Save A Prayer

"Save A Prayer"
(more Save A Prayer videos)
Single by Duran Duran
from the album 'Rio'
B-side(s)	"Hold Back the Rain"
Released	August 9, 1982
Recorded	AIR Studios, London 1982
Genre	Dance, New Wave
Length	mm:ss
Label	EMI
Writer(s)	Duran Duran
Producer(s)	Colin Thurston
Peak chart positions
#2 UK Singles Chart #56 Australia
Duran Duran singles chronology
Hungry Like the Wolf (1982)	Save A Prayer (1982)	Rio (1982)

"Save A Prayer" was a 1982 hit single for Duran Duran. It was their 6th single, and the third from the platinum album Rio. The soft, seductive ballad reached #2 in the UK Singles Chart, being held off the top spot by Survivor's "Eye of the Tiger".

The song was not released as a single in the United States (although the video was very popular on MTV), but a live version released from the live album Arena reached #16 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1985.

Studio version

About the song

Donald A. Guarisco at All Music Guide said:

Dance-friendly items like "Rio" and "Hungry Like The Wolf" gave Duran Duran their chart breakthrough in the U.S. but they were also capable of making lush ballads guaranteed to make their fan base swoon. One of the finest, perhaps the finest, was "Save a Prayer," a lilting epic from Rio that has a special place in the heart of every Duran Duran fanatic. The lyrics revolve around a chance meeting between two people that flares into a love affair but ends all too soon: "Some people call it a one night stand/But we can call it paradise/Don't say a prayer for me now/Save it 'til the morning after." The music maintains the stormily romantic quality of the lyric by combining meditative verses with an aching chorus that swells and ebbs in a way that perfectly captures the song's heartbreak. Duran Duran's recording places an emphasis on Nick Rhodes' swirling, minimalist synth lines and Simon Le Bon's pained vocals as the rhythm section holds down a steady but subdued beat, with Andy Taylor adding a few searing bursts of electric guitar during the chorus. The result was a stylish mood-piece that became a number two hit in the UK and earned plenty of airplay on MTV with a glossy video that featured the band jet-setting around the atmospheric locale of Sri Lanka.

According to Le Bon, the song's chorus structure is based on Gordon Lightfoot's "If You Could Read My Mind" and the lyrics as being contrary to the then-popular New Romantic movement by being "realistic, and not romantic" and "for seeing things as they really are." He sums up Save A Prayer as "It's definitely a freedom song but like a kinda nobody owns anybody kinda song."

Music video

The video was filmed by director Russell Mulcahy among the jungles, beaches, and temples of Sri Lanka in April, 1982. Scenes were filmed atop the rock fortress of Sigiriya, and among the ruins of a Buddhist temple at Polonnaruwa.

B-sides, bonus tracks and remixes

The UK release of "Save A Prayer" was backed with a remix of "Hold Back the Rain".

Complete list of mixes

1. "Save a Prayer" - 5:34
2. "Save a Prayer [Single Version]" - 5:24
3. "Save a Prayer [Video Version]" - 6:03
4. "Save a Prayer [Australian Promo Edit]" - 4:10
5. "Save a Prayer [Brazilian Edit]" - 4:04
6. "Save a Prayer [US Single version]" - 3:44
7. "Save a Prayer [Special Edited version]" - 3:55
8. "Save a Prayer [Japanese Single version]" - 4:00
9. "Save a Prayer [Thunder in Our Hearts remix]" - 7:17

Covers, samples, & media references

The song has been covered by Tony Hadley, Shut Up & Dance, Eve's Plum, Polyanna, Dune, Oliver Haze, 56K featuring Beejay, and the Push Kings.

In 2007 it was referenced in the lyrics of the song by Arctic Monkeys, "Teddy Picker" from their album Favourite Worst Nightmare: "I don't want your prayer, save it for the morning after".

Chart positions

"Save a Prayer" was released in the UK on 9 August, 1982, and peaked at #2 on the UK Singles Chart on 11 September. This version was not released in the United States

Live version

"Save A Prayer (live)"
Single by Duran Duran
from the album 'Arena'
B-side(s)	"Save A Prayer"
Released	January 1985
Format	7"
Recorded	"around the world", 1984
Genre	Dance, New Wave
Length	mm:ss
Label	EMI
Writer(s)	Duran Duran
Peak chart positions
#16 Billboard Hot 100
Duran Duran singles chronology
The Wild Boys (1984)	Save A Prayer (live) (1985)	A View to a Kill (1985)

"Save a Prayer (live)" was released as a single from the live album Arena in the United States in February of 1985, backed with the original UK single version of "Save A Prayer". It peaked at #16 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the U.S. on 2 February.

The release was accompanied by a new live video, drawn from footage shot in 1984 for the concert film Arena.

Track listing

7": EMI / EMI 5327 (UK)

1. "Save a Prayer [Single Version]" - 5:25
2. "Hold Back The Rain [7" Remix]" - 3:58

12": EMI / 12 EMI 5327 (UK)

1. "Save a Prayer [Single Version]" - 5:25
2. "Hold Back The Rain [12" Remix]" - 7:05

Other appearances

• 1984 Arena
• 1987 The Secret Policeman's Third Ball
• 1989 Decade: Greatest Hits
• 1993 "Ordinary World" single
• 1998 Greatest
• 1999 Now That's What I Call Music!: 1982
• 2001 Rio (reissue)
• 2003 Singles Box Set 1981-1985
• 2004 Singles Box Set 1986-1995
• 2005 Live from London

Personnel

Duran Duran are:

• Simon Le Bon - vocals
• Nick Rhodes - keyboards
• John Taylor - bass guitar
• Roger Taylor - drums
• Andy Taylor - guitar

Also credited:

• Colin Thurston - producer and engineer

References

• Save A Prayer at BBC's Sold on Song
• VH1: Duran Duran videos - see a clip from the "Save A Prayer" video
• The Duran Duran Timeline: 1982
• The Duran Duran Timeline: 1985
• Save a Prayer music video