The release was accompanied by a new live video, drawn from footage shot in 1984 for the concert film Arena. It peaked at #16 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the U.S. "Save A Prayer" (Live) was released as a single from the live album Arena in the United States in February of 1985 ( B-5438), backed with the original UK single version of "Save A Prayer". This version was not released in the United States "Save A Prayer" was released in the UK on 9 August 1982, and peaked at #2 on the UK Singles Chart on 11 September. In 2007, it was referenced in the lyrics of the song by Arctic Monkeys, "Teddy Picker" from their album Favourite Worst Nightmare: "I don't want your prayer, save it for the morning after". Beejay, the Push Kings and Marcos Marin by Projeto Set Band. The song has been covered by Tony Hadley, Shut Up And Dance, Eve's Plum, Polyanna, Dune, Oliver Haze, 56K feat. "Save A Prayer" (Japanese Single Version) - 4:00."Save A Prayer" (Special Edited Version) - 3:55."Save A Prayer" (US Single Version) - 3:44."Save A Prayer" (Brazilian Edit) - 4:04."Save A Prayer" (Australian Promo Edit) - 4:10."Save A Prayer" (Single Version) - 5:24.The UK release of "Save A Prayer" was backed with a remix of " Hold Back the Rain". Scenes were filmed atop the rock fortress of Sigiriya, and among the ruins of a Buddhist temple at Polonnaruwa. The video was filmed by director Russell Mulcahy among the jungles, beaches, and temples of Sri Lanka in April 1982. I’m pretty sure the effect I used in the studio was aforesaid phaser. It sounds like a chorus pedal, which was de rigeur for every fretless bass sound at that time, and I use chorus today on that song. "Hello Ger, If I remember correctly, it was an Electro Harmonix phase shifter."Hi John, Can you tell me if you are using a fretless bass when recording "Save A Prayer" or, if not, what effects are you using on you bass. The result was a stylish mood-piece that became a number two hit in the UK and earned plenty of airplay on MTV with a glossy video that featured the band jet-setting around the atmospheric locale of Sri Lanka. Duran Duran's recording places an emphasis on Nick Rhodes' swirling, minimalist synth lines and Simon Le Bon's pained vocals as the rhythm section holds down a steady but subdued beat, with Andy Taylor adding a few searing bursts of electric guitar during the chorus. The lyrics revolve around a chance meeting between two people that flares into a love affair but ends all too soon: "Some people call it a one night stand/But we can call it paradise/Don't say a prayer for me now/Save it 'til the morning after." The music maintains the stormily romantic quality of the lyric by combining meditative verses with an aching chorus that swells and ebbs in a way that perfectly captures the song's heartbreak. One of the finest, perhaps the finest, was "Save a Prayer," a lilting epic from Rio that has a special place in the heart of every Duran Duran fanatic. but they were also capable of making lush ballads guaranteed to make their fan base swoon. Guarisco at All Music Guide said:ĭance-friendly items like "Rio" and "Hungry Like The Wolf" gave Duran Duran their chart breakthrough in the U.S. "Save A Prayer" begins with a somewhat eerie synthesizer riff, which plays in the background throughout the song.Īccording to Le Bon, the song's chorus structure is based on Gordon Lightfoot's "If You Could Read My Mind" and the lyrics as being contrary to the then-popular New Romantic movement by being "realistic, and not romantic" and "for seeing things as they really are." He sums up "Save A Prayer" as "It's definitely a freedom song but like a kinda nobody owns anybody kinda song."Ĭover art for the single was designed by Assorted iMages, which features a shadow being.ĭonald A. However, a special US single version was released in January 1985 and reached #16 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was not originally issued as a single in the United States, although the video was very popular on MTV. The front cover features photography by Richard Haughton.The song became Duran Duran's biggest hit to date (at the time) in the UK Singles Chart, reaching #2, held out of the top spot by Survivor's "Eye of the Tiger". The disc will play on personal computers and compatible CD players. This is a MP3 CD that contains thirteen Duran Duran albums, originally released from 1981 to 2007.