"(I Just) Died in Your Arms" is a power ballad written by Nick Van Eede and performed by his band Cutting Crew. It was their biggest hit, peaking at #1 in the United States, and reaching the Top Five in the United Kingdom. Subsequent releases failed to match the success of the song. It appears on the video game Vice City.

Background and writing

The words "I just died in your arms tonight" originally came to Van Eede while he was making love to his girlfriend, Bronson, Fred (2001). The Billboard Book of Number One Hits. ISBN 0823076776. Retrieved January 25 2007. "death" being an oft-used metaphor for orgasm. Writing down the phrase, Van Eede later used it as the hook to "(I Just) Died In Your Arms."

Chart performance

First released in Britain, the song peaked at #4 on the UK charts in August 1986. Upon its release in the United States, it shot to number one on May 2, 1987, and stayed there for two weeks.

Covers and samples

• Covered by Finnish Power Metal band Northern Kings
• Covered by Finnish Gothic Metal band To/Die/For
• Melody is sampled in Mika's "Relax, Take It Easy"
• Remixed by the rapper/artist Jay Z
• Covered in 2007 by rapper Smitty under the name of "Died in Your Arms", in which Felli Fel, the producer interpolates the song. Also, in a possible replacement version, the promo version's chorus is replaced with T-Pain taking over the duties, while adding ad-libs and other vocals.
• Rihanna referenced the line in her song SOS : "Take me on, I could just die up in your arms tonight."
• Covered by Canadian rock band Faber Drive as a b-side for their their debut album Seven Second Surgery
• The first two bars are also constantly sung on an episode of SNL by Will Ferrell and Horatio Sans who are playing wedding singers.

Charts

Notes

References

1986 singles1987 singlesBillboard Hot 100 number-one singlesNumber-one singles in Norway