About The Song
“Thorn in My Side” is a song by British pop music duo Eurythmics. It was released as the second single from the duo’s fifth studio album, Revenge (1986). Written by band members Annie Lennox and David A. Stewart, the song is a cast-off to an unfaithful lover. “Thorn in My Side” was produced by Stewart.
Although the first single from Revenge, “When Tomorrow Comes”, barely reached the UK Top 30, “Thorn in My Side” became Eurythmics’ ninth Top 10 single, reaching number five on the UK Singles Chart and marking their last appearance in the UK top 10. In the United States, the track stalled at number 68 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song additionally peaked at number two in Ireland and reached the top 10 in New Zealand (number seven) and Sweden (number six).
Billboard said it sounds like “Swinging London, 1964” although it “views the past with as much irony as affection.” Cash Box called it an “appealing pop/rock single” in which the “seething lyrics are masked by an infectious melody and Annie Lennox’s winning vocal.”
The music video, directed by Chris Ashbrook and Dave Stewart, depicts the band adorned in their black and leather Revenge stage costumes, playing in a studio set bar filled with an audience that includes a gang of Hells Angels. Clem Burke, drummer from the band Blondie, appears in the video as he was recording and touring with Eurythmics that year. It was also the second music video to feature backing vocalist Joniece Jamison, after first appearing in “When Tomorrow Comes”.
Video
Lyrics
Yeah
You gave me such a bad time
Tried to hurt me
But now I know
Thorn in my side
You know that’s all you ever were
A bundle of lies
You know that’s all that it was worth
I should have known better
But I trusted you at first
I should have known better
But I got what I deserved
Whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa
Whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa
To run away from you
Was all that I could do
To run away from you
Was all that I could do
To run away from you
Was all that I could do
To run away from you
Was all that I could do
Thorn in my side
You know that’s all you’ll ever be
So don’t think you know better
‘Cause that’s what you mean to me
I was feeling complicated
I was feeling low
Now every time I think of you
I shiver to the bone
Whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa
Whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa
To run away from you
Was all that I could do
To run away from you
Was all that I could do
To run away from you
Was all that I could do
To run away from you
Was all that I could do