Dancing with Tears in My Eyes
{{other uses}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2024}}
{{Infobox song
| name = Dancing with Tears in My Eyes
| cover = Ultravox-DWTIME.png
| alt =
| type = single
| artist = Ultravox
| album = Lament
| B-side = Building
| released = 11 May 1984
| recorded =
| studio =
| venue =
| genre = * Synth-pop{{cite news|first= Andrew |last= Pain |title= Midge Ure at the ARC in Stockton – An intimate evening with pop legend |newspaper= Gazette Live |date= 24 May 2013 |access-date= 7 May 2014 |url= http://www.gazettelive.co.uk/whats-on/midge-ure-arc-stockton---4010030 |quote= the likes of Vienna, Reap the Wild Wind and Dancing with Tears in My Eyes becoming instant synth-pop classics.}}{{cite news |title= Ultravox tours Germany in November |newspaper= Sixth Sense |date= 21 November 2012 |access-date= 22 June 2013 |url= http://www.sixth-sense-newspaper.de/entertainment/516-ultravox-tours-germany-in-november |quote= After a string of synth-pop hits, including Dancing with Tears in My Eyes, the band split in 1986, with lead singer Midge Ure going on to solo success. |archive-date= 2 August 2016 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160802125325/http://sixth-sense-newspaper.de/entertainment/516-ultravox-tours-germany-in-november |url-status= dead }}
- new wave{{Cite web|url=https://www.musicbird.ch/news/musicbird-acquires-the-catalogue-of-midge-ure|title=MUSICBIRD ACQUIRES THE CATALOGUE OF MIDGE URE|website=MusicBird}}
| length = 4:10
| label = Chrysalis
| writer = {{hlist|Midge Ure|Chris Cross|Warren Cann|Billy Currie}}
| producer = Ultravox
| prev_title = One Small Day
| prev_year = 1984
| next_title = Lament
| next_year = 1984
}}
"Dancing with Tears in My Eyes" is the second single from Lament, Ultravox's seventh studio album, released on 11 May 1984.{{cite book|first= Midge |last= Ure |author-link= Midge Ure |year= 2004 |title= If I Was... The Autobiography |publisher= Virgin Books |page= 271 |isbn= 9781852271442 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=duYHAQAAMAAJ&q=%22with+tears+in%22+%22may+1984%22}}
The single effectively put Ultravox back on the map, peaking at No. 3 on the UK singles chart, and reaching the top 10 in several European countries. The song also entered the Australian and Canadian top 75 but failed to chart in the US.
"Dancing with Tears in My Eyes" was the second song that Ultravox performed during the Live Aid charity event at the old Wembley Stadium, on 13 July 1985, for which Ure also played the lead guitar.{{cite news|title= Interview: Ultravox and Live Aid singer Midge Ure reveals what embarrasses him |newspaper= North Devon Journal |date= 30 March 2016 |access-date= 13 September 2016 |url= http://www.northdevonjournal.co.uk/interview-ultravox-live-aid-singer-midge-ure/story-29017641-detail/story.html}}{{Dead link|date=November 2019|bot=InternetArchiveBot|fix-attempted=yes}}
A 2004 cover of the song by Novaspace went to No. 11 in Germanyhttps://www.offiziellecharts.de/charts/titel-details-6351 and No. 6 in Austria.https://austriancharts.at/showitem.asp?interpret=Novaspace&titel=Dancing+With+Tears+In+My+Eyes&cat=s
Background
According to lead singer Midge Ure, the lyrics were inspired by the Nevil Shute book On the Beach, which is about a group of people in Australia awaiting nuclear radiation stemming from a nuclear war in the Northern Hemisphere. "They knew it was the end but they had time to think about how they wanted to choose their final moments", Ure stated, "And that’s what "Dancing With Tears in My Eyes" was about."{{Cite web |last=Derrough |first=Leslie Michele |date=2018-08-06 |title=Midge Ure of Ultravox Talks Highly Influential Career & Current Tour With Paul Young (INTERVIEW) |url=https://glidemagazine.com/210593/midge-ure-of-ultravox-talks-highly-influential-career-current-tour-with-paul-young-interview/ |access-date=2022-07-20 |website=Glide Magazine |language=en-US}}
Music video
The music video was directed by Chris Cross and Midge Ure. The video follows an interpretation of the lyrics that differs from the original inspiration found in the novel On the Beach. Instead of depicting the impact and aftermath of nuclear war, the premise of the video is a catastrophic meltdown at an unnamed civilian nuclear power station in the United Kingdom. Band members Chris Cross, Warren Cann and Billy Currie play workers and a police officer at the power station, with Midge Ure playing the narrator, a man seeking to return home to his family amidst scenes of mass panic and the breakdown of ordinary life. The video thereafter depicts the actions of the narrator as described in the song; dancing with his wife (interpreted by Diana Weston),{{Citation |title=Ultravox: Dancing with Tears in My Eyes (Music Video 1984) – IMDb |url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt8768498/fullcredits |access-date=2022-10-30}} listening to music, drinking champagne and awaiting the end. The song concludes over the impact of a nuclear explosion viewed from inside the narrator's house, producing the windblown living room scene depicted on the cover of the single. The video ends over silent cinefilm home movies of the narrator and his family in happier times, before the film is burned away by overexposure.{{Citation |title=Ultravox – Dancing With Tears in My Eyes (Official Music Video) | date=31 October 2017 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSQWUZ8a2Ho |language=en |access-date=2022-10-30}}
Critical reception
Upon its release, Smash Hits reviewer Dave Rimmer wrote: "Once upon a time Ultravox had some bright ideas. Now they just seem to be re-running them rather badly. "Weeping for a memory/of a life gone by" goes part of the chorus, appropriately enough. It's also, tears in your eyes or not, damned difficult to dance to."{{cite magazine|title=Singles |author=Rimmer, Dave |magazine=Smash Hits 10-23 May 1984 |page=25 }}
Track listings
The 7" single was released in three versions: with a standard picture sleeve, with a gate-fold booklet sleeve, and with a gate-fold booklet sleeve and a clear vinyl disc. All versions had the same catalogue number, "UV 1", and the same tracks. The 12" was released in two versions, with the same catalogue number "UVX 1": in a stickered gatefold sleeve containing a band poster and in a standard picture sleeve.
=7" vinyl=
{{smalldiv|
- UK: Chrysalis – UV 1
- Germany: Chrysalis – 106 449
- US: Chrysalis – VS4 42781
- Canada: Chrysalis – CHS – 42781
}}
{{tracklist
|headline = Side one
|title1 = Dancing with Tears in My Eyes
|length1 = 4:10
}}
{{tracklist
|headline = Side two
|title1 = Building
|length1 = 3:11
}}
=12" vinyl (UK and Europe)=
{{smalldiv|
- UK: Chrysalis – UVX 1
- Germany: Chrysalis – 601 322
}}
{{tracklist
|headline = Side one
|title1 = Dancing with Tears in My Eyes
|note1 = Special Re-Mix
|length1 = 10:00
}}
{{tracklist
|headline = Side two
|title1 = Dancing with Tears in My Eyes
|length1 = 4:10
|title2 = Building
|length2 = 3:11
}}
=12" vinyl (North America)=
{{smalldiv|
- US: Chrysalis – 4V9 42783
- Canada: Chrysalis – CS 42783
}}
{{tracklist
|headline = Side one
|title1 = Dancing with Tears in My Eyes
|note1 = Extended
|length1 = 7:44
}}
{{tracklist
|headline = Side two
|title1 = One Small Day
|note1 = Club Version
|length1 = 7:48
}}
Chart performance
{{col-begin}}
{{col-2}}
=Weekly charts=
| class="wikitable sortable"
!Chart (1984) !Peak |
| Australia (Kent Music Report){{cite web|title= Forum – ARIA Charts: Special Occasion Charts – CHART POSITIONS PRE 1989, part 2 |publisher= Australian-charts.com. Hung Medien |access-date= 22 July 2013 |url= http://australian-charts.com/forum.asp?todo=viewthread&id=26517&pages=}}
|align="center"|58 |
| {{singlechart|Flanders|2|artist=Ultravox|song=Dancing With Tears in My Eyes|accessdate=22 July 2013}} |
| {{singlechart|Canadatopsingles|52|chartid=6799|accessdate=19 June 2013}} |
| France (IFOP){{cite web|title= Le Détail par Artiste |website= InfoDisc |id= Select "Ultravox" from the artist drop-down menu |access-date= 14 May 2016 |url= http://www.infodisc.fr/Tubes_Artistes_U.php |language= fr}}
|align="center"|36 |
| {{singlechart|Germany|7|artist=Ultravox|song=Dancing With Tears in My Eyes|songid=1130|accessdate=22 July 2013}} |
| {{singlechart|Ireland2|8|song=Dancing With Tears in My Eyes|accessdate=22 July 2013}} |
| {{singlechart|Dutch40|6|year=1984|week=29|accessdate=22 July 2013}} |
| {{singlechart|Dutch100|12|artist=Ultravox|song=Dancing With Tears in My Eyes|accessdate=22 July 2013}} |
| {{singlechart|New Zealand|38|artist=Ultravox|song=Dancing With Tears in My Eyes|accessdate=22 July 2013}} |
| {{singlechart|Switzerland|16|artist=Ultravox|song=Dancing With Tears in My Eyes|accessdate=22 July 2013}} |
| {{singlechart|UK|3|date=19840609|accessdate=22 July 2013|refname="UK"}} |
| US Billboard Bubbling Under the Hot 100{{cite book|first= Joel |last= Whitburn |author-link= Joel Whitburn |year= 1998 |title= Bubbling Under Singles & Albums |location= Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin |publisher= Record Research Inc. |page= 205 |isbn= 0-89820-128-4}}
|align="center"|108 |
{{col-2}}
=Year-end charts=
{{col-end}}
References
{{reflist}}
{{Ultravox}}
{{authority control}}
Category:Chrysalis Records singles
Category:Songs written by Billy Currie
Category:Songs written by Chris Cross