"Silent Running (On Dangerous Ground)" is a song performed by

Mike + The Mechanics Mike and the Mechanics (stylised as Mike + The Mechanics) is an English rock supergroup formed in Dover in 1985 by Mike Rutherford, initially as a side project during a hiatus period for his earlier group Genesis. The band is known for hit sin ...

. Written by Mike Rutherford and B. A. Robertson, it was the first track on the 1985 self-titled debut album of Mike + the Mechanics. It was also released as the band's first single, peaking at number 6 on 8 March 1986 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart, and number 1 on ''Billboard'''s

Mainstream Rock Tracks Mainstream Rock is a music chart in '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations in the United States, a category that combines the formats of active rock and heritage rock. The chart was launched i ...

chart, where it stayed for five weeks. It reached No. 21 in the band's native United Kingdom. Paul Carrack provided lead vocals on the song. Alan Murphy was hired as a session guitarist and provided lead guitar on the track. The song's original title was simply "Silent Running"; the name extension was given when the song was chosen to appear in the 1986 movie '' On Dangerous Ground'', which was titled '' Choke Canyon'' in the United States. The song was banned by the BBC during the

Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a Coalition of the Gulf War, 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Ba'athist Iraq, ...

due to its address of war, nationalism and religion, as well as a direct reference to weaponry in the line, "There's a gun and ammunition just inside the doorway."

Composition

"Silent Running" was one of the first songs to come from the Rutherford/Robertson songwriting partnership. It was, in fact, one of a series of songs that the two wrote simply to test how effective collaboration between them would be. When producer Christopher Neil heard it on a demo tape that Rutherford played for him, however, he recommended that it be used for the album.Neer, Dan (1985). ''Mike on Mike'' nterview LP Atlantic Recording Corporation. According to Rutherford, the song When Rutherford was looking for a title for this particular song, he says, "I called it ' Silent Running', because I remembered that film so well, and our song, had a spacey feel to it."

Music video

The song's video features a few clips from the film '' Choke Canyon'', but is primarily based on the completely unrelated story on which the song's lyrics are based.Mike + the Mechanics: ''Silent Running (On Dangerous Ground)'' romotional video 1986. Billy Drago makes a cameo appearance in the video. It was produced by Paul Flattery and directed by Jim Yukich who had done many videos for Phil Collins and Genesis.

Chart performance

Covers

The Protomen The Protomen are an American rock band, who started their career on and are perhaps most widely known for composing concept albums loosely based on the video game series ''Mega Man''. Their stage names are largely references to pop culture film ...

released a cover of the song as a mash-up with their own song, "Breaking Out" in 2012 as a

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

to their single "

I Drove All Night "I Drove All Night" is a song written and composed by American songwriters Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly and originally intended for Roy Orbison. Orbison recorded the song in 1987, the year before his death, but his version was not released until ...

", with an extended cover of the song later appearing as the final song on their 2015 album, ''The Cover Up''.

References

{{Authority control 1985 debut singles 1985 songs Mike + The Mechanics songs Song recordings produced by Christopher Neil Songs about time travel Songs critical of religion Songs written by Mike Rutherford Songs written by BA Robertson Atlantic Records singles