Union of the Snake

"Union of the Snake"
Single by Duran Duran
from the album Seven and the Ragged Tiger
B-side "Secret Oktober"
Released 17 October 1983
Format
Recorded Sydney, Australia, 1983
Genre
Length
  • 4:24 (Single version)
  • 6:27 (Monkey Mix)
Label
Writer(s) Simon Le Bon, John Taylor, Roger Taylor, Andy Taylor, James Bates
Producer(s)
Duran Duran singles chronology
"Is There Something I Should Know?"
(1983)		 "Union of the Snake"
(1983)		 "New Moon on Monday"
(1984)

"Union of the Snake" is the ninth single by Duran Duran, released on 17 October 1983.

"Union of the Snake" was the lead single from the band's third album Seven and the Ragged Tiger and preceded its release by one month. It became one of Duran Duran's most popular career singles, hitting #1 in Cash Box and peaking at #3 on both the UK Singles Chart and the US Billboard Hot 100 chart at the end of 1983.[1]

About the song

After a song-writing session near Cannes in France, much of the band's third album was recorded at George Martin's Air Studios on the Caribbean island of Montserrat with producer Alex Sadkin, then mixed at 301 Studios in Sydney. Mixing for "Union of the Snake" was done right up to the last minute before the tapes had to be turned over to EMI for pressing.

Lyricist Simon Le Bon (notoriously reticent about explaining his oblique lyrics) hinted in the Duran Duran lyric book The Book of Words that the borderline might be one between the conscious and subconscious minds. In later interviews, he proclaimed that it was a reference to Tantric sex.

Drummer Roger Taylor stated that the beat and drum track was based upon David Bowie's "Let's Dance".

Music video

The video for "Union of the Snake" was conceived by Russell Mulcahy, who directed many of the heavy rotation videos for songs from Duran Duran's previous album Rio. However, as Mulcahy was busy preparing to direct the concert film Arena and the documentary film Sing Blue Silver during the band's world tour, the video for "Union" was actually directed by Simon Milne (who also filmed videos for Kajagoogoo and Missing Persons). There was a bit of controversy surrounding the video as it was released to MTV a whole week before the single was released on radio. Radio stations were anxious at the time because they were concerned that channels like MTV might supplant them in the promotion of singles.

The clip, filmed in part in sandhills near Cronulla, features the band being tracked through the Australian desert by a half-man, half-snake creature. They eventually take a lift beneath the sands into what appears to be an underground cathedral, where the snake creature and other bizarre characters interact with vocalist Le Bon. The band's other members make only brief appearances in the video.

The use of expensive sets, costumes and makeup foreshadowed the over-the-top nature of videos to come, including a 17-minute epic video for "New Moon on Monday", the massively expensive video for "The Wild Boys", and the extravagant concept/live film Arena.

B-sides, bonus tracks and remixes

The B-side to "Union of the Snake" was the atmospheric piece "Secret Oktober". Twenty-four hours before the master tapes of the single were to be delivered to EMI for distribution, singer Simon Le Bon and keyboardist Nick Rhodes wrote and mixed the B-side "Secret Oktober" in an all-night recording session.

Also included on the 12" was an extended remix of the single, titled "Union of the Snake (Monkey Mix)".

Formats and track listing

7": EMI. / EMI 5429 United Kingdom

  1. "Union of the Snake" – 4:24
  2. "Secret Oktober" – 2:48

12": EMI. / 12 EMI 5429 United Kingdom

  1. "Union of the Snake" (Monkey Mix) – 6:27
  2. "Union of the Snake (7 Inch Version)" – 4:24
  3. "Secret Oktober" – 2:48

7": Capitol Records. / B-5290 United States

  1. "Union of the Snake" – 4:20
  2. "Secret Oktober" – 2:44

12": Capitol Records. / 8567United States

  1. "Union of the Snake" (Monkey Mix) – 6:22
  2. "Union of the Snake" (Single Version)– 4:20
  3. "Secret Oktober" – 2:44

 Note:

Chart performance

Weekly singles charts

Chart (1983-84) Peak
position
UK 3
US Billboard Hot 100 3
US Cash Box Top 100[2] 1
Canada[3] 2
Australia 4
French Airplay Chart[4] 8
Ireland 5
New Zealand 3
Norway 8
Spain (AFYVE)[5] 16
Sweden 16

Year-end charts

Chart (1983) Rank
Australia [6] 66
New Zealand [7] 42
UK [8] 91
U.S. Billboard [9] 43
U.S. Cash Box [10] 20
Chart (1984) Rank
Canada 56

Other appearances

Albums:

Personnel

Duran Duran are:

Other:

References

  1. ↑ http://www.billboard.com/charts/1983-12-24/hot-100
  2. ↑ http://50.6.195.142/archives/80s_files/19840114.html
  3. ↑ https://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-119.01-e.php?&file_num=nlc008388.4442&type=1&interval=20&PHPSESSID=v5v7q4vk7rk14h2nnjf56cpf51
  4. ↑ http://tsort.info/music/kjgxc2.htm
  5. ↑ Salaverri, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
  6. ↑ http://australian-charts.com/forum.asp?todo=viewthread&id=40275
  7. ↑ http://nztop40.co.nz/chart/?chart=3872
  8. ↑ http://www.uk-charts.top-source.info/top-100-1983.shtml
  9. ↑ http://www.musicoutfitters.com/topsongs/1983.htm
  10. ↑ http://50.6.195.142/archives/80s_files/1983YESP.html

External links

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