It's My Life (The Animals song)

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

It's My Life is a 1965 rock song by the English band The Animals. It was written by New York songwriters Roger Atkins (lyrics) and Carl D'Errico (music) and released as a single on October 22, 1965, with the non-album B-side "I'm Going to Change the World." The song later appeared on The Best of The Animals (1966).

Musically, it features a driving bass riff by Chas Chandler and a jangling electric 12-string guitar from Hilton Valentine, with organ by Dave Rowberry adding a darker edge that set the Animals apart from other British bands of the era. Eric Burdon delivers a powerful vocal about independence and doing things on one’s own terms, singing lines like the chorus "It's my life and I'll do what I want, it's my mind and I'll think what I want."

There are two studio versions due to a slight difference in playback speed; the longer version runs about 3:13 and the faster one about 3:08.

The song was performed on Hullabaloo in 1965 and became a hit in several countries, helping to push rock toward more personal and socially aware themes.

Over the years, It’s My Life has been covered or performed by many artists, including Bruce Springsteen during the Born to Run era, and it remains recognized as an enduring anthem of independence.