| "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 | New Wave, Synthpop | |||
| Length | 4:24 | |||
| Label | EMI | |||
| Writer(s) | Duran Duran | |||
| Producer | Duran Duran Ian Little Alex Sadkin |
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| Duran Duran singles chronology | ||||
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"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 hits, peaking at #3 on both the Billboard Hot 100 chart in December, 1983[1] and the UK Singles Chart.
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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".
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. The band is featured in the Australian desert being tracked by a 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 1985 long-form concert film Arena, during the song "The Reflex".
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.
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)".
| Chart | Peak position |
|---|---|
| UK Singles Chart | 3 |
| US Billboard Hot 100 | 3 |
| US Cash Box 100 | 1 |
| Canadian Singles Chart | 1 |
| Australian Singles Chart | 4 |
| Irish Singles Chart | 5 |
| Norwegian Singles Chart | 8 |
| Swedish Singles Chart | 16 |
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