"God's Great Banana Skin" is a song by British singer-songwriter

Chris Rea Christopher Anton Rea ( ; born 4 March 1951) is a British Rock music, rock and blues singer-songwriter and guitarist from Middlesbrough. Known for his distinctive voice and his slide guitar playing, Rea has recorded twenty-five studio albums, ...

, released in November 1992 by

East West Records East West Records (stylized as east''west'') is a record label formed in 1955, distributed and owned by Warner Music Group, headquartered in New York City. History After its creation in 1955 by Atlantic Records, the label had its first hit wit ...

as the second single from his 12th studio album, ''

God's Great Banana Skin ''God's Great Banana Skin'' is the twelfth studio album by British singer-songwriter Chris Rea, released in 1992. The album was not released in the United States, though some tracks later appeared on the US release of Rea's following album ''Espr ...

'' (1992). The song was written and produced by Rea, and reached 31 on the UK Singles Chart, remaining on the chart for three weeks.

Background

Rea was inspired to write the song after he noticed his daughter was tempted to laugh at "somebody who'd been giving her a hard time". Rea told

John Pidgeon Sir John Allan Stewart Pidgeon (15 July 1926 – 2 June 2016) was an Australian contractor and property developer. He and his sister, Valmai Pidgeon, have been involved with the Queensland construction industry since joining their father's busine ...

in 1992: "I told her 'don't laugh when people go down even if they've been awful to you because you're tempting God to throw you a banana skin'. It's half moral and half superstition. Anybody who's done me a disservice in life, and I see them go down, you get tempted to laugh. I don't know whether it's superstition or not, or I daren't laugh just in case God throws me a banana skin as well."

Critical reception

Upon release, Robert Tilli of ''

Music & Media ''Music & Media'' was a pan-European magazine for radio, music and entertainment. It was published for the first time in 1984 as ''Eurotipsheet'', but in 1986 it changed name to ''Music & Media''. It was originally based in Amsterdam, but later m ...

'' wrote: "The tag line of the title track, sung in a dark threatening voice, is easy to sing along with, making it the ideal second single. The wailing harmonica in the background matches perfectly with the November rain and storms." In a review of the album, Vlado Forgac of '' The Morning Star'' commented: "On the title track, Rea offers a humorous look at his own perception of faith." Lynn Saxberg of the ''

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'' noted the "cryptic message" of the song and how it "addresses the superstitious idea that bad luck will come not only to those who think they're better than others, but also people who think they're inferior".

Track listings

* 7-inch and cassette single # "God's Great Banana Skin" (remix) – 4:16 # "I Saw You Coming" – 4:30 * CD single # "God's Great Banana Skin" (remix) – 4:16 # "Just Passing Through" (live) – 6:09 # "Footprints in the Snow" (live) – 4:32 # " Winter Song" – 4:32 * CD single (UK limited edition release) # "God's Great Banana Skin" (remix) – 4:16 # "I Saw You Coming" – 4:30 # "She's Gonna Change Everything" – 4:46 # "You Must Be Evil" (live) – 4:47

Personnel

Production *

– production ("God's Great Banana Skin", "I Saw You Coming", "She's Gonna Change Everything") * Neil Amor – engineering ("God's Great Banana Skin", "I Saw You Coming", "She's Gonna Change Everything") * Targa Flurio – remixing ("God's Great Banana Skin") *

Jon Kelly Jon Kelly is a British audio engineer and record producer, who began his career as an engineer at Air London Studios. He has produced albums and singles for Chris Rea, the Damned, Kate Bush (where he co-produced with Bush on her third album '' ...

– production ("Winter Song") Other * Chris Welch – banana illustration *

Stylorouge Stylorouge is a graphic design studio based in Yalding, Kent, formed in London by creative director Rob O'Connor in 1981. Art work created by the studio has included record sleeve designs for bands such as Siouxsie and the Banshees for their 19 ...

– artwork

Charts

References

{{Authority control 1992 singles 1992 songs Chris Rea songs East West Records singles Songs about luck Songs written by Chris Rea