| The Chauffeur | |
| |
| song by Duran Duran | |
|---|---|
| Released | 10 May 1982 |
| Genre | Pop |
| Length | 5:22 minutes |
| Label | Capitol, EMI |
| Writer(s) | Duran Duran |
| Producer | Colin Thurston |
| Duran Duran | |
"The Chauffeur" is a Duran Duran song from their second album Rio, released by Capitol-EMI on 10 May 1982.
About the song
The lyrics were written by Simon Le Bon as poetry, several years before Rio had even begun. Le Bon's lyric book dates from 1977 and also includes "Sound of Thunder", "Night Boat" and "Careless Memories".
Music video
"The Chauffeur" was directed by Ian Emes and is one of two non-single tracks on Rio to have its own music video. None of the band appear in the video at all.
It is a moody black-and-white piece inspired in part by the film, The Night Porter, and the photography of Helmut Newton. Two women dress themselves carefully in lingerie and drive through the streets of London towards a rendezvous with each other in an abandoned multi-storey car park.
The instrumental end piece of the song was accompanied by a topless Perri Lister performing a sensuous dance - clearly an homage to Charlotte Rampling's topless "Dance of the Seven Veils" in The Night Porter.
The video featured on the Greatest DVD compilation, ahead of "My Own Way", which was a single.
Song versions
- "The Chauffeur" - 5:22
- "The Chauffeur" (Blue Silver) - 3:48
The "Blue Silver" version of the song is an acoustic demo that appeared several times as a B-side.
Personnel
Duran Duran are:
- Simon Le Bon - vocals, ocarina
- John Taylor - bass guitar, backing vocals
- Andy Taylor - guitar
- Nick Rhodes - keyboards
- Roger Taylor - drums
Lyrics
Out on the tar plains, the glides are moving All looking for a new place to drive You sit beside me, so newly charming Sweating dewdrops glisten freshing your side And the sun drips down bedding heavy behind The front of your dress all shadowy lined And the droning engine throbs in time with your beating heart Way down the lane away, living for another day The aphids swarm up in the drifting haze Swim seagull in the sky towards some hollow western isle My envied lady holds you fast in her gaze And the sun drips down bedding heavy behind The front of your dress all shadowy lined And the droning engine throbs in time with your beating heart And the sun drips down bedding heavy behind The front of your dress all shadowy lined And the droning engine throbs in time with your beating heart Sing blue silver And watching lovers part I feel you smiling What glass splinters lie so deep in your mind? To tear out from your eyes with a word to stiffen brooding lies And I'll only watch you leave me further behind And the sun drips down bedding heavy behind The front of your dress all shadowy lined And the droning engine throbs in time with your beating heart And the sun drips down bedding heavy behind The front of your dress all shadowy lined The droning engine throbs in time with your beating heart Sing blue silver Sing, sing blue silver...