"Hell in Paradise" is a song by
Yoko Ono
Yoko Ono (, usually spelled in katakana as ; born February 18, 1933) is a Japanese multimedia artist, singer, songwriter, and peace activist. Her work also encompasses performance art and filmmaking.
Ono grew up in Tokyo and moved to New York ...
from the 1985 album ''
Starpeace''. The lyrics are about mankind's perceived idea of
hell
In religion and folklore, hell is a location or state in the afterlife in which souls are subjected to punishment after death. Religions with a linear divine history sometimes depict hells as eternal destinations, such as Christianity and I ...
, despite living in the
paradise
In religion and folklore, paradise is a place of everlasting happiness, delight, and bliss. Paradisiacal notions are often laden with pastoral imagery, and may be cosmogonical, eschatological, or both, often contrasted with the miseries of human ...
that Ono considers to be planet
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to Planetary habitability, harbor life. This is enabled by Earth being an ocean world, the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water. Almost all ...
. After "
Walking on Thin Ice", it was her biggest hit of the 1980s, charting at number 16 on the US dance chart. Ono went on hiatus after ''Starpeace''; this would be her last proper single until 2001's remix of "
Open Your Box".
''Ultimate Classic Rock'' critic Michael Gallucci rated it as Ono's 4th best song, calling it the "highlight" of ''Starpeace''.
In 2004, the track was revived as part of the ONO
remix
A remix, also sometimes called reorchestration or rework, is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, poem, or photograph ca ...
project, and reached number 4 on the same chart twenty years on. In 2016, the song was re-released by the ONO project again, featuring remixes by
Dave Audé and others. It reached number 1 on the Dance Club Songs chart.
Music video
The video was directed by Polish filmmaker
Zbigniew Rybczyński
Zbigniew Rybczyński (; born 27 January 1949) is a Polish filmmaker, director, cinematographer, screenwriter, creator of experimental animated films, and multimedia artist who has won numerous prestigious industry awards both in the United Stat ...
. It stars Ono alongside
Michael J. Anderson, Peter Risch, Daniel Richards, and
Christopher Greener. The music video won the award "Most Innovative Video" at
''Billboard'' Music Video Awards in 1986.
Reception
John Leland at ''
Spin'' said the song was as, "banal as its title, and Ono's exhortation to "exorcise institutions" only underscores the extent to which the ensemble sounds reined in. Part preachy, part self-help soundpiece about what a shithole we've turned the world into."
Track listing
US 7" single
#"Hell in Paradise"
#"Hell in Paradise" (Instrumental)
US 12" single
:A1. "Hell in Paradise" (Club Version) – 6:52
:B1. "Hell in Paradise" (Dub Version) – 8:52
:B2. "Hell in Paradise" (Single Version) – 3:34
12" single (2004)
:A1. "Hell in Paradise" (Murk Miami Mix)
:A2. "Hell in Paradise" (Orange Factory "Hot As..." Mix)
:B1. "Hell in Paradise" (Chus & Ceballos Iberican Mix)
:B2. "Hell in Paradise" (Minge Binge Club Mix)
Digital download (2004)
#"Hell in Paradise" (Murk Miami Mix) – 8:11
#"Hell in Paradise" (Orange Factory "Hot As..." Mix) – 7:45
#"Hell in Paradise" (Chus & Ceballos Iberican Mix) – 10:07
#"Hell in Paradise" (Minge Binge Club Mix) – 7:18
#"Hell in Paradise" (Chris the Greek Club Mix) – 6:55
#"Hell in Paradise" (Chris the Greek Radio Edit) – 3:53
Charts
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hell In Paradise
Yoko Ono songs
1985 singles
2004 singles
Song recordings produced by Yoko Ono
Songs written by Yoko Ono
1985 songs
Polydor Records singles