Union of the Snake

"Union of the Snake" is the ninth single released by British New Wave band Duran Duran and the first single from their third album Seven and the Ragged Tiger. It was released on October 17, 1983 and would peak at #3 on the UK and US singles charts.

About the song
After a song-writing session near Cannes in France, much of the band's third album was recorded at George Martin's Air Studios on the Caribbean island of Montserrat with producer Alex Sadkin, then mixed at 301 Studios in Sydney. Mixing for "Union of the Snake" was done right up to the last minute before the tapes had to be turned over to EMI for pressing.

There was a lot of speculation among fans and critics as to what the song actually means. Some think it references a cult or military organisation. Others believe that the song is about the darker side of humanity and that the "snake" represents the evil taking control of a person. This is somewhat strengthed by the chorus: "The Union of the Snake is on the climb, moving up, it's gonna race, gonna break through the borderline". The borderline is that between good and evil and evil is beginning to take over.

Lyricist Simon Le Bon (notoriously shy about explaining his oblique lyrics) hinted, in the Duran Duran lyric book The Book of Words, that the borderline might be one between the conscious and subconscious minds. In later interviews he admitted it was a reference to Tantric sex.

Music video
The video for "Union of the Snake" was conceived by Russell Mulcahy, who directed many of the heavy rotation videos for songs from Duran Duran's previous album Rio. However, as Mulcahy was busy preparing to direct the concert film Arena and the documentary film Sing Blue Silver during the band's world tour, the video for "Union" was actually directed by Simon Milne (who also filmed videos for Kajagoogoo and Missing Persons). It was one of the first music video to be shot on 35mm film stock rather than videotape. There was a bit of controversy surrounding the video as it was released to MTV a whole week before the single was released on radio. Radio stations were anxious at the time because they were concerned that channels like MTV might supplant them in the promotion of singles.

The distinctive music video seems to reference the movie The Road Warrior. The band is featured in the Australian desert being tracked by half-man, half-snake creature. They eventually take a left down beneath the sands (perhaps into the subconscious) into what appears to be an underground cathedral, and the snake creature as well as number of other bizarre characters interact with vocalist Le Bon. Other band members make only brief appearances in the video.

Despite persistent rumours to the contrary, actress Jennifer Connelly was not featured in this video. However, she did appear in the band's 1984 long-form concert film Arena, during the song "The Seventh Stranger".

The use of expensive sets, costumes and makeup were the first indication of the over-the-top nature of videos to come, including a 17-minute epic video for "New Moon on Monday", the massively expensive video for "The Wild Boys", and the extravagant concept/live film Arena.

B-sides, bonus tracks and remixes
The b-side to "Union of the Snake" was the atmospheric piece "Secret Oktober". Twenty-four hours before the master tapes of the single were to be delivered to EMI for distribution, singer Simon Le Bon and keyboardist Nick Rhodes wrote and mixed the b-side "Secret Oktober" in an all-night recording session.

Also included on the 12" was a remix of the single, titled "Union of the Snake (Monkey Mix)".

Chart positions
The single did quite well, peaking at #3 on both the UK and US singles charts and staying there for several weeks. It even made a resurgence after it dropped out the charts, coming back in the UK at #66 on the strength of the "Sing Blue Silver" tour in support of Seven and the Ragged Tiger.

Other appearances
Albums:
 * Seven and the Ragged Tiger (1983)
 * Arena (1984)
 * Decade (1989)
 * Night Versions: The Essential Duran Duran (US only, 1998)
 * Greatest (1998)
 * Strange Behaviour (1999)

Personnel
Duran Duran are:
 * Simon Le Bon - vocals
 * Nick Rhodes - keyboards
 * John Taylor - bass guitar
 * Roger Taylor - drums
 * Andy Taylor - guitar

Other:


 * Alex Sadkin -producer
 * Ian Little -producer
 * Andy Hamilton -saxophone
 * Michelle Cobbs- backing vocals
 * B.J. Nelson- backing vocals
 * Raphael Dejesus- percussion
 * Mark Kennedy- percussion