"Wings of a Dove" (also known as "Wings of a Dove (A Celebratory Song)") is a song by English

ska Ska (; ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. It combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. Ska is characterized by a walki ...

band Madness. It was released in 1983 as a stand-alone single and later in 1984 it was included on the American version of their studio album '' Keep Moving''. The single spent 10 weeks in British charts peaking at number 2. It peaked at number 1 in Ireland. "Wings of a Dove" was written by

Suggs Graham McPherson (born 13 January 1961), known primarily by his stage name Suggs, is an English singer-songwriter, musician, radio personality and actor from Hastings, England. In a music career spanning 40 years, he came to prominence in the ...

and

Chas Smash Cathal Joseph "Carl" Smyth (born 14 January 1959), also known as Chas Smash, is an English singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. His career spans more than 40 years. Smash came to prominence in the late 1970s as secondary vocalist, trump ...

and they also share lead vocals here. The song featured

steel drums The steelpan (also known as a pan, steel drum, and sometimes, collectively with other musicians, as a steelband or steel orchestra) is a musical instrument originating in Trinidad and Tobago. Steelpan musicians are called pannists. Descriptio ...

by Creighton Steel Sounds and the gospel choir The Inspirational Choir of the Pentecostal First Born Church of the Living God. In 1985, Madness offered the song as their contribution to the multi-artist compilation ''

Greenpeace – The Album ''Greenpeace – The Album'' is a multi-artist compilation album that was released in June 1985 to raise funds and awareness for the environmental organisation Greenpeace. It was compiled by the UK branch of the organisation and issued on Green ...

''. The song enjoyed a brief resurgence in popularity in 1999 when it was featured in the movie ''

10 Things I Hate About You ''10 Things I Hate About You'' is a 1999 American teen romantic comedy film directed by Gil Junger and starring Julia Stiles, Heath Ledger, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Larisa Oleynik. The screenplay, written by Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten ...

''. Madness performed a version live on

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...

on New Year's Eve, 2018.

Promotional music video

The music video for the song depicts all involved in the record (including the steel band and choir) performing in a party atmosphere on board an aeroplane piloted by Chas Smash and co-piloted by Suggs. They all bail out in a small white van after Smash loses control of the plane, the final sequence shows the van, a first-generation

Iveco Daily The Iveco Daily is a large light commercial vehicle, light commercial van produced by the Italy, Italian automaker Iveco since 1978; it was also sold as the Fiat Daily by Fiat Automobiles, Fiat until 1983. Unlike the more car-like unibody Fiat D ...

, parachuting gently down to earth. However, there is the back of a

Ford Transit The Ford Transit is a family of light commercial vehicles manufactured by the Ford Motor Company since 1965, primarily as a cargo van, but also available in other configurations including a large passenger van (marketed as the Ford Tourneo in ...

shown on the plane before the fall. The clips of the parachuting Iveco Daily were originally filmed for a French television advert for the van. Dave Robinson, the founder of

Stiff Records Stiff Records is a British independent record label formed in London, England, by Dave Robinson and Jake Riviera. Originally active from 1976 to 1986, the label was reactivated in 2007. Established at the outset of the punk rock boom, Stiff ...

, as well as the sole director of Madness' music videos,Stiff Records: If it ain't Stiff, it ain't worth a debt
, ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'', 15 September 2006 had bought the rights to the footage some time earlier with the intention of including it in a Madness video, and the lyrical content of "Wings of a Dove" gave him the opportunity to use it.

Track listing

* 7" single #"Wings of a Dove" #"Behind the 8 Ball" * 12" single #"Wings of a Dove (Blue Train Mix)" #"Behind the 8 Ball" #"One's Second Thoughtlessness"

Charts

Certifications and sales

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1983 singles Madness (band) songs Irish Singles Chart number-one singles Songs written by Chas Smash Songs written by Suggs (singer) 1983 songs Stiff Records singles Song recordings produced by Clive Langer Song recordings produced by Alan Winstanley