"Play Dead" is a song by Icelandic singer-songwriter Björk, released by the labels Island and Mother as the only single from the soundtrack of the 1993 crime drama The Young Americans, starring Harvey Keitel. The song was not included in the first edition of Björk's debut album, Debut (1993), but was later included as a bonus track, and the album was re-issued in November 1993. It was written by Jah Wobble, Björk, and David Arnold, produced by Cannon and Arnold, and received additional production and mixing by Tim Simenon.

"Play Dead", inspired by the main character of the film, was released on 11 October 1993 and charted within the top 20 in Denmark, Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. An accompanying music video was released, directed by Danny Cannon, featuring images from the film which also was directed by Cannon. "Play Dead" was included in Björk's 2002 greatest hits album Greatest Hits.

Background and composition

The song was co-written by Jah Wobble, Björk featuring David Arnold. Björk was asked to write the melody and lyrics for the song, while Wobble wrote the bass part and Arnold composed the score, which Björk described as a "greatest hits of what's in the film".

Björk described the writing as "very difficult" because "the character in the film was suffering and going through hardcore tough times and at the time I was at my happiest".

The drums which the song is structured by are taken from the beginning of the 1977 song "Footsteps in the Dark" by The Isley Brothers, most famously used on Ice Cube's "It Was A Good Day", which was released earlier that year.

Critical reception

The track was well received by music critics. Derek Birkett complimented it as "one of the best things Björk’s ever done". Alexis Petridis of Blender stated that it "boasts a chorus that’s both original and implausibly epic". In his weekly UK chart commentary, James Masterton wrote that it's "a haunting beautiful piece of music to rank alongside anything she ever did with the Sugarcubes and becoming a bigger hit than she ever had with her former band in the first place." Ian Gittins from Melody Maker named "Play Dead" Single of the Week, praising it as "a rare triumph. Björk's breathless, impossibly excited and intoxicated-by-life-vocal is transplanted into a rich, opulent setting where it thrives and flourishes." Pan-European magazine Music & Media noted that "the clamour of Iceland's siren is in the air again, beautifully floating above superb rhythm tracks. Highly original; there's nothing like this on the entire planet." Roger Morton from NME named it "Cracking Good Single of the Week", writing that "it's probably going to do more for Björk than anything she's so far released." He added, "Re-mixed by Tim Simenon from Bomb the Bass, and glittering with trad movie score grandeur, it's a swooping orchestral piece which dares her to go for the big performance." Tom Doyle from Smash Hits gave "Play Dead" four out of five, viewing it as "a grand sweeping groovy orchestral thing which sounds like an unhinged Bond theme and will make the hairs on the back of your neck tingle. Remarkable." The Tech journalist Fred Choi, while reviewing Greatest Hits stated that the song is "compelling but lesser-known". Mal Pearchey of Vox described it as "incredibly sophisticated after the eclectic drama of the Sugarcubes".

Live performances

Björk performed the song in selected dates of her Debut tour, and usually sang it during her Homogenic tour, accompanied by a larger ensemble of strings. Björk's performance at the Union Chapel with the Brodsky Quartet was met with enthusiasm by The Guardian journalist Maddy Costa, that described the performance as a "Heavenly Experience" and, commenting the song's performance, stated that "reclaiming "Play Dead" from ad-land, the subdued volume and the Brodskys’ bristling tone brought out the fierceness of Björk's words". Björk also performed the song during her Vespertine world tour. The song has not been performed live since then.

Track listings

  • 7-inch and cassette single

:A. "Play Dead" (Tim Simenon 7-inch remix) – 4:00

:B. "Play Dead" (Tim Simenon orchestral mix) – 4:01

  • European and Japanese CD single
  1. "Play Dead" (Tim Simenon 7-inch remix) – 3:57
  2. "Play Dead" (Tim Simenon orchestral mix) – 4:01
  3. "Play Dead" (Tim Simenon 12-inch remix) – 5:26
  4. "End Titles/Play Dead" (original film mix) – 3:52
  • UK and Australian CD single
  1. "Play Dead" (Tim Simenon 7-inch remix) – 3:57
  2. "Play Dead" (Tim Simenon orchestral mix) – 4:01
  3. "Play Dead" (Tim Simenon 12-inch remix) – 5:26
  4. "Play Dead" (Tim Simenon instrumental) – 3:57
  5. "End Titles/Play Dead" (original film mix) – 3:52

Charts

Weekly charts

{|class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

!Chart (1993–1994)

!Peak<br/>position

|-

!scope="row"|Australia (ARIA)

| 65

|-

|-

!scope="row"|Denmark (IFPI)

| 16

|-

!scope="row"|Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)

| 37

|-

!scope="row"|Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)

| 20

|-

|-

!scope="row"|Iceland (Íslenski Listinn Topp 40)

| 18

|-

|-

|-

|-

|-

|-

|-

!scope="row"|UK Airplay (Music Week)

| 12

|}

Year-end charts

{|class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

!Chart (1993)

!Position

|-

!scope="row"|Sweden (Topplistan)

| 66

|}

{|class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

!Chart (1994)

!Position

|-

!scope="row"|Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)

| 132

|-

!scope="row"|Sweden (Topplistan)

| 84

|}

Release history

{|class="wikitable plainrowheaders"

!scope="col"|Region

!scope="col"|Date

!scope="col"|Format(s)

!scope="col"|Label(s)

!scope="col"|

|-

!scope="row"|United Kingdom

|11 October 1993

|

|Island

|

|-

!scope="row"|Japan

|20 December 1993

|CD

|

|

|-

!scope="row"|Australia

|17 January 1994

|

|Island

|

|}

Covers

A cover of the song appears on the special edition of the album Into by the Finnish band the Rasmus. It is available on many of their singles as well, including "Madness". In 2007, The Swedish band Pain covered the song on the album Psalms of Extinction.

Usage in media

A modified version of the song was also used in 1995 on the launch advert for the new Vauxhall Vectra, with the tagline "Designed for the next millennium".

References

  • Play Dead webpage