Wonderful Life (Hurts song)

In an interview with entertainment website Digital Spy, lead singer Theo Hutchcraft said of "Wonderful Life": "It's basically based on two extremes: the first being a man who wants to kill himself and the second being love at first sight. He's standing on the bridge about to jump and he's stopped by a woman. They see each other and fall in love. She basically says, 'Come with me, it's all going to be fine'. The song only offers a snippet of someone's life, so we don't know what happens at the end of it."{{cite web|last=Balls|first=David|title=Music - Interview - Ones To Watch: Hurts|url=http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/music/interviews/a192470/ones-to-watch-hurts.html|date=27 December 2009|website=Digital Spy|access-date=23 August 2010}}

"Wonderful Life" was well received from music critics. Digital Spy gave the song five out of five stars writing: "Over noirishly simmering synths, frontman Theo Hutchcraft tells the story of a suicidal man saved from jumping off the Severn Bridge by the strike of love at first sight. The rest, quite frankly, speaks for itself. Classy video? Check. Haunting vocals? You got 'em. Epic instrumental breakdown two-thirds of the way through? Seriously, it's all here."{{cite web|last=Copsey|first=Robert|title=Music - Singles Review - Hurts: 'Wonderful Life'|url=http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/music/singlesreviews/a266209/hurts-wonderful-life.html|date=23 August 2010|website=Digital Spy|access-date=23 August 2010}} The Guardian reviewer Paul Lester wrote: "Wonderful Life is a heart-piercing future classic. Close your eyes and you're transported back to 1987, with the pristine production and melodies."{{cite news|last=Lester|first=Paul|title=New band of the day – No 593: Hurts|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2009/jul/27/new-band-hurts|date=27 July 2009|newspaper=The Guardian|access-date=22 August 2010|location=London}} Fraser McAlpine of BBC Chart Blog gave the song four out of five stars and described it as a sad song with "bitterly optimistic lyrics".{{cite web|last=McAlpine|first=Fraser|title=Chart Blog: Hurts - 'Wonderful Life'|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/chartblog/2010/01/hurts_wonderful_life.shtml|date=15 January 2010|publisher=BBC Music|access-date=22 August 2010}} Brent DiCrescenzo from Time Out Chicago gave "Wonderful Life" four out of five stars and called it a "immaculately crafted, melodramatic pop song[s]"{{cite web|last=DiCrescenzo|first=Brent|title=Tracks {{!}} Hurts - Wonderful Life {{pipe}} Summer Camp - Round the Moon {{pipe}} Music review|url=http://chicago.timeout.com/articles/music/88435/tracks-hurts-wonderful-life-summer-camp-round-the-moon-music-review|publisher=Time Out Chicago|access-date=3 September 2010}} Sarah Walters of City Life gave the song three out of five stars. She felt the song was "a product of the 1980s", and wrote, "There are countless debts in here: the sentimental synth of the Pet Shop Boys or Fiction Factory, the dancefloor savvy of The Beloved, the emotional lyrical arch China Crisis or the dashes of saxophone used by Spandau Ballet and Black".{{cite web|last=Walters|first=Sarah|title=Single Review: Hurts - Wonderful Life - Releases - Music|url=http://www.citylife.co.uk/music/release/6225|access-date=3 September 2010}} (Coincidentally, Black had a hit with a song of the same title).{{cite news| url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2009/jul/27/new-band-hurts | location=London | work=The Guardian | first=Paul | last=Lester | title=Hurts (No 593) | date=27 July 2009}} Chris Maguire of AltSounds gave a mixed review: "It isn't ground-breaking by any means but it is a good example of pop music done well. Sure the lyrics aren't the greatest [...] but the chorus is good and will rattle around in your brain for quite a few hours after you have finished listening to it."{{cite web |author=Chris Maguire |title=Hurts - Wonderful Life (Single) |publisher=AltSounds |url=http://hangout.altsounds.com/reviews/121580-hurts-wonderful-life-single.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141025042047/http://hangout.altsounds.com/reviews/121580-hurts-wonderful-life-single.html |date=2 September 2010 |archive-date=25 October 2014}}

In his book 'Albion's Secret History: Snapshots of England's Pop Rebels and Outsiders' Guy Mankowski wrote a chapter about the song, commenting that Hurts 'deftly created a European mythology of their own with their debut video for the single 'Wonderful Life'. Within four minutes they created an evocative visual landscape, rich with reference points, which proved that even in the contemporary era Europe retained a sense mystique for the English.' {{cite web |author=Guy Mankowski |title=The New Europeans: Depeche Mode, Ultravox, Hurts and Disco Lento |publisher=3AM Magazine |url=https://www.3ammagazine.com/3am/the-new-europeans-depeche-mode-ultravox-hurts-and-disco-lento/|date=2 September 2010 }}

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• Danish digital download

1. "Wonderful Life" – 4:14

• UK CD single

1. "Wonderful Life" – 4:16
2. "Affair" – 6:26

• UK digital download

1. "Wonderful Life" (Radio Edit) – 3:34
2. "Wonderful Life" (Mantronix Remix) – 5:11
3. "Wonderful Life" (Arthur Baker Remix) – 6:43
4. "Wonderful Life" (Freemasons Remix Radio Edit) – 3:23
5. "Wonderful Life" (Freemasons Extended Mix) – 8:28

• UK 7" vinyl

1. "Wonderful Life" – 4:16
2. "Wonderful Life" (Mantronix Remix) – 5:11

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• UK 12" picture vinyl

1. "Wonderful Life" (Arthur Baker Remix) – 6:43
2. "Wonderful Life" (Arthur Baker Remix Instrumental)

• German digital download

1. "Wonderful Life" – 4:16
2. "Wonderful Life" (Arthur Baker Remix) – 6:43
3. "Wonderful Life" (Lexy Remix) – 7:22
4. "Wonderful Life" (Mantronix Remix) – 5:11

• German CD single

1. "Wonderful Life" – 4:14
2. "Wonderful Life" (Arthur Baker Remix) – 6:43

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• Hurts – lyrics, music, production
• Joseph Cross – music, production
• Jonas Quant – additional production
• Spike Stent – mixing
• George Marino – mastering

Source:{{cite AV media notes |title=Wonderful Life |others=Hurts |date=2010 |type=liner notes |publisher=Sony}}

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{{Certification Table Top}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Austria|artist=Hurts|title=Wonderful Life|award=Gold|type=single|relyear=2010|certyear=2011|date=24 February 2011|accessdate=2 August 2019}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Germany|artist=Hurts|title=Wonderful Life|award=Gold|number=3|type=single|relyear=2010|certyear=2013|accessdate=2 August 2019}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Switzerland|artist=Hurts|title=Wonderful Life|award=Platinum|type=single|relyear=2010|certyear=2011|accessdate=2 August 2019}}

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{{Reflist|30em}}

• {{YouTube|id=VnnCSwh7-vM|Wonderful Life}}

{{Hurts}}

Category:2010 singles

Category:Hurts songs

Category:RCA Records singles

Category:Number-one singles in Poland

Category:Songs about suicide

Category:2010 songs

Category:Black-and-white music videos

Category:England–Wales border