Interpretation - Livin' on a prayer

Everybody knows this song! 'Livin' on a prayer' is like the definition of Bon Jovi for a lot of people. It's another number one single from 'Slippery when wet' and also a collaboration between Jon, Richie and Desmond Child.

It portraits the life of Tommy and Gina, a working class couple that struggles to make a living. They work hard every day and only seem to hold on because of each other. The main characters are inspired by Desmond Child whos real name is John and who had a friend named Gina. They first wanted to write about Johnny and Gina, but he thought it sounded too much like he was singing about himself, so they changed it to Tommy.

'Livin' on a prayer' is one of the best examples for the optimism in Bon Jovi songs. It's like a signature song with lines like 'we've got to hold on ready or not, you live for the fight when it's all that you've got' that give strengh, power and enforces the belief in oneself.

'Prayer' is played at every show and no matter where the band is in public. So, it's even funnier to know that Jon didn't want the song to be on the record. He didn't believe in it, but fortunately Richie, the rest of the band and the record company people were convinced that it would be a hit single and Jon agreed to rework it and finally put it on the album.

 One of the most spectacular performances of this song is their appearance at the MTV Awards in 1989. They played 'Prayer' and 'Wanted' as acoustic versions and many say that this contributed to the idea for the MTY Unplugged series. Jon and Richie thought that the people didn't like it because the reaction in the hall wasn't that good, but everybody was completely happy, they just didn't expect something like this :)

Fun Fact: the first words of the song are those of the tipical beginning of fairy tales: Once upon a time, not so long ago...