Silent Running (On Dangerous Ground) | |
Cover: | Mike the mechanics-silent running (on dangerous ground) s.jpg |
Caption: | European picture sleeve |
Type: | single |
Artist: | Mike + The Mechanics |
Album: | Mike + The Mechanics |
Released: | 7 October 1985 (UK)[1] 4 November 1985 (US)[2] |
Recorded: | 1985 |
Length: | 6:14 4:09 (7") |
Label: | Atlantic |
Producer: | Christopher Neil |
Next Title: | All I Need Is a Miracle |
Next Year: | 1986 |
"Silent Running (On Dangerous Ground)" is a song performed by Mike + The Mechanics. Written by Mike Rutherford and B. A. Robertson, it was the first track on the 1985 self-titled debut album of Mike + the Mechanics. It was also released as the band's first single, peaking at number 6 on 8 March 1986[3] on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and number 1 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, where it stayed for five weeks.[4]
Paul Carrack provided lead vocals on the song.[5] Alan Murphy was hired as a session guitarist and provided lead guitar on the track. The song's original title was simply "Silent Running"; the name extension was given when the song was chosen to appear in the 1986 movie On Dangerous Ground, which was titled Choke Canyon in the United States.[6] The single was re-released in the UK in January 1986 to tie-in with the film, and peaked at No. 21 in the UK charts.[7]
The song was banned by the BBC during the Gulf War due to its address of war, nationalism and religion, as well as a direct reference to weaponry in the line, "There's a gun and ammunition just inside the doorway."[8]
"Silent Running" was one of the first songs to emerge from the Rutherford/Robertson songwriting partnership. It was among a series of songs that the pair wrote in order to test the results of their collaboration. When producer Christopher Neil heard the song on a demo tape that Rutherford played, he recommended that it be used for the album.[9]
According to Rutherford, the song
Rutherford named the song after the film Silent Running "because I remembered that film so well, and our song had a spacey feel to it."[10]
The song's video features several clips from the film Choke Canyon, but it is primarily based on the completely unrelated story upon which the song's lyrics are based.[11] Billy Drago makes a cameo appearance in the video. It was produced by Paul Flattery and directed by Jim Yukich, who had directed many videos for Phil Collins and Genesis.
Chart (1985–1986) | Peak position | |
---|---|---|
Australia (Kent Music Report)[12] | 23 | |
Canada RPM 100 (RPM)[13] | 8 | |
Canada Top Singles (The Record)[14] | 15 | |
Ireland (IRMA) | 21 | |
Netherlands (Mega Top 100)[15] | 39 | |
United Kingdom (OCC) | 21 | |
US Billboard Hot 100 | 6 | |
US Billboard Top Rock Tracks | 1 | |
West Germany (Media Control Charts)[16] | 8 |
The Protomen released a cover of the song as a mash-up with their own song, "Breaking Out" in 2012 as a B-side to their single "I Drove All Night", with an extended cover of the song later appearing as the final song on their 2015 album, The Cover Up.