s “Dude Looks Like a Lady.” In his 2023 book Livin’ on a Prayer: Big Songs Big Life, Child explained how the song came to be. “My first impulse was to suggest, ‘Johnny used to work on the docks,'” he said. “I was Johnny — Johnny Barrett being my real name — but Jon thought that would be weird because fans would think that he was singing about himself. So we came up with the sound-alike, ‘Tommy.'”

“Richie [Sambora] added the second ‘whoa’ after ‘halfway there’ that moves upward at the top of the chorus, a ‘whoa’ that would cause generations of Bon Jovi fans to throw their fists up in the air for decades to come,” Child recalled. “Thus, ‘Livin’ on a Prayer’ was born.”

Child also co-wrote “You Give Love a Bad Name.” Child felt that “Livin’ on a Prayer” and “You Give Love a Bad Name” changed everything. “On the strength of these two songs, Bon Jovi took its place in history among the world’s biggest rock ‘n’ roll bands,” he opined.

Related

Frank Sinatra Inspired a Controversial Line of Bon Jovi’s ‘It’s My Life’

Bon Jovi’s ‘Livin’ on a Prayer’ was part of a string of hits

“Livin’ on a Prayer” topped the Billboard Hot 100 for four weeks. None of Bon Jovi’s tracks lasted as long at the pinnacle of the chart. The tune lasted on the chart for 22 weeks.

“Livin’ on a Prayer” appeared on the album Slippery When Wet. That record was No. 1 on the Billboard 200 for eight weeks and lasted on the chart for 118 weeks in total. It was bigger than any of Bon Jovi’s other studio albums. Slippery When Wet produced two other big hits: “You Give Love a Bad Name” and “Wanted Dead or Alive.” The former was yet another No. 1 single, while the latter peaked at No. 7.

“Livin’ on a Prayer” was massive in the 1980s and it’s still huge today. Maybe it’s time to give the track a rest.

Best in Entertainment