Come Undone (Duran Duran song)

"Come Undone"
Single by Duran Duran
from the album Duran Duran [The Wedding Album]
B-side "Time for Temptation",
"Stop Dead",
"Falling Angel"
Released 29 March 1993
Format CD single, 12"
Recorded 1993; Privacy Studio, London
Genre Alternative rock, pop rock
Length 4:38 (Album version)
4:15 (Edit)
Label EMI, Capitol - DD 17
Writer(s) Duran Duran
Producer(s) Duran Duran
Duran Duran singles chronology
"Ordinary World"
(1992)		 "Come Undone"
(1993)		 "Too Much Information"
(1993)

"Come Undone" is a song by British band Duran Duran. It was released in March 1993 as the second single from the album Duran Duran (The Wedding Album), and is their twenty-fourth single overall.

With their commercial and critical success reestablished by the previous single "Ordinary World", "Come Undone" continued to showcase more of the band's entry into the adult contemporary genre. The single proved to be the group's second consecutive US top ten hit from The Wedding Album. It was also popular in the UK and other international markets.

About the song

The group's guitarist at the time, Warren Cuccurullo, is credited with developing the instrumentation for "Come Undone", most importantly its guitar hook, which he developed while trying to do a re-interpretation of "First Impression" from their 1990 album Liberty. In 2005, Cuccurullo revealed to author Steve Malins that he and Nick Rhodes had originally planned on using the song for a project outside of Duran Duran with Gavin Rossdale, but had changed plans when singer Simon Le Bon took a liking to the music and began to come up with lyrics on the spot.[1]

Rhodes expanded on the song's creation during the album's 20th anniversary in 2013.

It was something that Warren and I started writing alongside some other stuff that we’d been playing around with, and Simon came in and heard what we were doing. He said, 'Wow, I love that!’ And so it became a Duran Duran song. [Simon] came up with a really great melody – we already had the 'can’t ever keep from falling apart' section – and he very quickly made it his, or himself part of it".[2]

The song was included as a last minute addition to their self-titled album in 1993, with the lyrics being written by Le Bon as a gift for his wife, Yasmin.

The group's bassist, John Taylor, did not actually play bass on this track, although he does in the music video. Nick Rhodes and John Jones both contributed synth bass on the track during his absence. Tessa Niles was credited with backing vocals. The song also contains a sample from The Soul Searchers' song "Ashley's Roachclip".

According to John Jones,

at the time we had completed and mastered the Wedding Album and had started the cover album "Thank You". One day we took the drum loop and bass groove from a demo of mine called "Face to Face" and added the ultra cool guitar riff that Warren had come up with for a new "cover" version of "First Impression". After a couple of hours of tweaking we played the track over the phone to Capitol in Los Angeles and they loved it and said they wanted it on the Wedding album! When Nick arrived that afternoon the intro was carved into a song that we played to Simon that night. He was back the next day with the lyrics and the melody and I think we finished the vocals the day after that. On the fourth day we finished the track detail and sent it to David Richards in Switzerland to be mixed.

Lamya Al-Mugheiry sang the backing vocals in the Unplugged version of the song for MTV in November 1993.

Music video

The "Come Undone" video was directed by Julien Temple. Shots of the band were filmed in the London Aquarium; these were interspersed with short vignettes of people "coming undone" in various ways. These vignettes include a little girl seeing her parents together, an older couple who have survived a flood, an alcoholic and a man who is revealed to be a cross-dresser. Also seen in the video is a woman struggling underwater to break free of the chains that bind her. LeBon and Taylor's Vivienne Westwood wardrobe were likely a nod to the band's early New Romantic era.

A portion of the music video can be seen in the "No Laughing" episode of the MTV show Beavis and Butt-head, which was aired on July 1993.

B-sides, bonus tracks and remixes

The single was released in the United Kingdom on 29 March 1993, with the B-side "Ordinary World (Acoustic Version)". This was the single's official B-side in the UK, along with two official remixes of "Come Undone".

In the US however, three new, original compositions written during the album's production were featured as B-sides - "Time for Temptation", "Stop Dead" and "Falling Angel". For collectors, the US releases also contained an alternate mix of "To the Shore" and the first appearance on CD of "The Chauffeur (Blue Silver)".

Official mixes

There are twelve official mixes of "Come Undone". They are often credited with different names on different releases.

Covers, samples, & media references

The song has been covered by the bands Crimson Voodoo, Sonnet to Sleep, Bachelor Girl, Home Grown, Cavo, It Dies Today, My Darkest Days, Gio, Roxy Girls, Raylon Cooper, and Adrenaline Mob.

Chart positions

"Come Undone" reached No. 13 on the UK Singles Chart on 10 April, No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 on 19 June, No. 2 on the U.S Airplay and Top 40 Mainstream, No. 12 on the Alternative rock chart, No. 19 on the Adult Contemporary chart, No. 2 in Canada on 17 June, No. 19 on the Australia Top 50, No. 26 on the France Top 50 and No. 21 on the Sweden Top 40. It was a major hit in Israel, spending 8 weeks at the top of the chart and breaking the record for the longest run in the charts. Israel was the only country where the song hit number 1.

Charts (1993) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[3] 19
Belgium (VRT Top 30 Flanders)[4] 30
Canada (RPM)[5] 2
Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)[6] 48
France (SNEP)[7] 26
Germany (Media Control Charts)[8] 42
Ireland (IRMA)[9] 9
Italy (FIMI)[10] 6
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[11] 16
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[12] 21
United Kingdom (The Official Charts Company) 13
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 7
U.S. Billboard Modern Rock Tracks 12
U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary 19
U.S. Billboard Top 40 Mainstream 2
Israel (Reshet Gimel) 1

Year-end charts

Chart (1993) Position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[13] 41
Israel (Reshet Gimel) 2

Track listing

7"
Parlophone DD 17 (UK)
  1. "Come Undone (Edit)" – 4:15
  2. "Ordinary World (Acoustic Version)" – 5:05
7"
Capitol S7-17316 (US)
  1. "Come Undone" – 4:31
  2. "Skin Trade" – 4:25
MC
Capitol 4KM 44918 4 (US)
  1. "Come Undone (Album Version)" – 4:31
  2. "Come Undone (Mix 2 Master)" – 5:26
  3. "Time for Temptation" – 4:07
CD
Parlophone CD DDS 17 (UK)
  1. "Come Undone (Edit)" – 4:15
  2. "Ordinary World (Acoustic Version)" – 5:05
  3. "Come Undone (FGI Phumpin' 12")" – 8:14
  4. "Come Undone (La Fin de Siècle)" – 5:25
  • This CD came in a 2-CD case that also housed CD DDP 17.
CD
Parlophone CD DDP 17 (UK)
  1. "Come Undone" – 4:31
  2. "Rio" – 5:33
  3. "Is There Something I Should Know?" – 4:05
  4. "A View to a Kill" – 3:33
  • This CD was released a picture disc.
CD
Capitol C2 0777 7 15969 2 6 (US)
  1. "Come Undone (LP Version)" – 4:41
  2. "Come Undone (Mix 1 Master)" – 7:23
  3. "Skin Trade (Parisian Mix)" – 8:10
  4. "Stop Dead" – 4:32
CD
Capitol C2 0777 7 15981 2 8 (US: "Come Undone 2")
  1. "Come Undone (US Remix)" – 4:20
  2. "Falling Angel" – 3:54
  3. "To the Shore" [alternate version] – 4:03
  4. "The Chauffeur" ["Blue Silver" version] – 3:50
  • "US Remix" actually "Churban Mix"

"The Chauffeur" shown on the CD inlay as a Demo Version but in fact is the acoustic version from the B side of the single release of "Rio"

CD
Capitol DPRO-79660 (US - Promo)
  1. "Come Undone (Edit)" – 4:15
  2. "Come Undone (Mix 2 Master)" – 5:26
  3. "Come Undone (La Fin de Siècle)" – 5:25
  4. "Come Undone (Album Version)" – 4:41
CD
Capitol DPRO-79749 (US - Promo: "The Churban Mixes")
  1. "Come Undone (Churban Remix)" – 4:17
  2. "Come Undone (12" Dub Mix)" – 5:57
  3. "Come Undone (Dub Mix)" – 5:04
CD
Part of "Singles Box Set 1986-1995" boxset
  1. "Come Undone (Edit)" – 4:15
  2. "Ordinary World (Acoustic Version)" – 5:05
  3. "Come Undone (FGI Phumpin' 12")" – 8:14
  4. "Come Undone (La Fin de Siècle)" – 5:25
  5. "Come Undone (Album Version)" – 4:31
  6. "Rio" – 5:33
  7. "Is There Something I Should Know?" – 4:05
  8. "A View to a Kill," – 3:33

Other appearances

Albums:

Singles:

Personnel

Duran Duran are:

Other:

John Taylor did not play bass guitar during recording of this song, despite being a member of the band at that time.

References

  1. ↑ Malins, S: Duran Duran - Notorious: The Unauthorized Biography, page 221. Carlton Publishing Group, 2005.
  2. ↑ Duran Duran’s ‘The Wedding Album’ Turns 20: Backtracking
  3. ↑ "Australian-charts.com – Duran Duran – Come Undone". ARIA Top 50 Singles.
  4. ↑ Belgian peak
  5. ↑ Canada peak
  6. ↑ "Duran Duran: Come Undone" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland.
  7. ↑ "Lescharts.com – Duran Duran – Come Undone" (in French). Les classement single.
  8. ↑ "Chartverfulgong > Duran Duran > Come Undone – musicline.de" (in German). Media Control Charts. PhonoNet GmbH.
  9. ↑ "Chart Track: Week 22, 1993". Irish Singles Chart.
  10. ↑ "Italiancharts.com – Duran Duran – Come Undone". Top Digital Download.
  11. ↑ "Charts.org.nz – Duran Duran – Come Undone". Top 40 Singles.
  12. ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – Duran Duran – Come Undone". Singles Top 60.
  13. ↑ "Billboard Top 100 - 1993". Retrieved 27 August 2010.

External links