‘Wanted Dead or Alive’ is a power ballad by American rock band Bon Jovi. It is from their 1986 album Slippery When Wet. The song was written by Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora and was released in 1987, as the album's third single. During a February 20, 2008 encore performance in Detroit, Jon Bon Jovi told the crowd about running into Bob Seger at a Pistons game. As he introduced his song ‘Wanted Dead or Alive’, he said it was inspired by Seger's ‘Turn the Page’ hit and called the song the band's anthem. The song peaked at number 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and number 13 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, making it the third single from the album to reach the Top 10 of the Hot 100. As a result, Slippery When Wet was the first glam metal album to have 3 top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100.
This song uses Old West cowboy imagery to describe the lonely life of a rock star. At the time, starting with their debut album in 1984, Bon Jovi played about 300 shows a year, using the remaining time to work on albums. When it came time to write for their third album, Slippery When Wet, Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora wrote this song about what they knew: performing to lots of people who all blended together after a while.
The song's title pays homage to Jon's admiration for Old West heroes, and how he identifies with them as being hated and loved at the same time ("wanted dead or alive", so to speak). During an interview on Inside the Actors Studio, Jon said he got the inspiration for the song early one morning when he could not sleep while riding in a tour bus. The "lifestyle of every rock band" was similar to that of outlaws in that each was, "a young band of thieves, riding into town, stealing the money, the girls, and the booze before the sun came up." "Six string on my back" refers to the guitar; "steel horse" is the tour bus. This song was written during a time when Jon had just broken up with his longtime girlfriend, Dorothea Hurley. Good news - they got back together and got married.
This was the song that kickstarted the "Unplugged" craze. At the 1989 MTV Video Music Awards, Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora performed this with just their acoustic guitars, giving the network the idea for the "Unplugged" series.
Label – Mercury
Songwriters – Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora
Producer – Bruce Fairbairn
SONG LYRICS
[Verse 1]It's all the same, only the names will change
Every day it seems we're wastin' away
Another place where the faces are so cold
I'd drive all night just to get back home
[Chorus]
I'm a cowboy
On a steel horse I ride
I'm wanted dead or alive
Wanted dead or alive
[Verse 2]
Sometimes I sleep, sometimes it's not for days
The people I meet always go their separate ways
Sometimes you tell the day by the bottle that you drink
And times when you're alone, well, all you do is think
[Chorus]
I'm a cowboy
On a steel horse I ride
I'm wanted (Wanted) dead or alive
Wanted (Wanted) dead or alive
[Post-Chorus]
Oh, and I ride
[Guitar Solo]
[Chorus]
Ooh, I'm a cowboy
On a steel horse I ride
I'm wanted (Wanted) dead or alive
[Verse 3]
But I walk these streets, a loaded six-string on my back
I play for keeps 'cause I might not make it back
I've been everywhere, (Oh yeah) still I'm standin' tall
I've seen a million faces and I've rocked them all
[Chorus]
'Cause I'm a cowboy
On a steel horse, I ride
I'm wanted (Wanted) dead or alive
And I'm a cowboy
I got the night on my side
And I'm wanted (Wanted) dead or alive
[Outro]
And I ride (And I ride), dead or alive
I still drive (Still drive), dead or alive
Dead or alive
Dead or alive
Dead or alive
Dead or alive