"King of Wishful Thinking" is a song by British pop duo Go West, written by Peter Cox, Richard Drummie and Martin Page. It appeared in the film Pretty Woman and was later included on Go West's third studio album, Indian Summer, in 1992.
In terms of the group's discography, "King of Wishful Thinking" has become their best known song. The track reached number three in Canada, number six in Australia, number eight in the United States, and number 18 in the United Kingdom. At the 1991 Brit Awards, the song was nominated for the Brit Award for British Video of the Year.
Music journalist Hannah Dailey of the U.S. publication Billboard has labeled the song as "one of the crown jewels of âÂÂ90s classic hits".
The song's official music video is known for including various absurdist elements alongside the pop duo as they act on a solid white stage. It was produced, directed and written by Paul Flattery and Jim Yukich of FYI. Though the film does not outwardly utilize film clips from Pretty Woman, outside of brief glimpses superimposed on actual celluloid, the video includes lookalikes of Julia Roberts and Richard Gere (dressed as his character from An Officer and a Gentleman). An actor playing Roy Orbison, performer of the titular song from the film, also appears.
In 2018, actor Paul Rudd and late-night host Jimmy Fallon made a shot-for-shot recreation of the music video for The Tonight Show. Some elements such as a dancing Pope, zebras, and a trained circus elephant, present in the original video, were not reproduced in the remake. American band the Roots made a cameo appearance.
UK 7-inch and cassette single
UK CD single
US and Canadian cassette single
Go West
Additional musicians