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".[2]

"Elegantly Wasted"
Single by INXS
from the album Elegantly Wasted
B-side	"Need You Tonight"
Released	10 March 1997[1]
Recorded	1996
Genre	Alternative rock
Length	4:32 (album version) 3:53 (single edit)
Label	Mercury
Songwriter(s)	Michael Hutchence Andrew Farriss
Producer(s)	Bruce Fairbairn
INXS singles chronology
"The Strangest Party (These Are the Times)" (1994) "Elegantly Wasted" (1997) "Everything" (1997)

Released as a single on 10 March 1997,[1] 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 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".[2] 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.[3]

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,[4] 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.[4] 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" (radio edit) – 3:53
2. "Need You Tonight" (album version) – 3:01
3. "Original Sin" (Epic Adventure) – 9:38
4. "I'm Only Looking" (The Morales Bad Yard Mix) – 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" (radio edit) – 3:53
2. "Elegantly Wasted" (Shagsonic Remix) – 7:56
3. "Elegantly Wasted" (Shagsonic Dub) – 8:25
4. "Elegantly Wasted" (G-Force and Seiji Remix) – 6:36

CD5 – PHCR 8396 – Mercury/Japan

1. "Elegantly Wasted" (radio edit) – 3:53
2. "Need You Tonight" (album version) – 3:01
3. "Original Sin" (Epic Adventure) – 9:38
4. "I'm Only Looking" (The Morales Bad Yard Mix) – 8:16

Cassette INXMC 28 – Mercury/Europe

1. "Elegantly Wasted" (radio edit) – 3:53
2. "Need You Tonight" (album version) – 3:01

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (1997) Peak position Australia (ARIA)[5] 48 Belgium (Ultratip Flanders)[6] 7 Canada Top Singles (RPM)[7] 1 Canada Adult Contemporary (RPM)[8] 21 Canada Rock/Alternative (RPM)[9] 3 Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)[10] 100 Germany (Official German Charts)[11] 72 Iceland (Íslenski Listinn Topp 40)[12] 7 Netherlands (Single Top 100)[13] 90 Scotland (OCC)[14] 15 Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[15] 36 UK Singles (OCC)[16] 20 US Radio Songs (Billboard)[17] 27 US Adult Alternative Songs (Billboard)[18] 2 US Adult Top 40 (Billboard)[19] 13 US Alternative Airplay (Billboard)[20] 13 US Mainstream Rock (Billboard)[21] 37 US Mainstream Top 40 (Billboard)[22] 22

Year-end charts Chart (1997) Position Canada Top Singles (RPM)[23] 9 Canada Adult Contemporary (RPM)[24] 62 Canada Rock/Alternative (RPM)[25] 37 Romania (Romanian Top 100)[26] 89

References

1. "Elegantly Wasted" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 14 no. 11. 15 March 1997. p. 2. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
2. INXS; Bozza, Anthony (2005). INXS: Story to Story: The Official Autobiography. Atria Books. p. 252–253. ISBN 978-0-7432-8404-2.
3. "INXS – Elegantly Wasted". Song Facts. Retrieved 14 December 2014.
4. Elegantly Wasted commentary – "I'm Only Looking – The Best of INXS" – Retrieved 5 June 2016
5. "Australian-charts.com – INXS – Elegantly Wasted". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
6. "Ultratop.be – INXS – Elegantly Wasted" (in Dutch). Ultratip. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
7. "Top RPM Singles: Issue 3217." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
8. "Top RPM Adult Contemporary: Issue 3211." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
9. "Top RPM Rock/Alternative Tracks: Issue 3209." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
10. "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 14 no. 14. 5 April 1997. p. 16. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
11. "Offiziellecharts.de – INXS – Elegantly Wasted". GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
12. "Íslenski Listinn Topp 40 (1.5. '97 – 7.5. '97)". Dagblaðið Vísir (in Icelandic). 2 May 1997. Retrieved 2 October 2019.
13. "Dutchcharts.nl – INXS – Elegantly Wasted" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
14. "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
15. "Swisscharts.com – INXS – Elegantly Wasted". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
16. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
17. "INXS Chart History (Radio Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
18. "INXS Chart History (Adult Alternative Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
19. "INXS Chart History (Adult Pop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
20. "INXS Chart History (Alternative Airplay)". Billboard. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
21. "INXS Chart History (Mainstream Rock)". Billboard. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
22. "INXS Chart History (Pop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
23. "RPM '97 Year End Top 100 Hit Tracks". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
24. "RPM '97 Year End Top 100 Adult Contemporary Tracks". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
25. "RPM '97 Year End Top 50 Alternative Tracks". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
26. "Romanian Top 100 Singles Airplay – Top of the Year 1997" (in Romanian). Romanian Top 100. Archived from the original on 22 January 2005. Retrieved 4 May 2020.