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The Passenger (song)

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"The Passenger"
B-side label
Single by Iggy Pop
from the album Lust for Life
A-side"Success"
ReleasedSeptember 30, 1977[1]
RecordedMay–June 1977
StudioHansa (West Berlin)
Genre
Length4:44
LabelRCA
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Bewlay Bros.
Music video
"The Passenger" on YouTube

"The Passenger" is a song written by Iggy Pop and Ricky Gardiner, recorded and released by Iggy Pop on the Lust for Life album in 1977. It was also released as the B-side of the album's first single, "Success". It was released as a single in its own right in March 1998, reaching number 22 in the UK charts.

Background and composition

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"The Passenger" was co-written by Iggy Pop and guitarist Ricky Gardiner; Pop wrote the lyrics, while Gardiner composed the music.[2] Gardiner thought of the riff in early 1977 as he was wandering throughout the countryside, "in the field beside an orchard, on one of those glorious spring days with the trees in full blossom."[3] The song was recorded at Hansa Studio by the Wall in West Berlin between May and June 1977. The lineup consisted of Pop, Gardiner, David Bowie on piano, Carlos Alomar on guitar, and brothers Tony and Hunt Sales on bass and drums, respectively.[4] Bowie, Pop, and producer-engineer Colin Thurston produced Lust for Life under the pseudonym "Bewlay Bros.", named after the final track on Bowie's 1971 album Hunky Dory.[5]

Similar to other tracks on Lust for Life, the lyrics for "The Passenger" were mostly composed on the spot in the studio.[3] They were inspired by a Jim Morrison poem, titled "The Lords",[4] that saw "modern life as a journey by car", as well as rides on the Berlin S-Bahn, according to Pop's former girlfriend Esther Friedmann.[2][6] The lyrics have been interpreted as "Iggy's knowing commentary on Bowie's cultural vampirism".[7] In an interview with The Guardian in 2016, Pop said "The Passenger" was partly inspired by touring with David Bowie: "I'd been riding around North America and Europe in David's car ad infinitum. I didn't have a driver's licence or a vehicle".[8] Biographer Paul Trynka states that the song was "a simple celebration of life", of the "long walks" Pop would take growing up and his own reputation at the time.[3] Tom Maginnis of AllMusic described the music as a "laid-back ... springy groove".[9] Reviewers characterize the track as garage rock and proto-punk.[10][11]

Release and reception

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RCA Records issued Lust for Life on September 9, 1977,[12] with "The Passenger" as the fourth track on side one of the original LP, between "Some Weird Sin" and "Tonight".[13][14] The song was released as the B-side of "Success" in October 1977, but failed to chart.[2][15] Pop's press officer Robin Eggar attempted to pursue RCA to issue "The Passenger" as an A-side, feeling it would be a hit, but he was ignored.[16] Following its use in a car commercial two decades later,[2] the song was released as an A-side by Virgin Records in March 1998 with "Lust for Life" and The Idiot track "Nightclubbing", with the catalog number 7243 8 94921 2 5.[17] The single peaked at number 22 on the UK Singles Chart and remained on the chart for three weeks.[18]

"The Passenger" has remained a mainstay of Pop's live performances.[4] The song received an official music video in 2020, 43 years after its initial release.[19]

"The Passenger" has appeared on several best-of lists. In a 2001 list compiling "the 100 Greatest Singles of the Post-Punk Era", the writers of Uncut magazine placed "The Passenger" at number 95.[20] The staff of Billboard placed the song at number 78 in a list compiling "the 100 Greatest Car Songs of All Time" in 2016.[10] The same year, Pitchfork ranked it the 95th best song of the 1970s. Benjamin Scheim wrote: "It's easy to listen to the intro and envision a million bands at home trying to figure out how to copy it."[21] The song was also included in the 2008 book The Pitchfork 500.[22]

In media

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The song has been featured in numerous movies, video games, documentaries and TV shows including He Died with a Felafel in His Hand (cover by Rowland S. Howard), This Must Be the Place, Radiofreccia, 30 Days, Jarhead and the 2002 video game Mat Hoffman's Pro BMX 2. More recently, Up in the Air, The Weather Man, Kurt Cobain: About a Son, Scarface: The World Is Yours, 24 Hour Party People, If I Stay, Sons of Anarchy, War Dogs, Ash vs Evil Dead, 12 Monkeys, Berlin Station, The Boys, Dexter: New Blood, Sugar, The Lincoln Lawyer, and The Umbrella Academy in addition to advertisements for Dublin Bus, Captain Morgan, Kohl's "Simply Vera" collection, Guinness, the fifth season of Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown, and the film Waking Life.

  • In 2009, New Zealand broadband internet provider Orcon held a promotion where eight fans re-recorded the song via the internet. The recording featured instruments foreign to the original, such as a flute.[23]
  • In 2010, the German mobile phone provider T-Mobile launched their "Welcome Home" flash-mob advert on British television. Amongst the songs performed using only voices was "The Passenger", sung by local Brighton resident George Ikediashi.[24]
  • A cover of the song by The Phoenix Foundation was used in Tourism New Zealand's "One journey leads to another" campaign in 2017.[25]
  • In 1995, a cover by Michael Hutchence of INXS was included on the Batman Forever soundtrack.
  • In the 2018 Russian rock musical, Leto, two of the main characters in the movie are serenaded by the passengers of a city bus with an English language rendition of the song.

Personnel

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According to Chris O'Leary and Thomas Jerome Seabrook:[4][26]

Production

  • Iggy Pop – producer
  • David Bowie – producer
  • Colin Thurston – producer, engineer

Certifications

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Region Certification Certified units/sales
Germany (BVMI)[27] Gold 250,000‡
Italy (FIMI)[28] Platinum 50,000‡
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[29] Platinum 60,000‡
United Kingdom (BPI)[30] Platinum 600,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Siouxsie and the Banshees version

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"The Passenger"
Single by Siouxsie and the Banshees
from the album Through the Looking Glass
B-side
  • "She's Cuckoo"
  • "Something Blue"
ReleasedMarch 16, 1987
Recorded1986
Genre
Length5:09
LabelPolydor
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
Siouxsie and the Banshees singles chronology
"This Wheel's on Fire"
(1987) 		"The Passenger"
(1987) 		"Song from the Edge of the World"
(1987)
Music video
"The Passenger" on YouTube

English rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees covered "The Passenger" in 1987 for their all-cover-versions album Through the Looking Glass.[7][31] The group revamped the song by adding brass arrangements. Released as the second single from the album, it peaked at number 41 in the UK.[32]

Iggy Pop praised their version and stated: "That's good. She sings it well and she threw a little note in when she sings it, that I wish I had thought of, it's kind of improved it [...]. The horn thing is good."[33]

The song was featured at the end of the biographical film I, Tonya (2017).[34]

"The Passenger (LaLaLa)"

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"The Passenger (LaLaLa)"
Single by Lumix, D.T.E and Gabry Ponte featuring Mokaby
ReleasedJanuary 17, 2020
Length2:39
LabelSpinnin' Records
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
  • Mokaby
  • D.T.E
  • Gabry Ponte
  • Lum!x
Music video
"The Passenger (LaLaLa)" on YouTube

Lumix, D.T.E and Gabry Ponte released a cover of the song titled "The Passenger (LaLaLa)" on January 17, 2020, featuring Mokaby. The song charted across Europe.

Weekly charts

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Chart (2020) Peak
position
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[35] 47
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia)[36] Tip
France (SNEP)[37] 128
Germany (GfK)[38] 58

2024's re-recorded version by Iggy Pop and Siouxsie Sioux

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Pop and Siouxsie Sioux collaborated for a new version of "The Passenger": the track appeared in an advert in April 2024.[39] Pop said: "Siouxsie can sing like a bird. I've always thought she was a great lady. She's been a friend too, she took me to The Nutcracker once, at the Royal Court. Her version of the song was already special, but what happened here, singing together, is really unique. Like Volare, the orchestral treatment and marriage of voices flies free, in a spirit of joy. I'm very proud." Siouxsie added: "I love this song and I’ve always loved Iggy’s voice. Yet even with perfect ingredients, to make something wonderful, you need a touch of magic. In this instance it’s what steered the song on its new and unexpected journey. I adore how instinctive and spontaneous it all feels and to hear my voice with Iggy's is such a dream".[40] Consequence of Sound described Pop and Siouxsie's duet as an "ethereal setting, with a slower tempo and a silky soundscape of harps and strings".[41] Rolling Stone reviewed the 2024 version as a "moody, downtempo ballad that erupts with cinematic and orchestral splendor as Siouxsie and Iggy deliver fittingly dramatic vocal performances."[42] Flood magazine said it was a "slow-burning epic".[43]

References

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  1. ^ "Music Week" (PDF). p. 102.
  2. ^ a b c d Pegg 2016, p. 208.
  3. ^ a b c Trynka 2007, pp. 227–228.
  4. ^ a b c d O'Leary 2019, chap. 2.
  5. ^ Seabrook 2008, pp. 145–147.
  6. ^ "S-Bahn brachte Iggy Pop auf "The Passenger"". Die Welt (in German). February 21, 2013. Archived from the original on June 16, 2016. Retrieved October 15, 2020.
  7. ^ a b Ambrose 2004, pp. 185–186.
  8. ^ Perry, Kevin EG (March 5, 2016). "Josh Homme on Iggy Pop: 'Lemmy is gone. Bowie is gone. He's the last of the one-and-onlys'". The Guardian. Archived from the original on September 12, 2021. Retrieved December 23, 2021.
  9. ^ Maginnis, Tom. "'The Passenger' – Iggy Pop". AllMusic. Archived from the original on August 8, 2020. Retrieved October 15, 2020.
  10. ^ a b "The 100 Greatest Car Songs of All Time: Staff List". Billboard. June 24, 2021. Archived from the original on October 10, 2021. Retrieved November 12, 2021.
  11. ^ Falconer, Tim (2008). Drive: A Road Trip Through Our Complicated Affair With The Automobile. Penguin Canada. p. 355. ISBN 978-0-14-317937-5.
  12. ^ Seabrook 2008, p. 149.
  13. ^ O'Leary 2019, Partial Discography.
  14. ^ Ambrose 2004, p. 305.
  15. ^ Ambrose 2004, p. 309.
  16. ^ Trynka 2007, p. 234.
  17. ^ Ambrose 2004, p. 312.
  18. ^ "the passenger – full Official Chart History". officialcharts.com. Official Charts Company. Archived from the original on November 6, 2021. Retrieved December 23, 2021.
  19. ^ Krol, Charlotte (July 9, 2020). "Iggy Pop's 'The Passenger' finally gets a music video 43 years later – watch". NME. Archived from the original on July 13, 2020. Retrieved December 23, 2021.
  20. ^ Staff (February 2001). "Rocklist.net..Rocklist.net... Uncut Lists". Uncut (45). Archived from the original on July 17, 2021. Retrieved December 23, 2021 – via rocklist.et.
  21. ^ Scheim, Benjamin (August 22, 2016). "The 200 Best Songs of the 1970s". Pitchfork. p. 6. Archived from the original on October 8, 2021. Retrieved December 23, 2021.
  22. ^ Breihan, Tom (November 30, 2009). "Video: Iggy Pop Plays 'The Passenger' With Random NZ Musicians, Via Skype". Pitchfork. Retrieved October 16, 2024.
  23. ^ "Iggy re-records 'The Passenger' with a little help from NZ fans". 3 News. Archived from the original on April 6, 2012. Retrieved November 17, 2009.
  24. ^ "George Ikediashi from Brighton lands starring role in T-Mobile national TV ad". Brighton Visitor.com. Archived from the original on August 27, 2011. Retrieved October 12, 2011.
  25. ^ Dawson, Abigail (July 4, 2017). "Tourism New Zealand launches new mobile-led campaign". Mumbrella. Archived from the original on September 3, 2018. Retrieved July 9, 2017.
  26. ^ Seabrook 2008, pp. 154–155.
  27. ^ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Iggy Pop; 'The Passenger')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved May 25, 2023.
  28. ^ "Italian single certifications – Iggy Pop – The Passenger" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
  29. ^ "Spanish single certifications – Iggy Pop – The Passenger". El portal de Música. Productores de Música de España. Retrieved July 8, 2024.
  30. ^ "British single certifications – Iggy Pop – The Passenger". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved February 16, 2024.
  31. ^ Raggett, Ned. "Through the Looking Glass – Siouxsie and the Banshees". AllMusic. Archived from the original on October 21, 2021. Retrieved December 23, 2021.
  32. ^ "Siouxsie & the Banshees [uk charts]". officialcharts.com. Official Charts Company. Archived from the original on March 12, 2015. Retrieved April 29, 2013.
  33. ^ ""120 Minutes" Iggy Pop interview". MTV. June 1990. Retrieved December 23, 2021 – via YouTube. Excerpt about Siouxsie and the Banshees' version of 'The Passenger' from 08:38
  34. ^ Rosen, Christopher (December 11, 2017). "Best of 2017 (Behind the Scenes): The stories behind the best songs on the I, Tonya soundtrack". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on December 11, 2017. Retrieved January 22, 2017.
  35. ^ "Lum!x x Mokaby & D.T.E x Gabry Ponte – The Passenger (LaLaLa)" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved 26 January 2023.
  36. ^ "Lum!x x Mokaby & D.T.E x Gabry Ponte – The Passenger (LaLaLa)" (in French). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 26 January 2023.
  37. ^ "Lum!x x Mokaby & D.T.E x Gabry Ponte – The Passenger (LaLaLa)" (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved 26 January 2023.
  38. ^ "Lum!x x Mokaby & D.T.E x Gabry Ponte – The Passenger (LaLaLa)" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved 26 January 2023.
  39. ^ ""The Passenger" in Pleasure Express ad". YouTube. April 2024. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  40. ^ "The Passenger gets reimagined for Magnum Ice Cream". Shots.net. 25 April 2024. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  41. ^ "Siouxsie Sioux and Iggy Pop Duet on New Version of "The Passenger"". Consequence.net. 30 April 2024. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  42. ^ "Siouxsie Sioux's First Song in Nine Years Is a New Cover of 'The Passenger' With Iggy Pop — for an Ice Cream Ad". Rollingstone.com. 30 April 2024. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  43. ^ "Siouxsie Sioux and Iggy Pop Share Duet Version of "The Passenger"". Floodmagazine.com. 30 April 2024. Retrieved 31 May 2024.

Sources

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