The Passenger (song)

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"The Passenger"
The Passenger (song).jpg
Single by Iggy Pop
from the album Lust for Life
A-side"Success"
ReleasedAugust 29, 1977 (1977-08-29)
RecordedApril – June 1977 at Hansa Studio by the Wall, Berlin
GenreProto-punk[1]
Length4:44
LabelRCA Records
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Bewlay Bros.

"The Passenger" is a song written by Iggy Pop and Ricky Gardiner, recorded and released by Iggy Pop on the Lust for Life album in 1977. It was also released as the B-side of the album's only single, "Success". It was released as a single in its own right in March 1998, reaching number 22 in the UK charts.

Background and composition[]

The lyrics were written by Iggy Pop aboard Berlin's S-Bahn. They have been interpreted as embodying the nomadic spirit of the punk outcast. Guitarist Ricky Gardiner, who has worked with both Pop and David Bowie, composed the music. The song is loosely based on a poem by Jim Morrison.[2][3]

In an interview with The Guardian, Pop said "The Passenger" was partly inspired by touring with David Bowie: "I'd been riding around North America and Europe in David's car ad infinitum. I didn't have a driver's licence or a vehicle".[4]

In the media[]

The song has been featured in numerous movies, video games, documentaries and TV shows including He Died with a Felafel in His Hand, This Must Be the Place, Radiofreccia, 30 Days, Jarhead and the 2002 video game Mat Hoffman's Pro BMX 2. More recently, Up in the Air, The Weather Man, Kurt Cobain: About a Son, Scarface: The World Is Yours, 24 Hour Party People, If I Stay, Sons of Anarchy, War Dogs, Ash vs Evil Dead, 12 Monkeys, Berlin Station (Season 3 Episode 1), and The Boys (Season 1 Episode 1), in addition to advertisements for Dublin Bus, Captain Morgan, Kohl's "Simply Vera" collection, Guinness, the fifth season of Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown, and the film Waking Life.

  • The instrumental lead-in riff of this song served as the intro theme music for the CNN program Anderson Cooper 360.
  • In Lego Rock Band, the song appeared as a playable track featuring a Lego-style avatar of Iggy Pop on vocals.
  • The song was used in the UK television advert for the launch of the Ford Ka.
  • In 2009, New Zealand broadband internet provider Orcon held a promotion where eight fans re-recorded the song via the internet. The recording featured instruments foreign to the original, such as a flute.[5]
  • It was re-released as a single in the UK in 1998 in the wake of the Toyota Avensis commercial, peaking at number 22.
  • The song was included in the book The Pitchfork 500: Our Guide to the Greatest Songs from Punk to the Present published in 2008.
  • In 2010, the German mobile phone provider T-Mobile launched their "Welcome Home" flash-mob advert on British television. Amongst the songs performed using only voices was "The Passenger", sung by local Brighton resident George Ikediashi.[6]
  • MMA fighter Karolina Kowalkiewicz uses "The Passenger" as her walkout song.[7]
  • A cover of the song by The Phoenix Foundation was used in Tourism New Zealand's "One journey leads to another" campaign in 2017.[8]
  • A loop from the song is used as Music on hold for some phone services of Deutsche Bahn, the German national rail service.
  • The song was used in the announcement trailer for the video game The Outer Worlds in 2018.
  • The song was used in a segment for the Russian movie Leto in 2018.[9]
  • The song was used in the trailer for Book 2 of Infinity Train in 2019.
  • The song was used in the ninth episode of the second season, "Growth, Prosperity, and Liberation", of the television series Narcos: Mexico in 2020.

Certifications[]

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Italy (FIMI)[10] Platinum 50,000double-dagger
United Kingdom (BPI)[11] Gold 400,000double-dagger

double-dagger Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Personnel[]

Siouxsie and the Banshees version[]

"The Passenger"
Siouxsie Passenger.jpg
Single by Siouxsie and the Banshees
from the album Through the Looking Glass
B-side
  • She's Cuckoo
  • Something Blue
ReleasedMarch 16, 1987
Recorded1986
GenreAlternative rock
LabelPolydor
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Siouxsie and the Banshees
Mike Hedges
Siouxsie and the Banshees singles chronology
"This Wheel's on Fire"
(1987) 		"The Passenger"
(1987) 		"Song from the Edge of the World"
(1987)
Music video
"The Passenger" on YouTube

English rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees covered "The Passenger" in 1987 for their all-cover-versions album Through the Looking Glass. The group revamped the song by adding brass arrangements. Released as the second single from that album, it peaked at number 41 in the UK singles chart.[12]

Iggy Pop praised their version and stated: "That's good. She sings it well and she threw a little note in when she sings it, that I wish I had thought of, it's kind of improved it [...]. The horn thing is good."[13]

The song was featured at the end of Tonya Harding's biographical film I, Tonya (2017).[14]

References[]

  1. ^ Falconer, Tim (2008). Drive: A Road Trip Through Our Complicated Affair With The Automobile. Penguin Canada. p. 355. ISBN 978-0-14-317937-5.
  2. ^ PBS documentary Rock and Roll episode 7: The Wild Side, 1995
  3. ^ The Lords and the New Creatures Poems by Jim Morrison, Simon & Schuster, 1969, pg. 32
  4. ^ Perry, Kevin EG (5 March 2016). "Josh Homme on Iggy Pop: 'Lemmy is gone. Bowie is gone. He's the last of the one-and-onlys'".
  5. ^ "Iggy re-records 'The Passenger' with a little help from NZ fans". 3 News. Retrieved November 17, 2009.
  6. ^ "George Ikediashi from Brighton lands starring role in T-Mobile national TV ad". Brighton Visitor.com. Retrieved October 12, 2011.
  7. ^ "Fighttracks: walkout songs of UFC 212". MMA Junkie. 4 June 2017.
  8. ^ Dawson, Abigail (4 July 2017). "Tourism New Zealand launches new mobile-led campaign". Mumbrella. Mumbrella. Retrieved 9 July 2017.
  9. ^ "Leto The Passenger".
  10. ^ "Italian single certifications – Iggy Pop – The Passenger" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved February 8, 2021. Select "2018" in the "Anno" drop-down menu. Select "The Passenger" in the "Filtra" field. Select "Singoli" under "Sezione".
  11. ^ "British single certifications – Iggy Pop – The Passenger". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
  12. ^ "Siouxsie & the Banshees [uk charts]". officialcharts.com. Retrieved 29 April 2013.
  13. ^ "120 Minutes" Iggy Pop interview. MTV. June 1990. Excerpt about Siouxsie and the Banshees' version of The Passenger from 08:38
  14. ^ Rosen, Christopher (December 11, 2017). "Best of 2017 (Behind the Scenes): The stories behind the best songs on the I, Tonya soundtrack". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved January 22, 2017.
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