"Play Dead" is a song by Icelandic singer Björk

Björk

Björk Guðmundsdóttir , known as Björk , is an Icelandic singer-songwriter. Her eclectic musical style has achieved popular acknowledgement and popularity within many musical genres, such as rock, jazz, electronic dance music, classical and folk...

, and was released as the third single from her 1993 album Debut.

Background

It is a dark piece underscored by moody strings with lyrics about acting numb to prevent emotional pain.

It was originally a non-album track recorded for the film The Young Americans

The Young Americans (film)

The Young Americans is a 1993 crime drama that marked the feature film debut of British director Danny Cannon.-Plot:Harvey Keitel plays an American cop who travels to London to apprehend a gangster who has formed a new gang of sociopathic teenagers trying to imitate American culture.-Cast:*Harvey...

and intended as a single-only release, but eventually it was added as a bonus track to international pressings of Björk's album Debut. Björk also sings on the tracks "Opening Titles" and "Leaving London" on the soundtrack CD of the film. In both the film and soundtrack, "Leaving London" crescendoes into Play Dead as a single arrangement.

Björk explained in an interview:
The song was co-written by Jah Wobble

Jah Wobble

Jah Wobble is an English bass guitarist, singer, poet and composer. He became known to a wider audience as the original bass player in Public Image Ltd in the late 1970s and early 1980s, but left the band after two albums...

 and David Arnold

David Arnold

David Arnold is an English film composer best known for scoring five James Bond films, the 1994 film Stargate, the 1996 film Independence Day, and the television series Little Britain.-Film and television career:...

, and was later remixed by Tim Simenon

Tim Simenon

Tim Simenon is a musician, composer, record producer, and label boss, most famous for his work as Bomb the Bass.-Debut:Tim Simenon's music career began aproper in the mid 1980s, DJing at London's Wag Club...

. At the time it was her most successful UK single, reaching number twelve.

A modified version of the song was also used in 1995 on the launch advert for the new Vauxhall Vectra, with the tagline "Designed for the next millennium".

Music video

The music video

Music video

A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...

 was directed by Danny Cannon

Danny Cannon

Danny Cannon is a film and television screenwriter, director and producer.- Career :Cannon began making films at the age of 16 in 1984, and started a youth experimental theatre group at 33 Arts Centre...

. In the video, Björk performs the song in an empty bar that is shown in the film. Her footage is intercut with scenes from the film that range from tenderness to violence.

Track listing

UK CD

(859 893-2; Released: October, 1993)

1. "Play Dead" (Tim Simenon 7" Remix) – 3:57
2. "Play Dead" (Tim Simenon Orchestral Mix) – 4:01
3. "Play Dead" (Tim Simenon 12" Remix) – 5:26
4. "End Titles/Play Dead" (Original Film Mix) – 3:52

UK CD

(CID 573; Released: 1993)

1. "Play Dead" (Tim Simenon 7" Remix) – 3:57
2. "Play Dead" (Tim Simenon Orchestral Mix) – 4:01
3. "Play Dead" (Tim Simenon 12" Remix) – 5:26
4. "Play Dead" (Tim Simenon Instrumental) – 3:57
5. "End Titles/Play Dead" (Original Film Mix) – 3:52

UK 12" vinyl

(12 IS 573; Released: 1993)

Side A

1. "Play Dead" (Tim Simenon 12" Remix) – 5:26
2. "Play Dead" (Tim Simenon Orchestral Mix) – 4:01

Side B

1. "Play Dead" (Tim Simenon 7" Remix) – 4:00
2. "Play Dead" (Tim Simenon Instrumental) – 3:57

UK 12" vinyl promo

(12 IS 573 DJ; Released: 1993)

Side A

1. "Play Dead" (Tim Simenon 12" Remix) – 5:26
2. "Play Dead" (Tim Simenon Orchestral Mix) – 4:01

Side B

1. "Play Dead" (Tim Simenon 7" Remix) – 4:00
2. "Play Dead" (Tim Simenon Instrumental) – 3:57

UK 7" Vinyl

(IS 573; Released: 1993)

Side A

1. "Play Dead" (Tim Simenon 7" Remix) – 4:00

Side B

1. "Play Dead" (Tim Simenon Orchestral Mix) – 4:01

EUR CD

(859 892-2; Released: 1993)

1. "Play Dead" (Tim Simenon 7" Remix) – 3:57
2. "Play Dead" (Tim Simenon Orchestral Mix) – 4:01

JPN CD

(POCP 1385; Released: 20 December 1993)

1. "Play Dead" (Tim Simenon 7" Remix) – 3:57
2. "Play Dead" (Tim Simenon Orchestral Mix) – 4:01
3. "Play Dead" (Tim Simenon 12" Remix) – 5:26
4. "End Titles/Play Dead" (Original Film Mix) – 3:52

Cover versions

• A cover of the song appears on the special edition of the album Into
  Into (album)
  Into is the fourth studio album by the Finnish rock band The Rasmus , and the first studio album to be released under the name "The Rasmus". It was originally released on October 29, 2001 by Playground Music.It is the band's first studio album with their new drummer Aki Hakala, who replaced Janne...
  
  by the Finnish band The Rasmus
  The Rasmus
  The Rasmus are a Finnish rock band that formed in 1995 in Helsinki while the band members were still in upper comprehensive school. The original band members were Lauri Ylönen , Eero Heinonen , Pauli Rantasalmi and Janne Heiskanen...
  
  . It is available on many of their singles as well, including "Madness".
• The Swedish band Pain
  Pain (Swedish band)
  Pain is a musical project from Sweden that mix Metal with influences from Electronic metal and Techno. The project started out as a hobby project for front man Peter Tägtgren, whose idea was to fuse metal with 1980's-inspired electro-industrial and techno influences...
  
   covered the song on the album Psalms of Extinction
  Psalms of Extinction
  Psalms Of Extinction is the fifth studio album by Swedish Metal band Pain, released on April 16, 2007 in Europe's Nordic Territories and May 7, 2007 in the rest of Europe. The first Pain album since their debut to lack a charting single, it hit #21 on the Swedish charts but dropped off after only...
  
  .
• The song was featured (without lyrics and with structural modifications) on the 1995 Vauxhall (Opel) Vectra advert in the UK.

Charts

{| width="0%"
|- valign="top"
| width="25%" |
{|class="wikitable"
!align="left"|Chart
!align="center"|Peak
position
|-
|align="left"|Swedish Singles Chart
|align="center"|7
|-
|align="left"|Norwegian Singles Chart
|align="center"|10
|-
|align="left"|Dutch Singles Chart
|align="center"|11
|-
|align="left"|UK Singles Chart
|align="center"|12
|-
|align="left"|Irish Singles Chart
|align="center"|16
|-
|}

External links

• List of "Play Dead" releases
• "Play Dead" information at Björk's official site