For My Sunday Song #100, we are ending the Power Ballad set with a true classic, Whitesnake’s “Is This Love” off the 1987 album simply known as ‘Whitesnake’ or ‘1987’.  The song reached all the way to #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and helped propel Whitesnake into the stratosphere of rock stardom.

This midtempo power ballad was written by David Coverdale and the great guitarist John Sykes. They wrote it during the writing sessions for the album in one of the worst places you could possible be, the south of France (read as sarcasm).  They recorded in David’s villa called Le Rayol.  It must have been rough.

The song was actually going to be used for Tina Turner until Geffen heard the song and quickly put the brakes on that.  Although David thinks Tina would still have been great for the song and you know I think he is right.

The song is about a guy (presumably David) that is longing for this woman so much so he is pitifully waiting by the phone for her call.  She apparently has gone out without him and he can’t stand it.  He sounds like he is a complete mess without her.  What a girlie man!!  This is one way to look at the song.

Or you could look at the song as something really sweet in that he is so in love with this woman that he can’t imagine life without her.  He feels he has finally found the woman for him and longs to be with her forever.  That is definitely a nicer way to look at the song.

The music is soft and your typical power ballad.  It has synthesizers, by Don Airey, that open the song until Ansley Dunbar’s drums kick in along with Neil Murray on bass and John Sykes on guitar.  Now don’t be confused when you see the video as David is the only one in the video who performed on the song as he fired everyone in the band after the album was complete.  How sweet is he!!

The song never really kicks into much power, but Sykes does deliver a nice guitar solo that helps it still classify as a power ballad.  All in all, it really is great song especially during this time period.  It is one of the classic power ballads and you will find it #1 on many list of Top Ballads of the 80’s or any time period.

Take a look at the video so you can see Tawny Kitaen, David’s girlfriend at the time.  She is the main draw in watching it for sure.  The song shows them having a fight and her walking out then he sings about how much he misses her and wants to come back because he loves her.  Plus, you get to see Tawny dance around…did I mention that?

Give it a listen and have a Happy Sunday!!

“Is This Love”