Celebrate 30 Years of Pretty Woman With This Extraordinary Song By Go West

Anyways, today is #SongLyricsSunday! This week’s prompt is “North/South/East/West”. While I was searching for songs that could fit the prompt, I suddenly remembered the late 80s/early 90s English pop band Go West. Then, I remembered that they wrote a song that was included in soundtrack for the 90s romantic comedy movie Pretty Woman. This isn’t the first post where I wrote about the soundtrack as I wrote about a few years ago. But, this month marks a special anniversary for the beloved movie, so I decided to write about “The King of Wishful Thinking” by Go West.

“The King of Wishful Thinking” wasn’t supposed to be included in the movie’s soundtrack. A user on the site Songfacts had this to say about the background of the song: “Go West’s record label EMI was associated with the soundtrack. When executives heard the demo, they asked to use it. The song doesn’t make much sense in the context of the film, but it had a fresh sound that helped carry its scene and boost sales of the soundtrack.”[1]

I love Pretty Woman! I love the chemistry Edward and Vivian and their romantic adventure. I also the lightheartedness of the film, even though there are so dark elements presented. Vivan is such a fun-loving, determined, and quirky woman! My favorite scene is when she is shopping in Rodeo Drive.Martin Page

“The King of Wishful Thinking” was written by vocalist Peter Cox, guitarist Richard Drummie, and Martin Page. Cox and Drummie are members of the band Go West. Martin Page, on the other hand, is primarily a bass player but has been known to play other instruments as well. The English singer-songwriter played the keyboards for Ray Parker Jr.’s “Ghostbuster”. He also co-wrote songs like Starship’s “We Built This City” and Heart’s “These Dreams”. Martin also worked with such artists like Earth, Wind & Fire, Robbie Williams, Josh Groban, and Barbra Streisand.

Page wrote the song with a blend of a Motown sound with Minnesota Prince sound. “There was a song by the Fine Young Cannibals at that time called “She Drives Me Crazy”,” Martin said in an interview, “It had a really attractive tempo and feel to it, so I used that a little bit as a template for building a song for them.”[1]

Cox and Drummie wrote the song’s lyrics which details positive thinking after a breakup. The lyrics details about one’s thoughts and feelings from a breakup. Even though the character is in denial and has been down and out, it knows that it can be happy once more. Everything is going to be alright, the character hopes; it is the “King of Wishful Thinking”.

What do you think of Go West’s “King of Wishful Thinking”? Does the song’s lyrics remind you of past relationships: either romantic, family, or friendship? Let me know in the comments below!