The Passenger (song)

"The Passenger" was co-written by Iggy Pop and guitarist Ricky Gardiner; Pop wrote the lyrics, while Gardiner composed the music.{{sfn|Pegg|2016|p=208}} Gardiner thought of the riff in early 1977 as he was wandering throughout the countryside, "in the field beside an orchard, on one of those glorious spring days with the trees in full blossom."{{sfn|Trynka|2007|pp=227–228}} The song was recorded at Hansa Studio by the Wall in West Berlin between May and June 1977. The lineup consisted of Pop, Gardiner, David Bowie on piano, Carlos Alomar on guitar, and brothers Tony and Hunt Sales on bass and drums, respectively.{{sfn|O'Leary|2019|loc=chap. 2}} Bowie, Pop, and producer-engineer Colin Thurston produced Lust for Life under the pseudonym "Bewlay Bros.", named after the final track on Bowie's 1971 album Hunky Dory.{{sfn|Seabrook|2008|pp=145–147}}

Similar to other tracks on Lust for Life, the lyrics for "The Passenger" were mostly composed on the spot in the studio.{{sfn|Trynka|2007|pp=227–228}} They were inspired by a Jim Morrison poem, titled "The Lords",{{sfn|O'Leary|2019|loc=chap. 2}} that saw "modern life as a journey by car", as well as rides on the Berlin S-Bahn, according to Pop's former girlfriend Esther Friedmann.{{sfn|Pegg|2016|p=208}}{{cite news|url=https://www.welt.de/newsticker/news3/article113801699/S-Bahn-brachte-Iggy-Pop-auf-The-Passenger.html|title=S-Bahn brachte Iggy Pop auf "The Passenger"|work=Die Welt|date=February 21, 2013|access-date=October 15, 2020|language=de|archive-date=June 16, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160616202128/http://www.welt.de/newsticker/news3/article113801699/S-Bahn-brachte-Iggy-Pop-auf-The-Passenger.html|url-status=live}} The lyrics have been interpreted as "Iggy's knowing commentary on Bowie's cultural vampirism".{{sfn|Ambrose|2004|pp=185–186}} In an interview with The Guardian in 2016, Pop said "The Passenger" was partly inspired by touring with Bowie: "I'd been riding around North America and Europe in David's car ad infinitum. I didn't have a driver's licence or a vehicle".{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/mar/05/iggy-pop-and-josh-homme-talk-about-their-post-pop-depression-album|title=Josh Homme on Iggy Pop: 'Lemmy is gone. Bowie is gone. He's the last of the one-and-onlys'|first=Kevin EG|last=Perry|date=March 5, 2016|website=The Guardian|access-date=December 23, 2021|archive-date=September 12, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210912031053/https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/mar/05/iggy-pop-and-josh-homme-talk-about-their-post-pop-depression-album|url-status=live}} Biographer Paul Trynka states that the song was "a simple celebration of life", of the "long walks" Pop would take growing up and his own reputation at the time.{{sfn|Trynka|2007|pp=227–228}} Tom Maginnis of AllMusic described the music as a "laid-back ... springy groove".{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/song/the-passenger-mt0027075209|title='The Passenger' – Iggy Pop|publisher=AllMusic|access-date=October 15, 2020|last=Maginnis|first=Tom|archive-date=August 8, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200808121204/https://www.allmusic.com/song/the-passenger-mt0027075209|url-status=live}} Reviewers characterize the track as garage rock and proto-punk.{{cite magazine|title=The 100 Greatest Car Songs of All Time: Staff List|url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/list/9591317/greatest-car-songs-all-time-top-100/|date=June 24, 2021|access-date=November 12, 2021|magazine=Billboard|archive-date=October 10, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211010180326/https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/list/9591317/greatest-car-songs-all-time-top-100/|url-status=live}}{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nlFelJa8p3gC&pg=PA355|title=Drive: A Road Trip Through Our Complicated Affair With The Automobile|last=Falconer|first=Tim|date=2008|publisher=Penguin Canada|isbn=978-0-14-317937-5|page=355}}

RCA Records issued Lust for Life on September 9, 1977,{{sfn|Seabrook|2008|p=149}} with "The Passenger" as the fourth track on side one of the original LP, between "Some Weird Sin" and "Tonight".{{sfn|O'Leary|2019|loc=Partial Discography}}{{sfn|Ambrose|2004|p=305}} The song was released as the B-side of "Success" in October 1977, but failed to chart.{{sfn|Pegg|2016|p=208}}{{sfn|Ambrose|2004|p=309}} Pop's press officer Robin Eggar attempted to pursue RCA to issue "The Passenger" as an A-side, feeling it would be a hit, but he was ignored.{{sfn|Trynka|2007|p=234}} Following its use in a car commercial two decades later,{{sfn|Pegg|2016|p=208}} the song was released as an A-side by Virgin Records in March 1998 with "Lust for Life" and The Idiot track "Nightclubbing", with the catalog number 7243 8 94921 2 5.{{sfn|Ambrose|2004|p=312}} The single peaked at number 22 on the UK Singles Chart and remained on the chart for three weeks.{{cite web |title=the passenger – full Official Chart History |url=https://www.officialcharts.com/search/singles/the-passenger/ |website=officialcharts.com |publisher=Official Charts Company |access-date=December 23, 2021 |archive-date=November 6, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211106093856/https://www.officialcharts.com/search/singles/the-passenger/ |url-status=live }}

"The Passenger" has remained a mainstay of Pop's live performances.{{sfn|O'Leary|2019|loc=chap. 2}} The song received an official music video in 2020, 43 years after its initial release.{{cite web |last1=Krol |first1=Charlotte |title=Iggy Pop's 'The Passenger' finally gets a music video 43 years later – watch |url=https://www.nme.com/news/music/iggy-pops-the-passenger-finally-gets-a-music-video-43-years-later-watch-2704931 |website=NME |access-date=December 23, 2021 |date=July 9, 2020 |archive-date=July 13, 2020 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20200713022923/https://www.nme.com/news/music/iggy-pops-the-passenger-finally-gets-a-music-video-43-years-later-watch-2704931 |url-status=live }}

"The Passenger" has appeared on several best-of lists. In a 2001 list compiling "the 100 Greatest Singles of the Post-Punk Era", the writers of Uncut magazine placed "The Passenger" at number 95.{{cite journal |author=Staff |url=https://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/Uncut_P2.htm#Post_punk |website=Uncut |date=February 2001 |issue=45 |access-date=December 23, 2021 |via=rocklist.et |title=Rocklist.net..Rocklist.net... Uncut Lists |archive-date=July 17, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210717190459/https://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/Uncut_P2.htm#Post_punk |url-status=live }} The staff of Billboard placed the song at number 78 in a list compiling "the 100 Greatest Car Songs of All Time" in 2016. The same year, Pitchfork ranked it the 95th best song of the 1970s. Benjamin Scheim wrote: "It's easy to listen to the intro and envision a million bands at home trying to figure out how to copy it."{{cite web |last=Scheim |first=Benjamin |title=The 200 Best Songs of the 1970s |url=https://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/9935-the-200-best-songs-of-the-1970s/?page=6 |website=Pitchfork |access-date=December 23, 2021 |page=6 |date=August 22, 2016 |archive-date=October 8, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211008193436/https://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/9935-the-200-best-songs-of-the-1970s/?page=6 |url-status=live }} The song was also included in the 2008 book The Pitchfork 500.{{Cite web |last=Breihan |first=Tom |date=November 30, 2009 |title=Video: Iggy Pop Plays 'The Passenger' With Random NZ Musicians, Via Skype |url=https://pitchfork.com/news/37238-video-iggy-pop-plays-the-passenger-with-random-nz-musicians-via-skype/ |access-date=October 16, 2024 |website=Pitchfork}}

{{More citations needed|date=June 2021}}

The song has been featured in numerous movies, video games, documentaries and TV shows including He Died with a Felafel in His Hand (cover by Rowland S. Howard), This Must Be the Place, Radiofreccia, 30 Days, Jarhead and the 2002 video game Mat Hoffman's Pro BMX 2. More recently, Up in the Air, The Weather Man, Kurt Cobain: About a Son, Scarface: The World Is Yours, 24 Hour Party People, If I Stay, Sons of Anarchy, War Dogs, Ash vs Evil Dead, 12 Monkeys, Berlin Station, The Boys, Dexter: New Blood, Lucifer, Sugar, The Lincoln Lawyer, and The Umbrella Academy in addition to advertisements for Dublin Bus, Captain Morgan, Kohl's "Simply Vera" collection, Guinness, the fifth season of Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown, and the film Waking Life.

• In 2009, New Zealand broadband internet provider Orcon held a promotion where eight fans re-recorded the song via the internet. The recording featured instruments foreign to the original, such as a flute.{{cite web | url= http://www.3news.co.nz/Iggy-re-records-The-Passenger-with-a-little-help-from-NZ-fans/tabid/367/articleID/130032/cat/298/Default.aspx | title= Iggy re-records 'The Passenger' with a little help from NZ fans | website= 3 News | access-date= November 17, 2009 | archive-date= April 6, 2012 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120406084211/http://www.3news.co.nz/Iggy-re-records-The-Passenger-with-a-little-help-from-NZ-fans/tabid/367/articleID/130032/cat/298/Default.aspx | url-status= live }}
• In 2010, the German mobile phone provider T-Mobile launched their "Welcome Home" flash-mob advert on British television. Amongst the songs performed using only voices was "The Passenger", sung by local Brighton resident George Ikediashi.{{cite web | url = http://www.brightonvisitor.com/brighton-news/george-ikediashi-from-brighton-lands-starring-role-in-national-t-mobile-tv-ad/ | title = George Ikediashi from Brighton lands starring role in T-Mobile national TV ad | website = Brighton Visitor.com | access-date = October 12, 2011 | archive-date = August 27, 2011 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110827080551/http://www.brightonvisitor.com/brighton-news/george-ikediashi-from-brighton-lands-starring-role-in-national-t-mobile-tv-ad/ | url-status = live }}
• A cover of the song by The Phoenix Foundation was used in Tourism New Zealand's "One journey leads to another" campaign in 2017.{{cite web|last=Dawson|first=Abigail|title=Tourism New Zealand launches new mobile-led campaign|url=https://mumbrella.com.au/tourism-new-zealand-launches-new-mobile-led-campaign-456025|website=Mumbrella|date=July 4, 2017|access-date=July 9, 2017|archive-date=September 3, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180903215313/https://mumbrella.com.au/tourism-new-zealand-launches-new-mobile-led-campaign-456025|url-status=live}}
• In 1995, a cover by Michael Hutchence of INXS was included on the Batman Forever soundtrack.
• In the 2018 Russian rock musical film, Leto, two of the main characters in the movie, Viktor Tsoi (Teo Yoo) and Natasha Naumenko (Irina Starshenbaum) are serenaded by the passengers of a city bus with an English language rendition of the song.

According to Chris O'Leary and Thomas Jerome Seabrook:{{sfn|O'Leary|2019|loc=chap. 2}}{{sfn|Seabrook|2008|pp=154–155}}

• Iggy Pop – lead vocals
• David Bowie – piano, backing vocals
• Ricky Gardiner – lead guitar
• Carlos Alomar – rhythm guitar
• Tony Sales - bass, backing vocals
• Hunt Sales – drums, percussion, backing vocals

Production

• Iggy Pop – producer
• David Bowie – producer
• Colin Thurston – producer, engineer

{{Certification Table Top}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Germany|type=single|award=Gold|artist=Iggy Pop|title=The Passenger|relyear=1977|certyear=2023|access-date=May 25, 2023}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Italy|type=single|award=Platinum|artist=Iggy Pop|title=The Passenger|relyear=1977|certyear=2018|id=5515|access-date=February 8, 2021}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Spain|type=single|award=Platinum|artist=Iggy Pop|title=The Passenger|relyear=1977|certyear=2024|access-date=July 8, 2024}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United Kingdom|type=single|award=Platinum|artist=Iggy Pop|title=The Passenger|relyear=2004|certyear=2024|id=14258-2497-1|access-date=February 16, 2024}}

{{Certification Table Bottom|nosales=true|noshipments=true|streaming=true}}

{{Infobox song

| name = The Passenger

| cover = Siouxsie Passenger.jpg

| alt =

| caption =

| type = single

| artist = Siouxsie and the Banshees

| album = Through the Looking Glass

| B-side = {{hlist|"She's Cuckoo"|"Something Blue"}}

| released = March 16, 1987

| recorded = 1986

| studio =

| venue =

| genre = {{hlist|Alternative rock|pop}}

| length = 5:09

| label = Polydor

| writer = {{hlist|Iggy Pop|Ricky Gardiner}}

| producer = {{hlist|Siouxsie and the Banshees|Mike Hedges}}

| prev_title = This Wheel's on Fire

| prev_year = 1987

| next_title = Song from the Edge of the World

| next_year = 1987

| misc = {{External music video|type=single|header=Music video|1={{YouTube|4nAON-MwUPY|"The Passenger"}}}}

}}

English rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees covered "The Passenger" in 1987 for their all-cover-versions album Through the Looking Glass.{{sfn|Ambrose|2004|pp=185–186}}{{cite web |last1=Raggett |first1=Ned |title=Through the Looking Glass – Siouxsie and the Banshees |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/through-the-looking-glass-mw0000191737 |publisher=AllMusic |access-date=December 23, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211021205430/https://www.allmusic.com/album/through-the-looking-glass-mw0000191737 |archive-date=October 21, 2021 |url-status=live}} The group revamped the song by adding brass arrangements. Released as the second single from the album, it peaked at number 41 in the UK.{{cite web |url=http://www.officialcharts.com/Artist/17098/SIOUXSIE-AND-THE-BANSHEES |title=Siouxsie & the Banshees [uk charts] |website=officialcharts.com |publisher=Official Charts Company |access-date=April 29, 2013 |archive-date=March 12, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150312042425/http://www.officialcharts.com/artist/17098/SIOUXSIE-AND-THE-BANSHEES/ |url-status=live }}

Iggy Pop praised their version and stated: "That's good. She sings it well and she threw a little note in when she sings it, that I wish I had thought of, it's kind of improved it [...]. The horn thing is good."{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1O5tbZ88LTQ&t=516s|title="120 Minutes" Iggy Pop interview|website=MTV|date=June 1990|quote=Excerpt about Siouxsie and the Banshees' version of 'The Passenger' from 08:38|via=YouTube|access-date=December 23, 2021}}

The song was featured at the end of the biographical film I, Tonya (2017).{{cite magazine|url=http://ew.com/movies/2017/12/11/i-tonya-soundtrack/|title=Best of 2017 (Behind the Scenes): The stories behind the best songs on the I, Tonya soundtrack|last=Rosen|first=Christopher|date=December 11, 2017|magazine=Entertainment Weekly|access-date=January 22, 2017|archive-date=December 11, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171211224711/http://ew.com/movies/2017/12/11/i-tonya-soundtrack/|url-status=live}}

{{Infobox song

| name = The Passenger (LaLaLa)

| cover =

| alt =

| caption =

| type = single

| artist = Lumix, D.T.E and Gabry Ponte featuring Mokaby

| album =

| B-side =

| released = January 17, 2020

| recorded =

| studio =

| venue =

| genre =

| length = 2:39

| label = Spinnin' Records

| writer = {{hlist|Iggy Pop|Ricky Gardiner}}

| producer = {{hlist|Mokaby|D.T.E|Gabry Ponte|Lum!x}}

| prev_title =

| prev_year =

| next_title =

| next_year =

| misc = {{External music video|{{YouTube|JBR-c2Cu-yM|"The Passenger (LaLaLa)"}}}}

}}

Lumix, D.T.E and Gabry Ponte released a cover of the song titled "The Passenger (LaLaLa)" on January 17, 2020, featuring Mokaby. The song charted across Europe.

Pop and Siouxsie Sioux collaborated for a new version of "The Passenger": the track appeared in a Magnum advert in April 2024.{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TpYbv3pLEA|title="The Passenger" in Pleasure Express ad |publisher=YouTube |date=April 2024 |access-date=31 May 2024}} Pop said: "Siouxsie can sing like a bird. I've always thought she was a great lady. She's been a friend too, she took me to The Nutcracker once, at the Royal Court. Her version of the song was already special, but what happened here, singing together, is really unique. Like 'Volare', the orchestral treatment and marriage of voices flies free, in a spirit of joy. I'm very proud." Sioux added: "I love this song and I've always loved Iggy's voice. Yet even with perfect ingredients, to make something wonderful, you need a touch of magic. In this instance it's what steered the song on its new and unexpected journey. I adore how instinctive and spontaneous it all feels and to hear my voice with Iggy's is such a dream".{{cite web |url=https://www.shots.net/news/view/the-passenger-gets-reimagined-for-magnum-ice-cream |title=The Passenger gets reimagined for Magnum Ice Cream |publisher=Shots.net |date=25 April 2024 |access-date=31 May 2024}} Consequence of Sound described Pop and Sioux's duet as an "ethereal setting, with a slower tempo and a silky soundscape of harps and strings".{{cite web |url=https://consequence.net/2024/04/siouxsie-sioux-iggy-pop-the-passenger-duet/ |title=Siouxsie Sioux and Iggy Pop Duet on New Version of “The Passenger”|publisher=Consequence.net|date=30 April 2024 |access-date=31 May 2024}} Rolling Stone reviewed the 2024 version as a "moody, downtempo ballad that erupts with cinematic and orchestral splendor as Siouxsie and Iggy deliver fittingly dramatic vocal performances."{{cite web |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/siouxsie-sioux-cover-the-passenger-iggy-pop-ice-cream-ad-1235012583/ |title=Siouxsie Sioux's First Song in Nine Years Is a New Cover of 'The Passenger' With Iggy Pop — for an Ice Cream Ad|publisher=Rollingstone.com|date=30 April 2024 |access-date=31 May 2024}} Flood magazine said it was a "slow-burning epic".{{cite web |url=https://floodmagazine.com/160761/listen-siouxsie-sioux-iggy-pop-the-passenger/|title=Siouxsie Sioux and Iggy Pop Share Duet Version of “The Passenger”|publisher=Floodmagazine.com|date=30 April 2024 |access-date=31 May 2024}}

{{Reflist}}

{{Refbegin|30em}}

• {{cite book|title=Gimme Danger: The Story of Iggy Pop|last=Ambrose|first=Joe|year=2004|publisher=Omnibus Press|location=London|isbn=978-1-84449-328-9}}
• {{cite book| last=O'Leary| first=Chris| year=2019| title=Ashes to Ashes: The Songs of David Bowie 1976–2016| location=London |publisher=Repeater| isbn=978-1-91224-830-8 }}
• {{cite book|last=Pegg |first=Nicholas |title=The Complete David Bowie|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LqFkDQAAQBAJ |publisher=Titan Books |location=London |year=2016 |isbn=978-1-78565-365-0 |edition=Revised and Updated }}
• {{cite book |last1=Seabrook |first1=Thomas Jerome |title=Bowie in Berlin: A New Career in a New Town |date=2008 |location=London |publisher=Jawbone Press |isbn=978-1-90600-208-4 }}
• {{cite book|last=Trynka|first=Paul|title=Iggy Pop: Open Up and Bleed|author-link=Paul Trynka|year=2007|url=https://archive.org/details/iggypopopenupble00tryn|url-access=registration|publisher=Broadway Books|location=New York City|isbn=978-0-76792-319-4}}

{{Refend}}

{{Iggy Pop}}

{{Siouxsie and the Banshees}}

{{Tim Burton's/Joel Schumacher's Batman}}

{{Gabry Ponte}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Passenger}}

Category:1977 singles

Category:1987 singles

Category:RCA Records singles

Category:Batman (1989 film series) music

Category:Iggy Pop songs

Category:Songs written by Iggy Pop

Category:Song recordings produced by David Bowie

Category:1977 songs

Category:American garage rock songs

Category:Black-and-white music videos

Category:2020 singles

Category:Gabry Ponte songs