Released 1990 | Format 7" vinylCD-5 | |
Length 5:24 (album version)4:13 (radio edit) Writer(s) Peter MurphyPaul Statham | ||
"Cuts You Up" is a song by English musician Peter Murphy, from his third solo studio album, Deep (1989). It was released as a single in 1990 through Beggars Banquet Records. The song became Murphy's most successful release, topping at Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart, as well as charting on Billboard Hot 100 and Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks charts.
Contents
The live versions of the song appear in on the b-side of "You're So Close" (1992) single and Alive Just for Love live album, released in 2001.
Background and recording
"Cuts You Up" features a melodic violin line over a bed of acoustic guitars, keyboards, percussion, and bass guitar. Peter Murphy described the song as "having a very driving, acoustic quality to it and lots of sort of hooky, melodic overtones to it with a not-so-straight lyric." Producer Simon Rogers stated that "Murphy brought the song to the sessions in more-or-less its final form," describing it as "pretty much exactly like the demo."
Murphy also visualized the violin part that runs through the performance and used a sample. Rogers recruited a viola player to play the line. Nevertheless, he wasn't satisfied with the live recording of the strings, stating that "it didn't have the atmosphere and was too moody." The sample was eventually retained for the finished release.
Commercial
"Cuts You Up" was the second single from the record. It became a modern rock hit in United States in 1990, spending seven weeks at the top of the Modern Rock Tracks charts. It also charted on Billboard Hot 100 and Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks, peaking at number 55 and number 10, respectively. The single also sold over 250,000 copies in three weeks. Following its success, Deep reached number 44 on the Billboard 200 album chart.
Critical
Ned Raggett of Allmusic described the song as "a love song with solid energy and an inspired vocal" and "a perfect calling card for the album as a whole." Allmusic staff editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine also labeled the song as "Bowie-esque."
The track was also featured as number 40 on PopMatters' "The 100 Greatest Alternative Singles of the ‘80s" list.