Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ On A Prayer” is one of those songs that you’d think everyone thought would be a hit even during its early stages, but not to Jon Bon Jovi.
During a new interview with The Irish Times, Bon Jovi said of the Slippery When Wet single, “That song, God bless it. But, my God, who knew? Not us, I can assure you. It was created on a day when none of us had any ideas. We just had a conversation, and it came out of that. I’m sure happy my name’s on it!”
When asked whether he thought it was a hit when writing it, JBJ responded, “Not at all. I remember walking out of the room with Richie [Sambora] and I said, ‘Eh, it’s okay. Maybe we should just put it on a movie soundtrack.’ Richie looked at me and said, ‘You’re an idiot. It’s really good.’ I said, ‘I just don’t know where it’s going.’ But it didn’t have that boom-boom-boom bassline yet, so it sounded more like The Clash.”
Wait…”Livin’ On A Prayer,” at one point, sounded like a Clash song? I’m sure plenty would pay good money to hear that!
Of course, “Livin’ On A Prayer” would go on to be the second single from 1986’s Slippery When Wet, which has been certified 12-times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for selling over 12 million copies in the United States and would help Bon Jovi become one of the biggest bands in the world. Not a bad ending for a song that didn’t seem too impressive at first.
