Come Undone (Duran Duran song)

For other uses of this title, see Come Undone.

"Come Undone"
Single by Duran Duran
from the album Duran Duran [The Wedding Album]
B-side	"Time for Temptation", "Stop Dead", "Falling Angel"
Released	29 March 1993
Recorded	Privacy Studio, London
Genre	Alternative rock
Length	4:38
Label	EMI - DD 17
Writer(s)	Duran Duran
Producer	Duran Duran
Duran Duran singles chronology
"Ordinary World" (1992) "Come Undone" (1993) "Too Much Information" (1993)
The Wedding Album track listing "Shotgun" (5) "Come Undone" (6) "Breath After Breath" (7)

"Come Undone" is the second single from the album Duran Duran (The Wedding Album) by British band Duran Duran, and is their twenty-fourth single overall.

With their commercial and critical success reestablished by the previous single "Ordinary World", "Come Undone" continued to showcase more of the band's entry into the Adult Contemporary genre. The single proved to be the group's second consecutive US top ten hit from The Wedding Album. It was also popular in the UK and other international markets.

About the song

The group's guitarist at the time, Warren Cuccurullo, is credited with developing the instrumentation for "Come Undone", most importantly its guitar hook, which he developed while trying to do a re-interpretation of "First Impression" from their 1990 album Liberty. In 2005, Cuccurullo revealed to author Steve Malins that he and Nick Rhodes had originally planned on using the song for a project outside of Duran Duran with Gavin Rossdale, but had changed plans when singer Simon Le Bon took a liking to the music and began to come up with lyrics on the spot. The song was included as a last minute addition to their self-titled album in 1993, with the lyrics being written by Le Bon as a gift for his wife, Yasmin.

The group's bassist, John Taylor, did not actually play bass on this track, although he does in the music video. Nick Rhodes and John Jones both contributed synth bass on the track during his absence. Tessa Niles was credited with backing vocals. The song also contains a sample from The Soul Searchers' song "Ashley's Roachclip".

According to John Jones, "at the time we had completed and mastered the Wedding Album and had started the cover album "Thank You". One day we took the drum loop and bass groove from a demo of mine called "Face to Face" and added the ultra cool guitar riff that Warren had come up with for a new "cover" version of "First Impression". After a couple of hours of tweaking we played the track over the phone to Capitol in Los Angeles and they loved it and said they wanted it on the Wedding album! When Nick arrived that afternoon the intro was carved into a song that we played to Simon that night. He was back the next day with the lyrics and the melody and I think we finished the vocals the day after that. On the fourth day we finished the track detail and sent it to David Richards in Switzerland to be mixed."

Music video

The "Come Undone" video was directed by Julien Temple. Shots of the band were filmed in the London Aquarium; these were interspersed with short vignettes of people "coming undone" in various ways. These vignettes include a little girl seeing her parents together, an older couple who have survived a flood, an alcoholic and a man who is revealed to be a cross-dresser. Also seen in the video is a woman struggling underwater to break free of the chains that bind her. LeBon and Taylor's Vivienne Westwood wardrobe were likely a nod to the band's early New Romantic era.

A portion of the music video can be seen in the "No Laughing" episode of the MTV show Beavis and Butt-head.

B-sides, bonus tracks and remixes

The single was released in the United Kingdom on 29 March 1993, with the B-side "Ordinary World (Acoustic Version)". This was the single's official B-side in the UK, along with two official remixes of "Come Undone".

In the US however, three new, original compositions written during the album's production were featured as B-sides - "Time for Temptation", "Stop Dead" and "Falling Angel". For collectors, the US releases also contained an alternate mix of "To the Shore" and the first appearance on CD of "The Chauffeur (Blue Silver)".

List of remixes

• "Mix 1 Master" (aka "12" Mix - Comin' Together")
• "Mix 2 Master"
• "Churban Mix" (aka "US Remix")
• "La Fin de Siècle"
• "FGI Phumpin' 12""
• "Come Undub"
• "TV Synth Strings"

Covers, samples, & media references

The song has been covered by the bands Two Dollar Grey , Mad at Gravity, Sonnet to Sleep, Chica y Los Gatos, Wise Crack, Bachelor Girl, Home Grown, Taedium Vitae, Cavo, Fragile Hollow, Ronin Meyer, Unfinished Thought, metalcore band It Dies Today, My Darkest Days and Adrenaline Mob.
It has also been used in a commercial for hair cosmetics.

Chart positions

"Come Undone" reached #13 on the UK Singles Chart on 10 April, #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 on 19 June, #2 in Canada on 17 June, #19 on the Australia Top 50, #26 on the France Top 50 and #21 on the Sweden Top 40.

End of year chart (1993)	Position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	41

Track listing

7"

Parlophone DD 17 (UK)

1. "Come Undone (Edit)" – 4:15
2. "Ordinary World (Acoustic Version)" – 5:05

7"

Capitol S7-17316 (US)

1. "Come Undone" – 4:31
2. "Skin Trade" – 4:25

MC

Capitol 4KM 44918 4 (US)

1. "Come Undone (Album Version)" – 4:31
2. "Come Undone (Mix 2 Master)" – 5:26
3. "Time for Temptation" – 4:07

CD

Parlophone CD DDS 17 (UK)

1. "Come Undone (Edit)" – 4:15
2. "Ordinary World (Acoustic Version)" – 5:05
3. "Come Undone (FGI Phumpin' 12")" – 8:14
4. "Come Undone (La Fin de Siècle)" – 5:25

• This CD came in a 2-CD case that also housed CD DDP 17.

CD

Parlophone CD DDP 17 (UK)

1. "Come Undone" – 4:31
2. "Rio" – 5:33
3. "Is There Something I Should Know?" – 4:05
4. "A View to a Kill" – 3:33

• This CD was released a picture disc.

CD

Capitol C2 0777 7 15969 2 6 (US)

1. "Come Undone (LP Version)" – 4:41
2. "Come Undone (Mix 1 Master)" – 7:23
3. "Skin Trade (Parisian Mix)" – 8:10
4. "Stop Dead" – 4:32

CD

Capitol C2 0777 7 15981 2 8 (US: "Come Undone 2")

1. "Come Undone (US Remix)" – 4:20
2. "Falling Angel" – 3:54
3. "To the Shore" [alternate version] – 4:03
4. "The Chauffeur" ["Blue Silver" version] – 3:50

• "US Remix" actually "Churban Mix"

"The Chauffeur" shown on the CD inlay as a Demo Version but in fact is the acoustic version from the B side of the single release of "Rio"

CD

Capitol DPRO-79660 (US - Promo)

1. "Come Undone (Edit)" – 4:15
2. "Come Undone (Mix 2 Master)" – 5:26
3. "Come Undone (La Fin de Siècle)" – 5:25
4. "Come Undone (Album Version)" – 4:41

CD

Capitol DPRO-79749 (US - Promo: "The Churban Mixes")

1. "Come Undone (Churban Remix)" – 4:17
2. "Come Undone (12" Dub Mix)" – 5:57
3. "Come Undone (Dub Mix)" – 5:04

CD

Part of "Singles Box Set 1986-1995" boxset

1. "Come Undone (Edit)" – 4:15
2. "Ordinary World (Acoustic Version)" – 5:05
3. "Come Undone (FGI Phumpin' 12")" – 8:14
4. "Come Undone (La Fin de Siècle)" – 5:25
5. "Come Undone (Album Version)" – 4:31
6. "Rio" – 5:33
7. "Is There Something I Should Know?" – 4:05
8. "A View to a Kill," – 3:33

Other appearances

Albums:

• Duran Duran (The Wedding Album) (1993)
• Greatest (1998)
• Strange Behaviour (1999)

Singles:

• Too Much Information (1993)

Personnel

Duran Duran are:

• Simon Le Bon - vocals
• Nick Rhodes - keyboards, synth bass
• Warren Cuccurullo - guitar, vocals

Other:

• John Jones - drums, bass, keyboards, vocals
• Tessa Niles - backing vocals

John Taylor did not play bass guitar during recording of this song, despite being a member of the band at that time.

External links

• The Duran Duran Timeline: 1992
• The Duran Duran Timeline: 1993
• Duran Duran Collection: Come Undone CDs