![]() In the second verse, Hynde suggests that unnecessary ephemera like “The phone, the TV, and the news of the world” became an unstoppable, malignant force: “Got in the house like a pigeon from hell/Threw sand in our eyes and descended like flies.” In the bridge, she curses unnamed antagonists, all while looking forward to their comeuppance: “But I’ll die as a I stand here today/Knowing that deep in my heart/They’ll fall to ruin one day/For making us part. “Now we’re back in the fight,” Hynde sings, leading into the chorus. The narrator of “Back On The Chain Gang” is immediately transformed from the drudgery of her existence by an unexpected sight: “I found a picture of you/What hijacked my world that night.” From that point, she compares the idyllic existence that she once shared with her departed friend to the grind of daily life, signified by the grunts of a chain gang. Chris Thomas provided pristine production, while the “ooh” and “aah” backing vocals paid homage to Sam Cooke’s legendary soul hit “Chain Gang.” ![]() Last edit on View official tab We have an official Back On The. This ad hoc Pretenders group did great justice to Hynde’s wistful tune, with Bremner standing out with his lyrical lead guitar. Back On The Chain Gang Ukulele by The Pretenders 2,598 views, added to favorites 105 times Author Unregistered. 2 The song also was released on The King of Comedy soundtrack album in March 1983 and later was included on the Pretenders' next album, Learning to Crawl, in January 1984. “That was a song I was writing and I had shown Jimmy Scott some of the chords, and I was working on this song which he liked, and then he died, and it turned into more of a tribute to him,” Hynde explained.īut there needed to be a band to play the thing, so Hynde and Chambers enlisted Billy Bremner and Robbie McIntosh on guitar and Tony Butler on bass for the new track. ' Back on the Chain Gang ' is a song written by Chrissie Hynde and originally recorded by her band the Pretenders, and released as a single by Sire Records in September 1982. So for every song on the 1984 album Learning to Crawl, if it sounds like Hynde’s singing about a dead friend, then she probably is.Hynde told interviewer Paul Zollo that she altered the content of the song, which was originally inspired by her relationship with Kinks’ frontman Ray Davies, in the wake of the sudden tragedy that befell the band. What else were we going to do? Stay at home and be miserable, or go into the studio and do what we dig and be miserable? When asked how she could return to releasing music so quickly after the loss, she told Rolling Stone in 1984: “Back On The Chain Gang” was written about the passing of Honeyman-Scott, released three months after his death. Then Farndon ended up dying of an overdose a few months later. Honeyman-Scott went along with the decision, but a few days later died in an apparent overdose suicide. In June 1982, Hynde and Chambers decided to fire Farndon because he was refusing to treat his drug addiction. ![]() The song was then later included on their third album Learning To Crawl, which came out more than a year after this single.įrom 1978 until 1982, The Pretenders were Chrissie Hynde (vocals/rhythm guitar), James Honeyman-Scott (lead guitar/keyboard), Pete Farndon (bass), and Martin Chambers (percussion). I found a picture of you, o-o-oh, o-o-oh You had hijacked my world at night To a place in the past weve been passed out of, o-o-oh, o-o-oh Now were back in the fight Were back on the train, yeah (ho-ah) O-oh, back on the chain gang (ho-ah) Circumstance beyond our control, o-o-oh, o-o-oh The phone, TV and the news of the world Got in the. It also reached the top 40 in the UK, New Zealand, Belgium and The Netherlands. It became the band’s first of two top 10 US hits. “Back On The Chain Gang” was originally released as a standalone single in the fall of 1982, a year after their second album Pretenders II.
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