The Chauffeur

The song

The origins of the lyrics for "The Chauffeur" have become part of the Duran Duran legend. In May 1980, while the band were working for Paul and Michael Berrow, who at the time ran the Rum Runner night club in Birmingham, one of the Rum Runner barmaids recommended her ex-boyfriend to be their new lead singer. Simon Le Bon auditioned in May 1980, bringing with him a book of poetry and lyrics, including the lyrics to the song which would eventually become The Chauffeur.

The word chauffeur does not appear in the lyric at any point, however the song is written from the point of view of someone who is driving another person, a woman, on a hot day.

Some versions of the song feature words at the end of the track, spoken sotto voce by a man. This monologue is taken from a natural history recording - the man is speaking about insects in the grass.

The song refrain "sing blue silver" was used as the title of the band's video covering its 1983-84 tour. A book of the same name was also produced to support the tour, showcasing still photography by official tour photographer Denis O'Regan.

The flute-like instrument heard toward the end of the song is an ocarina played by Simon Le Bon.

Music videos

The Chauffeur music video was directed by Ian Emes, a British animator and film director from Birmingham known for his work with Pink Floyd.

The Chauffeur is one of two non-single tracks on Rio to have its own music video. None of the band appear in the video. It is a moody black-and-white piece inspired in part by Liliana Cavani's 1974 film, The Night Porter, and the photography of Helmut Newton. A woman in an erotic costume is driven in a Austin Princess limousine by a uniformed chauffeur. Elsewhere, another woman dresses herself carefully in lingerie and walks through the streets of London towards a rendezvous in an abandoned multi-storey car park. The chauffeur, (Perri Lister), then removes her chauffeur uniform to reveal a topless blonde in an open-bust corset and performs a sensuous dance to the accompaniment of the instrumental coda of the song — clearly an homage to Charlotte Rampling's topless "Dance of the Seven Veils" in The Night Porter.

The video featured on the 1983 video album entitled Duran Duran. It has also been included on the 1999 "Greatest VHS compilation and 2003 "Duran Duran: Greatest — The DVD" compilation.

Song versions

1."The Chauffeur" (5:22) - The standard version of the song. Probably Duran Duran's most known non-single song.
2."The Chauffeur (Blue Silver)" (3:48) - Early acoustic demo version of the song that got its only official releases as one of the b-sides on the "Rio" single and a b-side of the Come Undone CD Single in 1994. This version of the song is almost two minutes shorter than the final version.

Track listing

All songs written by Duran Duran.

7": EMI EMI 5346 (UK)

1. "Rio" – 4:40
2. "The Chauffeur (Blue Silver)" – 3:48

CD

Capitol C2 0777 7 15981 2 8 (US: "Come Undone 2")

1. "Come Undone (US Remix)" – 4:20
2. "Falling Angel" – 3:54
3. "To the Shore" [alternate version] – 4:03
4. "The Chauffeur" ["Blue Silver" version] – 3:50

1. "US Remix" actually "Churban Mix"

CD: Part of "Singles Box Set 1981-1985" boxset

1. "Rio (Part 1)" – 5:11
2. "The Chauffeur (Blue Silver)" – 3:48
3. "Rio (Part 2)" – 5:29
4. "My Own Way" [remix] – 4:34

Appearances on other Duran Duran albums

Cover versions