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"The Passenger" is a song by Iggy Pop and Ricky Gardiner, recorded and released by Iggy Pop 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. Guitarist Ricky Gardiner composed the music. While it possesses a distinctive riff, "The Passenger" is perhaps most recognizable by its chorus, on which David Bowie sings back-up. The song is loosely based on a poem by Jim Morrison.[1][2]

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 [hide*1 In the media

In the media[edit][]

The song has been featured in the movies This Must Be the PlaceRadiofreccia, TV spots for the film Waking Life, the television show 30 Days, the filmJarhead and the 2002 video game Mat Hoffman's Pro BMX 2. More recently, the films Up in the Air and The Weather Man featured the song on its teaser trailer, and is played in a shop early in the film. It can also be heard in Kurt Cobain About a Son, the documentary exploration of the life and influences of the late musicianScarface: The World Is Yours includes the song on its music selection menu. It was also used in a series of Kohl's commercials advertising the new "Simply Vera" line of clothing designed by Vera WangGuinness used the song for a television advertisement featuring an airplane flying through a pint-glass-shaped valley with clouds representing the beer's foamy head. The instrumental lead-in riff of this song is also the intro theme music for the CNN program Anderson Cooper 360. The song is also included in the music/rhythm game Lego Rock Band, complete with a Lego-style avatar of Iggy Pop at vocals. In 2012, the song was played in the Season 5 episode of Sons of Anarchy.

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 piano and a flute.[3]

The song has been used in various TV commercials around the world such as for the Avensis car in 1998 and Captain Morgan in 2011. It was re-released as a single in the UK in 1998 in the wake of the Toyota Avensis commercial, peaking at #22. It was used in a Dublin Bus commercial in Ireland.

It was also included in the book The Pitchfork Media 500: Our Guide to the Greatest Songs from Punk to the Present published in 2008.

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.[4]

Siouxsie and the Banshees version[edit][]

"The Passenger"
[1]
Single by Siouxsie and the Banshees
from the album Through the Looking Glass
B-side "She's Cuckoo", "Something Blue"
Released March 20, 1987
Format 7" single, 12" single
Recorded 1986-1987
Genre Alternative rock
Label Polydor
Producer(s) Siouxsie and the Banshees

Mike Hedges

Siouxsie and the Banshees singles chronology
"This Wheel's on Fire"

(1987)

"The Passenger"

(1987)

"Song from the Edge of the World"

(1987)

English rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees covered "The Passenger" for their all-cover-versions album Through the Looking Glass. The group revamped the song by adding brass arrangements. Released as the second single from that album, it peaked at #41 in the UK singles chart.

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... The hornthing is good..."[5]

Other cover versions[edit][]

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