"Heavy Cross" is a song by American band

Gossip Gossip is idle talk or rumour, especially about the personal or private affairs of others; the act is also known as dishing or tattling. Gossip is a topic of research in evolutionary psychology, which has found gossip to be an important means ...

. It was released on April 28, 2009, as the first single from the band's fourth album '' Music for Men''. The song was the first international hit for Gossip, reaching the top ten across Europe, with a massive commercial success in Germany. When writing it, the band was influenced by

Donna Summer LaDonna Adrian Gaines (December 31, 1948May 17, 2012), known professionally as Donna Summer, was an American singer and songwriter. She gained prominence during the disco era of the 1970s and became known as the " Queen of Disco", while her mus ...

and

Siouxsie and the Banshees Siouxsie and the Banshees were a British rock band formed in London in 1976 by vocalist Siouxsie Sioux and bass guitarist Steven Severin. They have been widely influential, both over their contemporaries and with later acts. ''Q'' magazine in ...

. The band recorded a studio version of the song in early 2009, but they had already been playing it live for two years.

Background and writing

Singer

Beth Ditto Mary Beth Patterson (born February 19, 1981), known by her stage name Beth Ditto, is an American singer and songwriter most notable for her work with the indie rock band Gossip. Her voice has been compared to Etta James, Janis Joplin and Tin ...

explained to the ''

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'' that the song is: "about recreation and my friends, who I feel like are the ultimate creative re-creators." Composer and guitarist Nathan Howdeshell explained: "Heavy Cross' was an attempt to make my

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

sound like an Italo

synth A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and f ...

line. I had been listening to Charlie's 'Spacer Woman' and still can't get over the

arpeggiated A broken chord is a chord broken into a sequence of notes. A broken chord may repeat some of the notes from the chord and span one or more octaves. An arpeggio () is a type of broken chord, in which the notes that compose a chord are played ...

synth, so I detuned my

strings String or strings may refer to: *String (structure), a long flexible structure made from threads twisted together, which is used to tie, bind, or hang other objects Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Strings'' (1991 film), a Canadian anim ...

to be the same notes and muted it and then came that song. Beth ittobusted some

elements, and since I have been listening to lots of darkwave, I put a bass synth on the track as opposed to a real bass: we wanted something steeped in '80s darkwave. I can't stop listening to ' Red Light' by

. Hannah liliedecided to stay on the

drum rim Drum hardware refers to the parts of a drum or drum kit that are used to tension, position, and otherwise support the instruments themselves. Occasionally, the hardware is used percussively as well, the most common example being a rim shot. John ...

s for the majority of the track, making it more of a Creatures-type track (another

Siouxsie Sioux Susan Janet Ballion (born 27 May 1957), known professionally as Siouxsie Sioux, is an English singer, songwriter, musician and record producer. She was the lead singer of the rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees (1976–1996). They released 11 ...

reference)." "Heavy Cross" was recorded in a studio in early 2009, although the band had already been playing the song live for two years. They had started their 2007 Glastonsbury concert at the

John Peel John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey (DJ) and radio presenter. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly fr ...

stage, performing an early version of it which was broadcast on

BBC television BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1927. It produced television programmes from its own studios from 193 ...

Commercial performance

The single was a commercial success. It reached the top 10 in Australia and on the US ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Hot Dance Club Songs Dance Club Songs is a chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine in the United States. It is a national look over of club disc jockeys to determine the most popular songs being played in nightclubs across the country. It was launched as t ...

chart from mid- to late 2009. It peaked just outside the top 10 in New Zealand, and made the top 40 in Ireland and the UK; Gossip had already achieved two top 40 singles in the latter region, with " Standing in the Way of Control" and " Listen Up!" in 2006. The single was especially successful in Germany, where it was certified triple gold for selling over 450,000 copies and is, , the "most successful internationally produced single of all time". As of April 2011, the single had spent 97 weeks on the

German Singles Chart The GfK Entertainment charts are the official music charts in Germany and are gathered and published by GfK Entertainment (formerly Media Control and Media Control GfK International), a subsidiary of GfK, on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindust ...

without ever reaching No. 1, staying for 27 weeks in that chart's top 10. In 2011, it was included in a J'Adore advert from

Dior Christian Dior SE (), commonly known as Dior (stylized DIOR), is a French Luxury goods, luxury fashion house controlled and chaired by French businessman Bernard Arnault, who also heads LVMH, the world's largest luxury group. Dior itself holds ...

, making it rise to fame again.

Track listings

UK CD # "Heavy Cross" # "Heavy Cross" (Fred Falke Remix) Australia CD # "Heavy Cross" (radio edit) # "Heavy Cross" # "Heavy Cross" (Fred Falke Remix) # "Heavy Cross" (Burns Remix)

Personnel

– vocals *

Brace Paine Gossip (or The Gossip) was an American indie rock band formed in Searcy, Arkansas, originally active from 1999 until 2016. For most of their career, the band consisted of singer Beth Ditto, multi-instrumentalist Brace Paine, and drummer Hannah ...

– guitar, keyboards, bass guitar *

Hannah Blilie Hannah Blilie is the drummer of the American R&B band Chanti Darling and formerly Gossip and Shoplifting. She has also performed with Sarah Dougher, Chromatics, Stiletto, Mr Yuk, The Lumpies, Vade, The Vogue, and Soiled Doves. Her twin broth ...

– drums

Charts

NRJ Session

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

Certifications

References

{{authority control 2009 singles Song recordings produced by Rick Rubin Gossip (band) songs Songs written by Brace Paine Songs written by Hannah Blilie Songs written by Beth Ditto 2009 songs Columbia Records singles