Heavy Cross

Singer Beth Ditto explained to the NME that the song is: "about recreation and my friends, who I feel like are the ultimate creative re-creators."[http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=15981 Heavy Cross Songfacts] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110614064434/http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=15981 |date=June 14, 2011 }} Composer and guitarist Nathan Howdeshell explained: "Heavy Cross' was an attempt to make my guitar sound like an Italo synth line. I had been listening to Charlie's 'Spacer Woman' and still can't get over the arpeggiated synth, so I detuned my strings to be the same notes and muted it and then came that song. Beth [Ditto] busted some Donna Summer elements, and since I have been listening to lots of darkwave, I put a bass synth on the track as opposed to a real bass: we wanted something steeped in '80s darkwave. I can't stop listening to 'Red Light' by Siouxsie and the Banshees. Hannah Blilie decided to stay on the drum rims for the majority of the track, making it more of a Creatures-type track (another Siouxsie Sioux reference)."{{cite web|url=https://www.abc.net.au/triplej/hottest100/09/countdown/cd_16.htm |title=Hot 100: Heavy Cross Gossip |date=January 2010 |publisher=Abc.net.au|access-date=June 2, 2018}} "Heavy Cross" was recorded in a studio in early 2009, although the band had already been playing the song live for two years. They had started their 2007 Glastonsbury concert at the John Peel stage, performing an early version of it which was broadcast on BBC television.{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CVfFQ5tPn8&t=108s |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211220/9CVfFQ5tPn8 |archive-date=2021-12-20 |url-status=live|title=Gossip Glastonbury June 2007 -BBBC TV broadcast|publisher=YouTube|date=June 24, 2007|access-date=July 2, 2020}}{{cbignore}} The song, especially the intro, has considerable similarities with the Knight Rider theme song.{{cite web | url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/13113-music-for-men/ | title=Gossip: Music for Men | website=Pitchfork }}

The single was a commercial success. It reached the top 10 in Australia and on the US Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs chart from mid- to late 2009. It peaked just outside the top 10 in New Zealand, and made the top 40 in Ireland and the UK; Gossip had already achieved two top 40 singles in the latter region, with "Standing in the Way of Control" and "Listen Up!" in 2006.

The single was especially successful in Germany, where it was certified triple gold for selling over 450,000 copies{{Certification Cite Ref|region=Germany|type=single|title=Heavy Cross|artist=Gossip}} and is, {{as of|2010|9|lc=on}}, the "most successful internationally produced single of all time".{{cite web |url=http://www.gfk-entertainment.com/news/single-rekord-fuer-gossip.html |title=Single-Rekord für Gossip - media control |trans-title=Single Record for Gossip |date=September 13, 2010 |work=media-control.de |access-date=November 18, 2010 |language=de |archive-date=January 10, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150110193436/http://www.gfk-entertainment.com/news/single-rekord-fuer-gossip.html |url-status=dead }} As of April 2011, the single had spent 97 weeks on the German Singles Chart without ever reaching No. 1, staying for 27 weeks in that chart's top 10. In 2011, it was included in a J'Adore advert from Dior, making it rise to fame again.

UK CD

1. "Heavy Cross"
2. "Heavy Cross" (Fred Falke Remix)

Australia CD

1. "Heavy Cross" (radio edit)
2. "Heavy Cross"
3. "Heavy Cross" (Fred Falke Remix)
4. "Heavy Cross" (Burns Remix)

• Beth Ditto – vocals
• Brace Paine – guitar, keyboards, bass guitar
• Hannah Blilie – drums

NRJ Session

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{{Certification Table Entry|region=Australia|type=single|title=Heavy Cross|artist=Gossip|award=Platinum|certyear=2009}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Austria|type=single|title=Heavy Cross|artist=Gossip|award=Platinum|relyear=2009}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Belgium|type=single|title=Heavy Cross|artist=Gossip|award=Platinum|relyear=2009|relmonth=4|certyear=2011|nosales=true}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Germany|type=single|title=Heavy Cross|artist=Gossip|award=Gold|number=3|relyear=2009}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Italy|type=single|title=Heavy Cross|artist=Gossip|award=Platinum|relyear=2009}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=New Zealand|type=single|title=Heavy Cross|artist=Gossip|award=Gold|relyear=2009|source=archive}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Switzerland|type=single|title=Heavy Cross|artist=Gossip|award=Platinum|relyear=2009}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United Kingdom|type=single|title=Heavy Cross|artist=Gossip|award=Silver|relyear=2009|certyear=2024|id=20093-1434-1}}

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Category:2009 singles

Category:Song recordings produced by Rick Rubin

Category:Gossip (band) songs

Category:Songs written by Brace Paine

Category:Songs written by Hannah Blilie

Category:Songs written by Beth Ditto

Category:2009 songs

Category:Columbia Records singles