Union of the Snake

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

“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	7", 12"
Recorded	Sydney, Australia, 1983
Genre	Dance, New Wave
Length	4:24
Label	EMI - EMI 5429
Writer(s)	Duran Duran
Producer	Duran Duran, Ian Little and Alex Sadkin
Duran Duran singles chronology
Is There Something I Should Know? (1982) Union of the Snake (1983) New Moon on Monday (1983)
Arena track listing
"The Chaffeur" (7) "Union of the Snake" (8) "Planet Earth" (9)
Greatest track listing
"Planet Earth" (8) "Union of the Snake" (10) "New Moon on Monday" (11)

"Union of the Snake" is the ninth single by Duran Duran, released on October 17, 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 hits, peaking at #3 on both the UK Singles Chart and U.S. Billboard Top 100 singles charts.

[edit] 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.

Speculation continues among fans and critics as to the song's meaning. Some think it references a cult or military organisation. Others believe that the song is about the darker side of humanity and that the "snake" represents the evil taking control of a person. This is somewhat strengthened by the chorus: "The Union of the Snake is on the climb, moving up, it's gonna race, gonna break through the borderline". The borderline is that between good and evil and evil is beginning to take over.

Lyricist Simon Le Bon (notoriously shy 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.

[edit] 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). It was one of the first music video to be shot on 35mm film stock rather than videotape. 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 distinctive music video seems to reference the movie The Road Warrior.^{[citation needed]} The band is featured in the Australian desert being tracked by half-man, half-snake creature. They eventually take a left down beneath the sands (perhaps into the subconscious) into what appears to be an underground cathedral, and the snake creature as well as number of other bizarre characters interact with vocalist Le Bon. Other band members make only brief appearances in the video.

Despite persistent rumours to the contrary, actress Jennifer Connelly was not featured in this video. However, she did appear in the band's 1984 long-form concert film Arena, during the song "The Seventh Stranger".

The use of expensive sets, costumes and makeup were the first indication of 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.

[edit] 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 a remix of the single, titled "Union of the Snake (Monkey Mix)".

[edit] Chart positions

Chart	Peak position
UK	3
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	3
Canada	1
Australia	4
Ireland	5
Norway	8
Sweden	16

[edit] Track listing

[edit] 7": EMI / EMI 5429 (UK)

1. "Union Of The Snake" – 4:24
2. "Secret Oktober" – 2:47

[edit] 12": EMI / EMI 5429 (UK)

1. "Union Of The Snake" – 4:24
2. "Secret Oktober" – 2:47
3. "Union Of The Snake" (The Monkey Mix) – 6:27

[edit] Other appearances

Albums:

• Seven and the Ragged Tiger (1983)
• Arena (1984)
• Decade (1989)
• Night Versions: The Essential Duran Duran (US only, 1998)
• Greatest (1998)
• Strange Behaviour (1999)

[edit] Personnel

Duran Duran are:

• Simon Le Bon - vocals
• Nick Rhodes - keyboards
• John Taylor - bass guitar
• Roger Taylor - drums
• Andy Taylor - guitar

Other:

• Alex Sadkin - producer
• Ian Little - producer
• Andy Hamilton - saxophone
• Michelle Cobbs - backing vocals
• B.J. Nelson - backing vocals
• Raphael Dejesus - percussion
• Mark Kennedy - percussion

[edit] References

• Music Video Database: Union of the Snake
• The Duran Duran Timeline: 1983

[edit] External links

• MTV: Duran Duran Videos (RealPlayer format)