Written by Chris Isaak.
Guitar by James Calvin Wilsey.
I came to Chris Isaak’s “Wicked Game” rather late in life. When the song was released in 1989 I was sixteen. I’m sure I caught the video on MTV because everybody caught that video back in 1989. But Isaak wasn’t my cuppa back then. At sixteen I was obsessed with Joshua Tree era U2 (Rattle and Hum, anyone?): all political and anthemic..three chords and the truth were what my life was all about. Big dreams and big sounds to go with. In the intervening three and a half decades I’ve certainly become acquainted with the song, but it wasn’t until about two weeks ago…the beginning of October in the year of our Lord two thousand and twenty four…that I think I heard the song for the first time.
And let’s just say: wow.
James Calvin Wilsey’s reverb heavy vibrato is the quintessential example of how to do more with less. With all due respect to David Gilmour and “Comfortably Numb,” this is a master class in what a single note can do. String a few of those single, sustained notes together: B, A#, E, D, C#, dose them with some vibrato, reverb, and delay, and your life will change before your very eyes. Lay it on top of the three chord rhythm progression, some brushed drums, three bass notes and Isaak’s haunted, wavering Elvis-esque baritone to falsetto vocal delivery and you have the perfect song.
Isaak could be singing about going to a car wash or buying life insurance and the song would pack the same punch. But he’s not. The melody/contra melody of “I’d…only want to fall in love with you” / “This world is only going to break your heart” does just that. It’s devastating. And beneath it all is Wilsey’s Strat, winding in and out of the song like a serpent, or a siren…calling to the listener to either come hither or stay the hell away.
Anyway, “Wicked Game.” Give it a listen.
Esse amans cave, indeed.
City of Nerves 