"The Metro", also published as "Metro", is a 1981 song written by John Crawford for his band,

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

Background

The song was first released as a non-album single, "The Metro" b/w "Tell Me Why", on the MAO Music label in 1981. It reappeared, slightly remixed, on Berlin's breakthrough album ''

Pleasure Victim ''Pleasure Victim'' is the second studio album by American new wave band Berlin. It was originally recorded in 1982 and released in October of that year by M.A.O. Records and Enigma Records. After the second single, " Sex (I'm A...)", received c ...

'', released on the independent label Enigma in 1982 and re-released on Geffen in 1983. In May 1983, "The Metro" was re-released as the third single from the album, and the second to appear on the Geffen label. It was produced and engineered (as was most of the album) by the band's then-drummer and drum programmer, Daniel Van Patten. The Berlin recording is known for epitomizing the new wave genre as a blending of punk rock and pop, with heavy use of the

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. Vocalist

Terri Nunn Terri is an alternative spelling of Terry. It is a common feminine given name and is also a diminutive for Teresa. Notable people with the name include: *Terri Allard (born 1962), American country/folk singer/songwriter *Terri S. Armstrong, Amer ...

said the song, which was a breakthrough hit for Berlin, "defined us and defined that period of music." The song's music video was their first

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

hit, in

heavy rotation In broadcasting, rotation is the repeated airing of a limited playlist of songs on a radio station or satellite radio channel, or music videos on a TV network. They are usually in a different order each time. However, they are not completely sh ...

on the young channel in its second and third years. Directed by Dominic Orlando, it was filmed in 1983 at GMT Studios in West Los Angeles, California. Terri Nunn only sang two lyrics on camera: "I remember hating you for loving me" and "Sorry". The video became a part of the ''Berlin Video 45'' Geffen-VHS home video, released in 1984.

Chart performance

The single surpassed the ''

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 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

peak of their previous single, " Sex (I'm A...)", reaching No. 58 in July 1983. It is currently their third-highest charting single in the U.S. A dance remix of the song received club play in 1983. Subsequent remixes were done of Berlin's song, including one by

Sigue Sigue Sputnik Sigue Sigue Sputnik were a British new wave band formed in 1982 by former Generation X bassist Tony James. The band have had three UK top-40 hit singles, including "Love Missile F1-11" and " 21st Century Boy". The band's music, image and insp ...

. A revamped Berlin lineup, led by the original group's Nunn, re-recorded the song circa 2000; this version received several remixes as well. An acoustic version was made available exclusively on

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...

. One of their signature songs, it was among those performed by a reunion of the original lineup for a live show at

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which was the culmination of an episode of

VH-1 VH1 (originally an initialism of Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network based in New York City and owned by Paramount Global. It was created by Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment, at the time a division of Warner Communic ...

's ''

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''.

Cover versions

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recorded three cover versions of the song, the first on their untitled 1995 demo cassette, a second on their eponymous 1997 fourth demo cassette, and a third on the 2006 "

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" maxi single (the latter also appeared on the soundtracks for ''

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'' and ''

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''). **SOAD's version was included in ''

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s 2016 list of "The 20 Best Metal Cover Songs". *

Alkaline Trio Alkaline Trio is an American punk rock band from Chicago, Illinois. Since 2001, the band has consisted of Matt Skiba (vocals, guitar), Dan Andriano (vocals, bass) and Derek Grant (drums, vocals). Founded in late 1996 by Skiba, bassist Rob Do ...

included a cover of the song on their 2007 compilation album ''

Remains Remains or The Remains may refer to: Music *The Remains (band), a 1960s American rock band *The Ramainz, originally The Remains, a Ramones tribute band Albums * ''Remains'' (Alkaline Trio album), 2007 * ''Remains'' (Annihilator album), 1997 * ' ...

''. *

The Interrupters ''The Interrupters'' is a 2011 documentary film, produced by Kartemquin Films, that tells the story of three violence interrupters who try to protect their Chicago communities from the violence they once employed. It examines a year in which Chi ...

included a ska-punk cover of the song as a bonus track on their 2014 eponymous debut album.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Metro 1983 singles Berlin (band) songs System of a Down songs Geffen Records singles 1981 songs