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"New Moon on Monday" by Duran Duran
more New Moon on Monday videos
Song details
	Track number 2 from the album Seven and the Ragged Tiger
Previous track:	The Reflex
Next track:	Cracks in the Pavement
Length:	4:16
Writer(s):	Duran Duran
Producer(s):	Duran Duran, Ian Little and Alex Sadkin

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Single details

UK release:	January 1984
US release:	January 1984
Label:	EMI
Format(s):	7", 12"
B-side(s):	"Tiger Tiger"
Peak chart positions:
#9	UK Singles Chart
#10	US Hot 100
#48	Australia
Duran Duran singles chronology
"Union of the Snake" (1983)	"New Moon on Monday"	"The Reflex" (1984)

"New Moon on Monday" is the tenth single by Duran Duran, and the second from their 1983 album Seven and the Ragged Tiger. It reached the Top 10 on both the British and American music charts.

About the songEdit

Donald A. Guarisco of All Music Guide^[1] said the song was:

...one of their catchiest and most likable efforts. The playful lyrics have a nonsensical bent typical of Duran Duran but evoke a romantic feel as the song's narrator attempts to court a shy potential lover ("Every minute I keep finding/Clues that you leave behind/Save me from these reminders"). Where the title fits into this scenario isn't clear, but "I light my torch and wave it for the New Moon on Monday" makes for a pretty fun chorus nonetheless. The music holds these unusual lyrics together by wedding effervescent verse melodies that bounce high and low to a triumphant-sounding chorus with a rousing feel. Duran Duran's recording builds itself on a slickly grooving John Taylor bass line and adds plenty of chiming guitar flourishes and tinkling keyboards on top. The song's contagious joy is capped by an exuberant Simon LeBon vocal that moves from crooning on the verse to full-throated belting on the chorus.

LyricsEdit

Shake up the picture the lizard mixture
With your dance on the eventide
You got me coming up with answers
All of which I deny
I said it again
Could I please rephrase it
Maybe I can catch a ride
I couldn't really put it much plainer
But I'll wait till you decide
Send me your warning siren
As if I could ever hide
Last time La Luna

[CHORUS]

I light my torch and wave it for the
New moon on Monday
And a firedance through the night
I stayed the cold day with a lonely satellite

Breaking away with the beast of both worlds
A smile that you can't disguise
Every minute I keep finding
Clues that you leave behind
Save me from these reminders
As if I'd forget tonight
This time La Luna

[CHORUS]

Music videoEdit

The music video for "New Moon on Monday" was filmed by director Brian Grant during the icy first week of January 1984, in the village of Noyers in France. It has a loosely sketched storyline in which the band appear as underground rebels, organizing a revolt against an oppressive militaristic regime.

Several versions of this video exist. The longest is a 17-minute "movie version" which includes an extended introduction before the song starts (including a scene of dialogue between Simon Le Bon and the story's femme fatale), and is set to an extended remix of the song. A shorter version, with a spoken French-dialogue intro, was originally submitted to MTV, who then later requested an even shorter version without the prologue. Yet another version was produced for the Dancing on the Valentine video collection, introducing blue-lit scenes of band members in front of a full-moon backdrop. All but one of the versions were included as easter eggs on the 2004 DVD compilation Greatest.

B-sides, bonus tracks and remixesEdit

"New Moon on Monday" was backed with a remix of the instrumental "Tiger Tiger" done by Ian Little. The original version of the instrumental was found on the Seven and the Ragged Tiger album. The release was rounded out by an extended version of the title track.

Chart positionsEdit

On 14 January 1984, the song peaked at #10 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the United States, and on February 4 it reached #9 on the UK Singles Chart.

On 9 March the song peaked at #4 in the New Zealand Top 40.