Incommunicado (song)

Incommunicado is a song by the British neo-progressive rock band Marillion. It was the lead single from their fourth studio album Clutching at Straws.[1] Released on 11 May 1987, it reached number six in the UK Singles Chart, becoming the band's third top-ten hit and their last until 2004's "You're Gone". It also became a Top 40 hit in Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland, as well as on the US Mainstream Rock chart.

This article is about the song by Marillion. For the album by Alex Smoke, see Incommunicado (album).

"Incommunicado"
Single by Marillion
from the album Clutching at Straws
B-side"Going Under"
Released11 May 1987
Recorded1987
GenreRock
Length6:44 (7" single), 13:58 (12", CD single)
LabelEMI
Songwriter(s)Derek Dick, Mark Kelly, Ian Mosley, Steve Rothery, Pete Trewavas
Producer(s)Chris Kimsey
Marillion singles chronology
"Lady Nina"
(1986)		 "Incommunicado"
(1987)		 "Sugar Mice"
(1987)
Audio sample
  • file
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Composition and release

The A-side is a fast, anthemic rock song with a repeated chorus and dominant keyboards from Mark Kelly. Kelly's solo was later cited as an inspiration by Adam Wakeman.[2] Lead singer and lyricist Fish acknowledged a similarity between the song and the work of the Who.[3]

The extended version on the twelve-inch and CD singles is slightly longer than the album version and features some additional sound effects. The B-side, the short, slow and introspective "Going Under", would also appear as a bonus track on the CD version of Clutching at Straws, in a slightly different version. Both tracks were written and arranged by Marillion and produced by Chris Kimsey.

The line "currently residing in the where-are-they-now file" is a reference to a scene in the film This Is Spinal Tap.

A CD replica of the single was also part of a collectors box-set released in July 2000 which contained Marillion's first twelve singles and was re-issued as a 3-CD set in 2009 (see The Singles '82–'88).

Cover art

The cover was designed by the band's regular artist at the time, Mark Wilkinson; however, instead of the usual airbrush style, it was a collage based on a colourised photograph of fans waiting outside the Marquee Club, then still in Wardour Street (there are some posters advertising a Then Jerico gig on the door). Only the eccentrically dressed, pivotal "angel" character standing at the door apart from the crowd, was painted in Wilkinson's traditional style. The scene alludes to the song's main topic, success alienating artists from their fans and reality in general. On the back cover there is a quotation supposedly from Seneca the Younger's Moral Epistles ("This mime of mortal life, in which we are apportioned roles we misinterpret.")

Track listing

Side A
  1. "Incommunicado" (single edit) – 4:00

Side B
  1. "Going Under" – 2:44

Side A
  1. "Incommunicado" (album version) – 5:17

Side B
  1. "Incommunicado" (alternative mix) – 5:57
  2. "Going Under" – 2:44

CD single
  1. "Incommunicado" (album version) – 5:17
  2. "Incommunicado" (alternative mix) – 5:57
  3. "Going Under" – 2:44

References
  1. AllMusic
  2. "Adam Wakeman". korg.com.
  3. "Clutching at Straws sleeve notes". The Official Fish site. Retrieved 25 April 2017.
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