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

Mike + The Mechanics Mike may refer to: Animals * Mike (cat), cat and guardian of the British Museum * Mike the Headless Chicken, chicken that lived for 18 months after his head had been cut off * Mike (chimpanzee), a chimpanzee featured in several books and documenta ...

. Written by

Mike Rutherford Michael John Cloete Crawford Rutherford (born 2 October 1950) is an English guitarist, bassist and songwriter, best known as co-founder, lead guitarist and bassist of the rock band Genesis (band), Genesis. He and keyboardist Tony Banks (musici ...

and

B. A. Robertson Brian Alexander Robertson (born 14 June 1949) is a Scottish musician, composer and songwriter. He had a string of hits in the late 1970s and early 1980s characterised by catchy pop tunes and jaunty humorous lyrics, including "Kool in the Kafta ...

, 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 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, where it stayed for five weeks.

Paul Carrack Paul Melvyn Carrack (born 22 April 1951) is an English singer, musician, songwriter and composer who has recorded as both a solo artist and as a member of several popular bands. The BBC dubbed Carrack "The Man with the Golden Voice", while '' ...

provided lead vocals on the song.

Alan Murphy Alan Murphy (18 November 1953 – 19 October 1989) was an English rock session guitarist, best remembered for his collaborations with Kate Bush and Go West. In 1988, he joined the jazz-funk band Level 42 as a full-time band member, and played w ...

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 ''On Dangerous Ground'' is a 1951 film noir directed by Nicholas Ray, starring Robert Ryan and Ida Lupino, and produced by John Houseman. The screenplay was written by A. I. Bezzerides based on the 1945 novel '' Mad with Much Heart'' by Ge ...

'', which was titled '' Choke Canyon'' in the United States. The single was re-released in the UK in January 1986 to tie-in with the film, and peaked at No. 21 in the UK charts. The song was banned by the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

during the

Gulf War , combatant2 = , commander1 = , commander2 = , strength1 = Over 950,000 soldiers3,113 tanks1,800 aircraft2,200 artillery systems , page = https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-PEMD-96- ...

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 emerge from the Rutherford/Robertson songwriting partnership. It was among a series of songs that the pair wrote in order to test the results of their collaboration. When producer

Christopher Neil Christopher Neil (born 1948) is a British record producer, songwriter, singer, and actor. Neil has produced records for A-ha, Amazulu, Bonnie Tyler, Celine Dion, Cher, Dollar, Edyta Górniak, Gerry Rafferty, Jennifer Rush, José Carreras, Le ...

heard the song on a demo tape that Rutherford played, 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 Rutherford named the song after the film ''

Silent Running ''Silent Running'' is a 1972 American ecological-themed science fiction film. It is the directorial debut of Douglas Trumbull, and stars Bruce Dern, Cliff Potts, Ron Rifkin, and Jesse Vint. Plot In the future, all forests on Earth have b ...

'' "because I remembered that film so well, and our song had a spacey feel to it."

Music video

The song's video features several clips from the film '' Choke Canyon'', but it is primarily based on the completely unrelated story upon which the song's lyrics are based.Mike + the Mechanics: ''Silent Running (On Dangerous Ground)'' romotional video 1986.

Billy Drago Billy Eugene Burrows (November 30, 1945 – June 24, 2019), known professionally by his stage name Billy Drago, was an American television and film actor. Drago's films, where he was frequently cast as a villain, included Clint Eastwood's wester ...

makes a cameo appearance in the video. It was produced by Paul Flattery and directed by Jim Yukich, who had directed many videos for

Phil Collins Philip David Charles Collins (born 30 January 1951) is an English musician, songwriter, record producer and actor. He was the drummer and later became the lead singer of the rock band Genesis (band), Genesis and had a successful solo career, ac ...

and

Genesis Genesis may refer to: Religion * Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of humankind * Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Bo ...

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{Authority control 1985 songs 1985 debut singles Mike + The Mechanics songs Song recordings produced by Christopher Neil Songs about time travel Songs written by Mike Rutherford Songs written by BA Robertson Atlantic Records singles Music videos directed by Jim Yukich