"The Chauffeur" is a song by the English pop rock band Duran Duran,released on 10 May 1982 as the final track on their second studio album,Rio. Written and performed by the lead vocalist Simon Le Bon and the keyboardist Nick Rhodes,the song originated from a poem Le Bon had written prior to joining the band and was developed into an electronic arrangement during recording sessions at AIR Studios in London.
"The Chauffeur" is noted for its ghostly and unconventional arrangement,blending art pop,synth-pop,art rock,and dub with orchestral elements. It features a sparse electronic soundscape with found sounds and an ocarina solo,and is structured around synthesisers and drum machines without contributions from other band members. Critics have described it as a stylistic outlier within Rio,contrasting its subdued and haunting tone with the album's more energetic tracks. The lyrics are abstract and impressionistic,with interpretations ranging from a stream-of-consciousness portrayal of imagery to a narrative about obsession.
Upon its release,"The Chauffeur" received a negative response. However,retrospective assessments have been more favourable,with critics praising the song and some considering it one of Duran Duran's best. Despite not being released as a single,it has gained popularity over time and developed a cult following among fans. A music video directed by Ian Emes was produced for the song,noted for its stylised imagery and limited broadcast due to its content.
Background and recording
The lyrics to "The Chauffeur" predate the lead vocalist Simon Le Bon's joining of Duran Duran,having been originally written in his personal notebook of poetry. He began compiling the book in 1977,using it to write lyrics and poems for songs while performing in earlier bands such as Dog Days and Rov Ostrov.[1] Le Bon later presented the notebook to Duran Duran at his audition,[2] and according to the band,his original vision for "The Chauffeur" was more acoustic.[3] He recalled that,prior to joining the group,he would sing and play songs like "The Chauffeur" on guitar.[1]
An early version of the song was recorded with the sound engineer Renate Blauel before Duran Duran moved to AIR Studios to continue work on their second studio album,Rio (1982).[4] During downtime at AIR,the keyboardist Nick Rhodes,drawn to Le Bon's lyrics,created an electronic track based on the existing material in an auxiliary studio room with Blauel,their tape operator,using keyboards and synthesisers. Le Bon later joined him,contributing the song's lyrics and adding a melody on ocarina.[a][3][8] Although the electronic arrangement marked a significant departure,Le Bon embraced the direction,and the band completed the track collaboratively.[2][3] An acoustic recording was later made without Rhodes titled the "Blue Silver" version. Reflecting on this,Rhodes quipped,"I guess that was my punishment for having created an entirely electronic track."[8][9] It is considered closer to the song's original sketch but still more harmonically developed.[3]
Musically, "The Chauffeur" has been described as art pop,[5][11]synth-pop,[11][12]art rock,[13] and dub,[6] reflecting a darker and more experimental approach.[2][14] The track is performed solely by Rhodes and Le Bon,[b][16] and avoids conventional pop song structure in favour of staccato phrases that drift high and low in a dreamy, meandering fashion. This atmosphere is enhanced by Le Bon's lascivious vocal delivery, set against a purely electronic soundscape of icy synthesisers and throbbing drum machines.[17] Though the song has been described as ghostly,[17] gothic,[18] sinister,[2] and eerie,[11]The A.V. Club's Stephen Thomas Erlewine observed that Rhodes' arrangement "doesn't dwell in darkness".[16] It also retains a melodic sensibility; Alexis Petridis of The Guardian noted that, "this being Duran Duran, it still packs a big pop melody".[19]John Freeman in The Quietus described it as "a sublime mix of plucked melodies set to an almost orchestral arrangement".[20] Both Chris Dahlen, writing in The Pitchfork 500, and Petridis have pointed to the band Japan as a key inspiration for the song; Dahlen called it "a lesson well learned from their heroes and fellow New Romantics Japan", while Petridis wrote that their spirit "hangs over its brooding mood".[5][19] Tom Ewing of Freaky Trigger positioned the song as "the exact halfway point between [Scott] Walker's cold torture-tronica and the embarrassed, serious, Europhilia of, oh, Ultravox".[6]
"The Chauffeur" opens with faint, high-pitched keyboard notes accented by a slight echo.[6] Erlewine characterises the song as emerging "like twinkling city lights across a desert horizon".[16] Jim Beviglia of American Songwriter describes the keyboards as "eerily chirpy, to the point where this song feels like some sort of hybrid between classic '70s Bowie and '90s Radiohead".[21] Around the 15-second mark, this is followed by what Ewing calls "the skronky sound of a guitar pretending to crack".[6] The bass, described by Ewing as "rearing, buzzing, and purring", momentarily glitches between 1:00 and 1:08 before giving way to Le Bon's ocarina solo at 2:15,[a][18][10] at which point the song shifts into a march-like section.[6] Ewing compares this section to Jona Lewie's "Stop The Cavalry", but with "Lewie's smackable downtrodden mateyness switched in favour of the art-rock aloof". Following the solo, the bass drops out and the beats drop in, their "skinny digital tick-tock start-stop" layered with found sounds such as casino chips dropping, an ice cube cracking,[8] and looped, warped speech.[6] Le Bon described the song as having "loads of funny noises", noting that the track also features cricket sounds toward the end. He explained that the band sourced the material from a library record of insect noises, which included narration. According to Le Bon, one section featured spoken lines such as "Who's that calling in the long grass near the tent?", prompting the band to incorporate the recording into the track.[22] The ocarina solo returns for the final two minutes of the song,[6] while Erlewine notes that the final passages feature "agile interlocking keyboard lines that almost seem playful in their spookiness".[16] The song concludes with a brief fade and the sound of rustling keys, which Rhodes says represent a chauffeur's keys.[4][6][23]
"The Chauffeur" has been highlighted as a stylistic outlier on Rio.[c] Mark Lindores of Classic Pop identified the song as the album's most experimental moment, describing it as a "sinister synth-infused comedown" following the rest of Rio's high-energy tracks.[2] Erlewine calls it both the culmination of Rio and an anomaly on the album, comparing it to "Night Boat" and "Save a Prayer" in its prominence of atmospheric synths.[16] Petridis contrasts the track's mood with the rest of the album, writing that while "The rest of the Rio album is in glorious Technicolor, 'The Chauffeur' feels as if it's shot in noir-ish monochrome."[19] Dahlen similarly highlights the song's stark contrast to the rest of Rio, describing it as minimal enough to sound avant-garde within the context of the album's otherwise hit-driven material.[5] The biographer Steve Malins likewise identifies "The Chauffeur" as a stand-out moment on Rio, citing its "unlikely combination of electronics and ocarina".[4]
Lyrically, "The Chauffeur" is abstract and impressionistic, and has been linked to Le Bon's 1979 visit to a kibbutz in Israel.[18][17] The overall lyrical tone of the song has been characterised as poetic and sensual.[24] Donald A. Guarisco of AllMusic describes the lyrics as a "stream-of-consciousness haze" that presents images of "restless driving and sexy women", and observes that while they do not form a literal narrative, they effectively evoke a mood that matches the song's ghostly melody.[17] Classic Pop's Rik Flynn refers to the lyrics as a poem about a driver's obsession with his passenger, suggesting a more defined theme behind the song's imagery.[10] In American Songwriter, Bryan Reesman notes the song's ambiguity, suggesting that it could depict either an alienated couple on an aimless drive or a chauffeur longing for an unattainable lover. He observes that the story is never fully defined, leaving much open to interpretation.[7] Ewing examined the song's opening line, "Out on the tar planes, the glides are moving," suggesting that "tar planes" refer to roads and "glides" to cars.[6]
Release
"The Chauffeur" was released on 10 May 1982 by EMI as the last track on Duran Duran's second studio album, Rio.[20][25] The "Blue Silver" version of the song was also used as a B-side for "Rio",[8][9][17] which was released as a single on 1 November 1982.[26] Upon Rio's release, "The Chauffeur" received a negative comment from Record Mirror, which described it as "a ghastly, boring embarrassment" and the worst track on the album.[25]
Music video
The music video for "The Chauffeur" was directed by Ian Emes and filmed in London without the band's involvement.[27][28] It features the actress Perri Lister, who was known at the time as Billy Idol's partner.[29] Visually, the video draws from the work of the photographer Helmut Newton, incorporating dark, gothic imagery,[27] and was also influenced by the controversial 1974 film The Night Porter.[17] Set in a hotel and garage,[27] the narrative follows a chauffeur who drives an aristocratic woman to a secret nighttime rendezvous with another woman, which he observes silently from a distance.[7] Due to its nudity and sexually suggestive content, the video received limited airplay and was not shown on MTV.[17][27] Rhodes praised the director, saying Emes "did a spectacular job" and called the video "one of the things from that period that captured the moment of the other side of Duran Duran".[27]
Legacy
"The Chauffeur" gained popularity despite never being released as a single,[20] and has developed a cult following.[17][30] Reflecting on this, Rhodes said he was unsure how the song acquired this status and suggested that its accompanying video may have contributed. Despite it being restricted, he noted that younger listeners continued to approach him expressing admiration for both the video and the song.[30] Dahlen described it as "almost a secret message for fans—among whom it's still a favorite—revealing a sinister edge to the band that gave us 'The Reflex'".[5] Commenting on the song's reputation among fans, Stereogum noted that its absence from the site's list of Duran Duran's best songs led commenters and acquaintances of staff members to repeatedly question how it could have been omitted. In his correction of their list, Rhodes placed "The Chauffeur" at first and said "I'm very proud of it. It's sort of darkly beautiful, which are often my favorite songs."[30]
"The Chauffeur" has become widely regarded as one of Duran Duran's best songs.[d] Freeman called it their finest[20] while Petridis said "its moodiness marks it out as their best deep cut".[19] With Beviglia calling it the second-best song on Rio,[21]Annie Zaleski of Ultimate Classic Rock wrote that songs such as "The Chauffeur" on the album "remain strikingly original".[12] Ewing contended that only ABBA "were making more ominous chart music", saying of Duran Duran's track: "This is experimental exploitative peacock music, absurd but lovely. Right now, with authenticity and camp, art and pop so rigorously patrolled, it's kept that rarest of qualities – the element of surprise."[6]
"The Chauffeur" has drawn lasting admiration from artists across a range of musical styles.[31][32][33] The producer Mark Ronson, who produced Duran Duran's 2010 studio album All You Need Is Now, praised the song's synth work, calling it "some of the coolest, eeriest synth programming of any pop song ever", and noted the "staggering" effort required to achieve its sound in the "pre-Pro Tools era".[31] The alternative metal band Deftones later recorded a cover of "The Chauffeur" and included it on their B-Sides & Rarities (2005) compilation album.[e][34] The frontman Chino Moreno has cited it as one of his favourite covers they did, stating, "I loved that song ever since I was growing up. It's cool to be able to sing the songs you grew up listening to."[32] The band's version replaced the original's icy synth textures with a heavier, guitar-driven sound, and Moreno's vocal performance was noted by Metal Hammer's Dave Everly for closely capturing Le Bon's tone. Everly included the cover in the magazine's list of "The Top 10 Best Metal Covers of 80s Pop Songs."[35] In a 2007 live performance in Las Vegas, the singer Jonathan Davis also covered "The Chauffeur" and introduced it by calling it "the greatest Duran Duran song ever".[33] Davis has described meeting Le Bon as a significant moment in his life, telling the story of how he immediately brought up "The Chauffeur" and later spent the night socialising with Le Bon in London.[36][37] Both Moreno and Davis' covers of the song have been cited as examples of what Everley described as Duran Duran's "unlikely influence on nu metal's founding fathers".[35]
123Blyweiss, Adam; Terich, Jeff; Dunston, Tyler; Nierenberg, Jacob; Pearson, Paul; Cohn, Ben (11 May 2020). "A History of Synth-Pop in 50 Essential Songs". Treble. Archived from the original on 25 June 2025. Retrieved 27 August 2024.
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