Isaak's music can be described as a blend of country, blues, rock'n'roll, pop and surf rock.
He signed a contract to Warner Brothers Records in 1984 for his first album "Silvertone". Isaak's contract was renewed in 1988 when Warner moved him to their Reprise Records label.
His best-known song is "Wicked Game". Though released on the 1989 album "Heart Shaped World", an instrumental version of the song was later featured in the David Lynch film 'Wild at Heart' (and also years later in the 2000 film The Family Man). An Atlanta radio station DJ began playing the full version and it quickly became a nation-wide top ten hit. The music video for the song was directed by Herb Ritts and was a big MTV and VH1 hit; shot in black and white, it starred Isaak and model Helena Christensen rolling on the beach, embracing and whispering in each others' ears.
In 1999, Isaak's "Baby Did A Bad, Bad Thing" was featured in Stanley Kubrick's final film 'Eyes Wide Shut', starring Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman.
In 2001, Chris Isaak starred in his own television show, 'The Chris Isaak Show'. It aired from March 2001 to March 2004 in the United States on the cable television network Showtime. This adult comedy show featured Chris Isaak and his band playing themselves with the episode plots based on fictional accounts of the backstage world of Chris Isaak - the rock star next door.
In 2004, his track "Life Will Go On" was featured on the 'Chasing Liberty' soundtrack, which starred Mandy Moore and Matthew Goode.
He hosted a talk show on the Biography cable channel in the United States in 2009 that offered a unique twist - each guest was a musical artist, and both Chris and the artist performed various songs throughout each show. Eight episodes aired in early 2009, featuring guests Trisha Yearwood, Stevie Nicks, Glen Campbell, Michael Buble, Chicago, The Smashing Pumpkins, Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens), and Jewel.
Isaak has also appeared in numerous films, mostly playing minor cameo roles, though he starred with Keanu Reeves and Bridget Fonda in the 1993 Bernardo Bertolucci-directed 'Little Buddha', and also played a major role in David Lynch's 'Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me' (1992). Other motion pictures include 'Married to the Mob' (1988), 'The Silence of the Lambs' (1991), 'That Thing You Do!' (1996), and 'A Dirty Shame' (2004). He also guest-starred on the Super Bowl Sunday (1996) edition of the television sitcom Friends and on the HBO miniseries, From the Earth to the Moon (HBO).
Chris is also an amateur boxer, avid surfer and a former Golden Gloves champion.
Fade Away
Chris Isaak Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Cry for their love, like I do.
People throw their love to whisper, think of all the boys who've kissed her.
But to me it doesn't matter they, fade away they fade away.
Fade away.
When we meet we feel together, now she's gone I can't forget her.
Love is chance but time won't let her, fade away and fade away.
Fade away, fade away.
A lot of flowers in this world are never seen.
I want to hold your love, I want to win your love for me.
Fade away.
For me there was no sunshine, for me there was no rain.
For me until I meet you, every day was the same.
Fade away, fade away, fade away.
Fade away, fade away, fade away, fade away.
Fade, fade, fade, fade away.
Fade, away, fade away, fade away, fade away, fade away, fade away.
The lyrics of Chris Isaak's "Fade Away" express the pain of lost love and the longing to hold onto it. The imagery of "flowers and gardens, abandoned from view" is a metaphor for the neglected beauty of love that has withered away. The singer cries for his lost love and wonders how others can so easily discard their own love, as they whisper about the boys who have kissed her. However, to him, it doesn't matter because everything fades away eventually.
The singer reflects on how he and his love felt together when they were together, and now he cannot forget her. The truth that love is a chance occurrence is acknowledged, but the passing of time seems to make it even worse, as the memories of what once was fades away. The line "A lot of flowers in this world are never seen" suggests that often love is not appreciated until it is gone.
The repetition of "fade away" emphasizes the inevitability of the loss of love, but also perhaps the hope that maybe love doesn't completely disappear. Overall, the song speaks to the struggles and complications of love, and the overwhelming sense of loss that follows.
Line by Line Meaning
Flowers and gardens, abandoned from view.
Many beautiful things are ignored and forgotten as they are no longer visible to us.
Cry for their love, like I do.
The singer longs for love and attention just as the abandoned flowers and gardens long for care and appreciation.
People throw their love to whisper, think of all the boys who've kissed her.
People give away their love carelessly, without truly valuing its worth, and focus more on the past experiences of their loved ones.
But to me it doesn't matter they, fade away they fade away.
The artist is immune to the fleeting nature of love and knows that it eventually fades away.
When we meet we feel together, now she's gone I can't forget her.
The artist had a deep connection with a woman, but now that she is gone, he cannot stop thinking about her.
Love is chance but time won't let her, fade away and fade away.
Love is unpredictable and random, but time will always push it towards its eventual end and disappearance.
A lot of flowers in this world are never seen.
Many beautiful things are hidden and unnoticed, just like the potential for love that is never realized.
I want to hold your love, I want to win your love for me.
The artist desires to find and hold onto a love that is meant for him.
For me there was no sunshine, for me there was no rain.
The artist's life was bland and unexciting before he found love, whether he has found it or is still searching is not clear.
Fade away, fade away, fade away. Fade away, fade away, fade away, fade away. Fade, fade, fade, fade away. Fade, away, fade away, fade away, fade away, fade away, fade away.
The repetition of 'fade away' reminds us of the transience and impermanence of love and how it eventually vanishes into nothingness.
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: CHRIS ISAAK
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind