Living on an Island

Last updated
"Living on an Island"
Single by Status Quo
from the album Whatever You Want
Released16 November 1979 (1979-11-16) [1]
Genre Rock
Length
  • 4:48 (album version)
  • 3:47 (single version)
Label Vertigo
Songwriter Parfitt/Young
Producer Pip Williams
Status Quo singles chronology
"Whatever You Want"
(1979)		"Living on an Island"
(1979)		"What You're Proposing"
(1980)

"Living on an Island" is a single released by the British rock band Status Quo in 1979. It was included on the album Whatever You Want [2] and featured Rick Parfitt on lead vocals.

Contents

Lyrically, the song is about band member Rick Parfitt having to take a "tax year" outside of the United Kingdom and the boredom and isolation he felt living on the Isle of Jersey; however he is also excited about a pending visit from a friend ("Cruxie") who is arriving shortly. [3]

The themes of the song are isolation, friendship, partying and drugs, specifically cocaine. Every verse ends with the 'line' (also referenced multiple times and a further indication of the drug theme) "and we'll get high". [3] The song reached no. 16 in the UK singles chart. [4]

The first 100,000 copies of "Living on an Island" were issued with a picture sleeve featuring several penguins enjoying Antarctic conditions.[ citation needed ] In addition, the music video features footage of penguins interspersed with footage of the band miming the song on a soundstage.

Track listing

  1. "Living on an Island" (Parfitt/Young) (3.47)
  2. "Runaway" (Rossi/Frost) (4.32)

Charts

Chart (1979)Peak
position
Australian Singles (Kent Music Report) [5] 62
Germany (GfK) [6] 38
Ireland (IRMA) [7] 12
UK Singles (OCC) [8] 16

References

  1. ↑ "Music Week" (PDF). p. 56.
  2. ↑ "Status Quo discography". statusquo.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2010-04-07. Retrieved 2010-01-04.
  3. 1 2 "Living on an Island - Status Quo Lyrics". Statusquo.co.uk.
  4. ↑ "Status Quo | full Official Chart History". Official Charts .
  5. ↑ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. ISBN   0-646-11917-6.
  6. ↑ "Status Quo – Living on an Island" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved 14 August 2021.
  7. ↑ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Living on an Island". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 16 February 2021.
  8. ↑ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 20 September 2018.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.