Elegantly Wasted (song)


"Elegantly Wasted" is the title track and first single released from the album Elegantly Wasted by Australian band INXS, released in Europe, Japan, Australia, South Africa, Canada and the United States. The song is said to have been written after Michael Hutchence and Bono from U2 went out for a "night on the town".
Released as a single on 10 March 1997, the song became the band's fourth and final number-one single in Canada, topping the RPM Top Singles chart for three weeks in May and June 1997. In the United States the song did not chart on the Billboard Hot 100, but it did reach number 13 on the Adult Top 40 and the Modern Rock Tracks chart. The song also peaked at number 48 in the band's native Australia and reached the top 40 in Iceland, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

Lyrical content

After an argument with Liam Gallagher of Oasis, Hutchence added some additional vocals to the chorus, which the rest of the band were unaware of until months after the album's release. When listening for it, the chorus can either be heard as "I am elegantly wasted" or "I am better than Oasis". This was further to an altercation between Hutchence and the Gallagher brothers at the 1996 Brit Awards. At the awards, Noel Gallagher collected an award from Hutchence by saying, "Has-beens should not be presenting awards to gonna-be's." It was also reported that Liam and Hutchence had a scuffle backstage with Hutchence throwing a fire extinguisher at Liam following some disparaging remarks he made about his then lover Paula Yates.

B-sides

The B-sides on the first CD single included INXS's biggest hit "Need You Tonight", a 1995 mix of "Original Sin" by Chris & James and a remix of album track "I'm Only Looking" from Full Moon, Dirty Hearts by David Morales. The second CD single included three remixes of "Elegantly Wasted" by dance artists Shagsonic and G-Force.

Music video

Directed by English music director Walter Stern, the video was filmed in December 1996, and features the band wandering around an airport terminal as the awaiting passengers begin to watch and interact with the band. A small set was built in Los Angeles to resemble the interiors of an airport with extras being brought in to play the passengers. The video also includes snippets and brief clips taken from the Elegantly Wasted video shoot which were photographed and used for the album's cinematic cover art.

Track listings

CD5 INXCD28 – Single 1 – Mercury/UK
CD5 574 309-2 – Single 1 – Mercury/Australia/Europe
  1. "Elegantly Wasted" – 3:53
  2. "Need You Tonight" – 3:01
  3. "Original Sin" – 9:38
  4. "I'm Only Looking" – 8:16
CD5 INXDD28 – Single 2 – Mercury/UK
CD5 INXDD28 – Single 2 – Mercury/UK limited edition with 4 postcards
CD5 574 293-2 – Single 2 – Mercury/Australia Europe limited edition with 4 postcards
CD5 MAXCD046 – Polygram/South Africa
  1. "Elegantly Wasted" – 3:53
  2. "Elegantly Wasted" – 7:56
  3. "Elegantly Wasted" – 8:25
  4. "Elegantly Wasted" – 6:36
CD5 – PHCR 8396 – Mercury/Japan
  1. "Elegantly Wasted" – 3:53
  2. "Need You Tonight" – 3:01
  3. "Original Sin" – 9:38
  4. "I'm Only Looking" – 8:16
Cassette INXMC 28 – Mercury/Europe
  1. "Elegantly Wasted" – 3:53
  2. "Need You Tonight" – 3:01

    Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts