"Desert Song" is a song by English hard rock band

Def Leppard Def Leppard are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Sheffield in 1977. Since 1992, the band has consisted of Rick Savage (bass, backing vocals), Joe Elliott (lead vocals), Rick Allen (drummer), Rick Allen (drums), Phil Collen (guitar, ...

from their 1993 rarities and '

B-sides The A-side and B-side are the two sides of vinyl records and cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a single usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or ...

' album ''

Retro Active ''Retro Active'' is a compilation album by the English rock band Def Leppard, released in 1993. The album features touched-up versions of B-sides and previously unreleased recordings from the band's recording sessions from 1984 to 1993. The a ...

''.

Background

This song was an outtake from the songwriting sessions that produced 1987's ''Hysteria''. Self-produced, it became one of the last songs to be released by Def Leppard bearing the songwriting and guitar-playing of Steve Clark, who died on 8 January 1991. It was a hit on U.S. rock radio, reaching number twelve on the

Mainstream Rock Tracks Mainstream Rock is a music chart published by '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations in the United States. It is an administrative category that combines the " active rock" and " heritage rock" ...

chart. It was recorded as an

instrumental An instrumental or instrumental song is music without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through Semantic change, semantic widening, a broader sense of the word s ...

for their

album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

Hysteria Hysteria is a term used to mean ungovernable emotional excess and can refer to a temporary state of mind or emotion. In the nineteenth century, female hysteria was considered a diagnosable physical illness in women. It is assumed that the bas ...

'' (1987) but left off the album and was largely forgotten until the band decided to commit the song for ''Retro Active''. On a day off during their 7 Day Weekend Tour, Elliott composed lyrics whilst listening to the track. Elliott assembled the band and remains the only Def Leppard song to feature both Clark's guitar playing and Clark's successor

Vivian Campbell Vivian Patrick Campbell (born 25 August 1962) is a Northern Irish musician. He came to prominence in the early 1980s as the guitarist of Dio. He has also been the guitarist of Def Leppard since 1992 (replacing Steve Clark after his death). C ...

background vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are u ...

, although Campbell's contributions are uncredited in the ''Retro Active'' liner notes. Lyrically the song is about

Mick Ronson Michael Ronson (26 May 1946 – 29 April 1993) was an English musician, songwriter, arranger, and producer. He achieved critical and commercial success working with David Bowie as the guitarist of the Spiders from Mars. He was a session musici ...

who was dying of cancer at the time. It told the story of a man facing death alone.

Charts

References

Def Leppard songs 1993 singles 1987 songs Commemoration songs Songs written by Steve Clark Songs written by Joe Elliott Songs written by Rick Savage {{1990s-metal-song-stub