The Passenger (song)
| "The Passenger" | |
|---|---|
| Song | |
| B-side | "She's Cuckoo", "Something Blue" |
"The Passenger" is a song by proto-punk artist Iggy Pop. This song was first released on the Lust for Life album in 1977; it was also released as the B-side of the album's only single, "Success".
The lyrics, written by Iggy Pop allegedly aboard Berlin's S-Bahn, have been interpreted as embodying the nomadic spirit of the punk outcast. The music was written by guitarist Ricky Gardiner. Whilst possessed of a distinctive riff, "The Passenger" is perhaps most recognizable by its chorus of repeated "la-la" scatting on which David Bowie originally sang backup.
English punk rock band Siouxsie & the Banshees covered "The Passenger" in 1987 for their all-cover-versions album Through the Looking Glass. Released as the second single from that album, it peaked at number forty-one in the UK singles chart.
Selective list of recorded versions
- 1977 Iggy Pop on Lust for Life
- 1987 Siouxsie and the Banshees, on the covers-album Through the Looking Glass
- 1995 Michael Hutchence, of INXS, on the Batman Forever soundtrack
- 1999 R.E.M. on the single "At My Most Beautiful" (a live performance from Later with Jools Holland)
- 2005 B.I.T. Heads feat. Sofia, on the compilation album Re:play - Dance Rock Mania
- 2006 MC Lars uses a sample from "The Passenger" for the track "Download This Song", on his album The Graduate
- Lunachicks did a cover for the We Will Fall: The Iggy Pop Tribute album
- 2006 Belgian group Absynthe Minded did a cover for the Windkracht 10 soundtrack album
In the media
The song has been featured in the movie Radiofreccia, TV spots for the film Waking Life, the television show 30 Days, the film Jarhead and the 2002 video game Mat Hoffman's Pro BMX 2. More recently, the film The Weather Man featured the song on its soundtrack.