"Burning the Ground" is the 20th single by English new wave band

Duran Duran Duran Duran () are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1978 by singer and bassist Stephen Duffy, keyboardist Nick Rhodes and guitarist/bassist John Taylor (bass guitarist), John Taylor. With the addition of drummer Roger ...

, released in December 1989. It was created as a stand-alone single to promote the compilation album ''

Decade A decade () is a period of ten years. Decades may describe any ten-year period, such as those of a person's life, or refer to specific groupings of calendar years. Usage Any period of ten years is a "decade". For example, the statement that "du ...

''. Its music video was included on the band's audiovisual compilation '' Greatest'', released in 1999 (VHS) and 2003 (DVD). The song is essentially a

megamix A megamix is a remix containing multiple songs in rapid succession. It often features various artists. There may be only one verse or even just a brief chorus of each song used, sometimes in addition to samples of the same or other songs. It is ...

of Duran Duran's history, featuring snippets of all of the band's hits from the previous 10 years.

Composition

Instrumental elements of "Save a Prayer", "Hungry Like the Wolf", "Rio", "The Reflex" and "The Wild Boys", including the camera sound from "Girls on Film", form the core of the first part of the song, while the "chorus" is built up of alternating chants of "Girls!" (from "

Girls on Film "Girls on Film" is the third single by English new wave band Duran Duran, released on 13 July 1981. The single became Duran Duran's Top 10 breakthrough in the UK Singles Chart, peaking at Number 5 in July 1981. The band personally selected th ...

") and "Boys!" (from " The Wild Boys"). The nonsense syllables from several songs, such as the "noh-noh" bits from "Notorious", the "bop bop bop" from "

Planet Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surface ...

" and the "tana nana" and "fle fle fle fle flex" from "

The Reflex "The Reflex" is the eleventh single by English new wave band Duran Duran, released in 1984. The song was heavily remixed for single release and was the third and last to be taken from their third studio album '' Seven and the Ragged Tiger'' ...

", were also incorporated. Elements from "

A View to a Kill ''A View to a Kill'' is a 1985 spy film and the fourteenth in the ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions, and is the seventh and final appearance of Roger Moore as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. Although the title is adapted ...

", "Notorious", "I Don't Want Your Love" and later singles are gradually woven into the mix. Segments of the song are marked by signature phrases taken from other songs: first, ''"Can you hear me now?"'' ("Planet Earth"); later, ''"I tell you, somebody's fooling around"'' ("The Reflex") and ''"The rhythm is the power"'' ("I Don't Want Your Love"). The title derives from a "Hungry Like the Wolf" lyric. The song also used several sound samples from the film '' Barbarella'', from which the band took their name, to open it: "Barbarella?" "Mr. President!" "Your mission, then: find Durand Durand!" "Just a minute, I'll slip something on!" The remix was created by producer John Jones, with assistance from Dee Long and engineer Chris Potter, in an upstairs room at

Olympic Studios Olympic Studios was a renowned British independent commercial recording studio based in Barnes, London. It is best known for its recordings of many artists throughout the late 1960s to the first decade of the 21st century, including Jimi Hendr ...

Barnes Barnes may refer to: People * Barnes (name), a family name and a given name (includes lists of people with that name) Places United Kingdom *Barnes, London, England **Barnes railway station ** Barnes Bridge railway station ** Barnes Railway Bri ...

while Duran Duran was downstairs recording new material for the album ''

Liberty Liberty is the ability to do as one pleases, or a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant (i.e. privilege). It is a synonym for the word freedom. In modern politics, liberty is understood as the state of being free within society fr ...

'', to be released the following year.

Music video

The video for "Burning the Ground", much like the song, used snippets of many of Duran Duran's previous audiovisual work, including scenes from their 1985 concert film ''

Arena (An Absurd Notion) ''Arena (An Absurd Notion)'' is a concept concert video filmed during the course of Duran Duran's 1984 Sing Blue Silver North American Tour in support of the album ''Seven and the Ragged Tiger''. Background Instead of releasing a straight conc ...

'' and their 1987-1989 Strange Behaviour & Electric Theatre world tours. The video also used footage of burning South American

rainforests Rainforests are characterized by a closed and continuous tree canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforest can be classified as tropical rainforest or temperate rainforest ...

, as well as the

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...

Space Shuttle The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. Its official program na ...

s and even some scenes of the band walking around in the street during the recording sessions for their then-upcoming ''Liberty'' album. It was directed by

Adrian Martin Adrian Martin (born 1959) is an Australian film and arts critic. He now lives in Malgrat de Mar in Spain. He is Adjunct Associate Professor in Film Culture and Theory at Monash University. His work has appeared in many magazines, journals and n ...

.Rolling Stone: Burning the Ground music video
(requires RealPlayer)

B-sides, bonus tracks and remixes

The

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

was another megamix, this one more instrumental in nature, called "Decadance". The song uses the "why" bits of "The Reflex", the "no, no" from "Notorious", "wild" from "The Wild Boys", the chorus from "All She Wants Is", the solo from "Save a Prayer" mixed with "Rio", and a little bit of "Skin Trade", as well as some of the suggestive screams from "Hungry Like the Wolf".

Formats and track listing

7": EMI. / DD 13 United Kingdom

# "Burning the Ground" - 4:00 # "Decadance" - 3:29

12": EMI. / 12DD 13 United Kingdom

# "Burning the Ground" - 4:00 # "Decadance" - 3:29 # "Decadance" (Extended Mix) - 7:57

12": Capitol Records. / V-15546 United States

# "Burning the Ground" - 4:00 # "Decadance" (Extended Mix) - 7:57 # "Decadance" - 3:29

CD: EMI. / CD DD 13 United Kingdom

# "Burning the Ground" - 4:00 # "Decadance" - 3:29 # "Decadance" (Extended Mix) - 7:57

CD: part of ''
The Singles 1986–1995 ''The Singles 1986–1995'' is a box set by English new wave band Duran Duran. Comprising 14 CDs, it was released on 13 September 2004 by EMI and features the singles covering the era from '' Notorious'' (1986) to ''Thank You'' (1995). Backg ...
'' boxset

# "Burning the Ground" - 4:00 # "Decadance" - 3:29 # "Decadance" (2 Risk E Remix 12'') - 7:57

Chart positions

* #31

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

* #7 Italy

Other appearances

* '' Greatest'' (1999 VHS Edition, 2003 DVD Edition) * ''

Singles Box Set 1986–1995 Singles are people not in a committed relationship. Singles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series * ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe * ''Singles'' ...

'' (2004)

Personnel

Duran Duran are: *

Simon Le Bon Simon John Charles Le Bon (born 27 October 1958) is a British singer. He is best known as the lead vocalist and lyricist of the new wave band Duran Duran and its offshoot Arcadia. Le Bon has received three Ivor Novello Awards from the British ...

– vocals *

Nick Rhodes Nick Rhodes (born Nicholas James Bates, 8 June 1962) is an English keyboardist and producer, best known as a founding member, keyboardist, and only continuous member of the band Duran Duran. He is also informally monikered as "The Controller ...

– keyboards * John Taylor – bass guitar *

Warren Cuccurullo Warren Bruce Cuccurullo (born December 8, 1956) is an American musician, singer-songwriter, restaurant owner and former body builder who first worked with Frank Zappa during the 1970s. He was also a founding member of Missing Persons in the 1980s ...

– guitar * Sterling Campbell – drums

References

External links

TM's Duran Duran Discography
{{authority control 1989 songs Duran Duran songs 1989 singles EMI Records singles Capitol Records singles Songs written by Simon Le Bon Songs written by John Taylor (bass guitarist) Songs written by Roger Taylor (Duran Duran drummer) Songs written by Andy Taylor (guitarist) Songs written by Nick Rhodes