"Elegantly Wasted" is the title track and first single released from the album Elegantly Wasted by Australian band
INXS. The single was released in Europe, Japan, Australia, South Africa, Canada, and the United States.
Background
The song is said to have been written after
Michael Hutchence and
Bono from
U2 went out for a "night on the town".[4]
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 100 Hit Tracks chart for three weeks in May and June 1997. In the United States, the song did not chart on the
Billboard Hot 100 due to rules in place at the time regarding commercial releases, but it did reach number 27 on the BillboardHot 100 Airplay 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
Noel 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".[4] 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.[5]
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 shot over two days in January 1997,[6][7] 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.[6] 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.
^
abElegantly Wasted commentary – "I'm Only Looking – The Best of INXS" – Retrieved 5 June 2016
^"January 1997". An Excess of INXS. Archived from the original on 27 July 2008. Retrieved 28 May 2023.{{
cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (
link)
^Elegantly Wasted (Australasian & UK CD1 liner notes).
INXS.
Mercury Records. 1997. INXCD 28, 574 309-2.{{
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^Elegantly Wasted (Japanese CD single liner notes). INXS. Mercury Records. 1997. PHCR-8396.{{
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^Elegantly Wasted (Australasian & UK CD2 liner notes). INXS. Mercury Records. 1997. INXDD 28, 574 293-2.{{
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^Elegantly Wasted (UK cassette single sleeve). INXS. Mercury Records. 1997. INXMC 28.{{
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link)
^Elegantly Wasted (European CD single liner notes). INXS. Mercury Records. 1997. INT 574 292-2.{{
cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (
link)