Kyrie (song)

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“Kyrie”
“Kyrie” cover
Single by Mr. Mister
from the album Welcome to the Real World
Released December, 1985
Format 7", 12"
Genre Pop rock
Length 4:25
Label RCA Records
Writer(s) R. Page/S. George/J. Lang
Producer Mr. Mister & Paul DeVilliers
Mr. Mister singles chronology
"Broken Wings"
(1985)		 "Kyrie"
(1985)		 "Is It Love"
(1986)

"Kyrie" was a #1 hit song by the 1980s pop/rock band Mr. Mister, from their 1985 album Welcome to the Real World. Released in late 1985, it hit the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 charts in March of 1986, where it was #1 for two weeks.

Kyrie Eleison, which means "Lord Have Mercy" is a part of both the Eastern Orthodox Liturgy and the Catholic Mass. Kyrie Eleison is a prayer that asks for, "Lord have mercy; Christ have mercy; Lord have mercy." The words "Kyrie eleison" translate from the Greek as "Lord have mercy" (or "O Lord, have mercy").[1]

Contents

[edit] Background and writing

The words to "Kyrie" were written by lyricist John Lang who co-wrote the songs on all of Mr. Mister's albums. The music was composed by Richard Page and Steve George while on tour with Adam Ant, and according to Page it is essentially a prayer.[2]

The song's lyrics cleverly uses the phrase "Kyrie eleison" :

"Kyrie eleison down the road that I must travel
Kyrie eleison through the darkness of the night"

The video for this song was directed by Nick Morris, and features the band in performance mixed with footage taken at the tail end of their Fall 1985 tour with Tina Turner.[3]

There is an urban legend that singer Richard Page wrote this song while lying in a hospital bed following an unprovoked attack. John Lang has stated that he was the one who was attacked, three years before "Kyrie" was written, and that the incident has nothing to do with the song.[4]

[edit] Track listing

[edit] 7" single

  1. "Kyrie" (single edit) - 4:10
  2. "Run to Her" - 3:36

[edit] 12" single

  1. "Kyrie" (album length) - 4:24
  2. "Run to Her" - 3:36
  3. "Hunters of the Night" - 5:07

The single edit of the song ends with the a cappella phrase "Kyrie eleison down the road that I must travel", while the album version simply fades out.

[edit] Trivia

  • Mr. Mister performed "Kyrie" (along with "Broken Wings") live on Saturday Night Live on Dec. 7, 1985.
  • Contemporary Christian group East to West covered this song on their debut album "East to West"
  • Mark Schultz sings a remixed version of this song on his album Song Cinema (2002).
  • John LaBarbera arranged a version of this song for his big band album Fantazm (2005).
  • An a capella version of the song is performed by a young actress in the film "The Squid and the Whale" (2005)
  • Susanna Fields covered this song on her album All of This Is Really Me (2006).
  • On several of his tours, Clay Aiken also covered this song.

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Kyrie eleison - Translation from the StraightDope
  2. ^ Richard Page discusses Kyrie - RetroRewind interview
  3. ^ Kyrie details - from Mr. Mister fansite
  4. ^ Lang letter to "Mr. Music" - dated June, 2004

[edit] Links

  • Kyrie - video courtesy of YouTube
Preceded by
"How Will I Know" by Whitney Houston		 Billboard Hot 100 number one single
March 1, 1986- March 8, 1986		 Succeeded by
"Sara" by Starship