This Is The Life

Album: Full Circle (2017)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • "This Is The Life" is one of the more popular songs from the post-Jack Russell era of Great White. When health issues kept Russell from performing with the band in 2010, he was replaced with Terry Ilous, who is the lead singer on this track and the rest of the Full Circle album. Russell ended up forming his own band, Jack Russell's Great White.
  • This song is about the ups and downs in life and how everything we go through makes us better. In a Songfacts interview with Great White guitarist Mark Kendall, he explained how it came together. "It's really cool the way that one came about," he said. "Audie [Desbrow] came up with a musical riff, a musical idea, and showed it to Scott [Snyder, bassist]. Scott plays a little guitar, and they did this on their own. They came up with this little intro riff and just kinda jammed around a little bit with it. Audie hummed it to Scott, and then he applied it to guitar, and they kind of jammed a little bit. I took that riff and made a song out of it with a little bit different look, but the idea came from them. The idea came from my drummer. And yeah, it was pretty cool."
  • The intro is Kendall's 4-year-old grandson running a pick slide down the center of Mark's guitar. "He grabs a metal pick, I think [George] Lynch used to use them," Kendall explained. "They tear your strings apart, but we felt like the pick slide might work. So, I just go, 'Keep it on that string now.' And he did it on the first take. He went all the way up to the headstock. Just perfect."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Tom Keifer of Cinderella

Tom Keifer of CinderellaSongwriter Interviews

Tom talks about the evolution of Cinderella's songs through their first three albums, and how he writes as a solo artist.

Danny Kortchmar

Danny KortchmarSongwriter Interviews

Danny played guitar on Sweet Baby James, Tapestry, and Running On Empty. He also co-wrote many hit songs, including "Dirty Laundry," "Sunset Grill" and "Tender Is The Night."

Mick Jones of Foreigner

Mick Jones of ForeignerSongwriter Interviews

Foreigner's songwriter/guitarist tells the stories behind the songs "Juke Box Hero," "I Want To Know What Love Is," and many more.

Experience Nirvana with Sub Pop Founder Bruce Pavitt

Experience Nirvana with Sub Pop Founder Bruce PavittSong Writing

The man who ran Nirvana's first label gets beyond the sensationalism (drugs, Courtney) to discuss their musical and cultural triumphs in the years before Nevermind.

David Gray

David GraySongwriter Interviews

David Gray explains the significance of the word "Babylon," and talks about how songs are a form of active imagination, with lyrics that reveal what's inside us.

Jon Anderson of Yes

Jon Anderson of YesSongwriter Interviews

From the lake in "Roundabout" to Sister Bluebird in "Starship Trooper," Jon Anderson talks about how nature and spirituality play into his lyrics for Yes.