Victim Of Love
Recording Artist: Bryan Adams
Writers: Jim Vallance
Bryan Adams
Date Written: March-April 1986 / London England, Vancouver Canada
Albums: Into The Fire (A&M Records, 1987)
Charts: #32 - Billboard "Hot 100" Singles Chart / October 1987 (12 weeks on the chart)
#10- Billboard Album Rock Tracks Chart / 1987 (9 weeks on the chart)
#68 - UK Chart / July 1987 (2 weeks on the chart)
Audio:
  Bryan Adams: rhythm guitar, vocal
Jim Vallance: keyboards, percussion
Ian Stanley: keyboards
Keith Scott: lead guitar
Dave Pickell: piano
Dave Taylor: bass
Mickey Curry: drums
 
Produced by Bob Clearmountain and Bryan Adams.  Associate producer Jim Vallance.  Recorded by Bob Clearmountain, September 1986, at Cliffhanger Studios, West Vancouver.  Mixed by Bob Clearmountain, January 1987, at AIR Studios, London.
Comments:
Above: lyric manuscript
for "Victim Of Love".
Click to view full-size
Above: a selection of 45RPM single sleeves
Bryan Adams and I wrote "Victim Of Love" during a four-week stay at Zomba Studios in London in March 1986. Vicki Russell, Bryan’s girlfriend at the time, lived in London and Bryan wanted to spend time with her. I love England, so I didn't need much convincing when Bryan suggested we do some writing there.

I rented a flat in a 200-year-old building near Kensington Palace (it had originally been built to house palace staff).  Bryan stayed at Vicki’s house. Every day we’d meet at Zomba Studios and write for 10 or 12 hours. Despite the rigorous schedule, only a few songs were completed during our stay there.

This was our tenth year writing together. Things hadn't quite started unraveling yet (that happened in the 11th year), but there's no doubt our creative partnership was running out of steam.

For me, "Victim Of Love" is the high point on an otherwise dark and uninspired album. Where previous songs like "Summer Of '69" and "Heaven" had, in their final recorded form, exceeded my expectations, "Victim Of Love" is one of the few songs on "Into The Fire" that even comes close.
Brandenberg Gate and the Berlin Wall, viewed from the west, a few years before the wall came down. >
At one point we took a break from writing and flew to Berlin for a few days of distraction. This was a year or two before the wall came down. It was a remarkable experience crossing over to East Berlin at "Checkpoint Charlie".

A gray, drizzly day to begin with, the journey from west-to-east was like going from colour to black-and-white, with drab Soviet-era architecture and exhaust-spewing Russian "Lada" cars everywhere. 

Most surprising of all, many of the buildings in East Berlin (museums, churches, embassies) were still riddled with bullet holes from 1945!
Lyrics: Livin' on your own can be a lonely game
A face in the crowd, no one knows your name
It's a table for one and a broken heart to go

She's the kind of lover that you always dreamed
Would come to stay and never wanna leave
But that's all changed - she's dealt the final blow

Heaven knows what you were thinkin' of
Don't blame yourself you're just a victim of love

It doesn't matter who was right or wrong
When the fire is over - when the magic's gone
You pick up the pieces and do the best you can

It knocks you down but you try it again
You get a little older it's a cryin' shame
Sometimes things don't work out like you plan

Who's gonna help you when you've had enough
It ain't no secret you're a victim of love
Heaven know what you were thinkin' of
Don't blame yourself you're just a victim of love

One goodbye was really all it took
Now you thumb through the pages of your little black book
But somehow all the numbers look the same

You've been thinkin' how to get around it
But there ain't nothin' you can do about it
Nothin' ventured - nothin' gained

Ain't nothin' you can't rise above
Call it what you want but you're a victim of love
Who's gonna help you when you've had enough
Ain't no secret you're a victim of love