All about the song "Is This Love"(1987)
Содержание
The melodic "Is This Love" is the biggest hit of the British band Whitesnake, and the most famous ballad about love all over the world! The composition tells about David Coverdale's lyrical hero in love, his irresistible desire to be near his beloved... How was one of the most grandiose masterpieces of Whitesnake created? Let's find out!
The story of the song
The legendary "Is This Love" has a fascinating history! It is worth noting that originally Coverdale wrote this beautiful composition for Tina Turner. But... subsequently the song became an integral attribute of Whitesnake's discography. Ballad of Love was written by David along with guitarist John Sykes, and reveals the most sensual side of the band's frontman...
In his interview, Coverdale talked about how the process of creating "Is This Love" went:
"Originally the song had different lyrics, which I really liked... At one time, I was working closely with the EMI label in London. They found out that I was going to spend a holiday in an unusual place, going to exotic wilds, bringing along cassettes, sets of discs and ideas..."
"...This song was born in the south of France. I originally wrote it for Tina Turner! Before I left, a friend from EMI asked me if I had any ideas that would suit Tina Turner. I still dream of hearing the lovely Tina sing that piece... I remember John came up to me and asked me what I was playing. I told him, "This song is not for us, it's for Tina Turner." He put his feet up, turned on a little Rockman speaker and started playing the most beautiful playbacks I'd ever heard! They complemented my melody perfectly... It was really cool - just right! That's how the song was born in its rightful form, in the simplest way possible... I had no idea at the time that it would become a full ballad!"
Achievements of Composition
The song was released on the Whitesnake album in 1987. Due to its sincerity and heartfelt lyrics (which is not typical for hard rock bands), "Is This Love" achieved great success on the charts! The ballad reached number 2 in the USA, becoming the second biggest American hit after "Here I Go Again"! In its home country - the UK - the song became # 9.
Music video "Is This Love"
A little later, a music video was shot for "Is This Love". For those who don't know: the sultry beauty in the white dress is not a little known actress, model and future spouse of Coverdale - Toni Kitane! The girl is also known to Whitesnake fans from the music videos "Here I Go Again", "Still of the Night", as well as "The Deeper the Love".
The clip turned out to be atmospheric, romanticised and very... misty! It is said that together with Kitane, Whitesnake revolutionised the music film industry at that time! They became one of the first musicians to feature seductive girls in their music videos....
The ballad "Is This Love?" has formed the basis of many of Whitesnake's live performances! In his 2017 interview, David Coverdale recounted:
"This song has not lost its success to this day. It's the kind of thing that you just have to groove to! Sometimes we used to play it at big heavy metal festivals. And then I thought: "Maybe we should throw this thing out of our programme." But when I saw big guys in leather jackets and Maiden T-shirts singing "Is This Love", I thought, "Damn, that's nice!". It's definitely a song with a good and very light atmosphere...".
