Incommunicado (song)

Single infobox
Name = Incommunicado


Artist = Marillion
Album = Clutching at Straws
A-side = Incommunicado
B-side = Going Under
Released = May 11 1987
Format = 7" single, 12" single, 12" picture disc, cassette single, CD single
Recorded = 1987
Genre = Progressive Rock
Length = 6:44 (7" single), 13:58 (12", CD single)
Label = EMI
Writer = Marillion
Producer = Chris Kimsey
Audio sample? =
Chart position = #4 (UK)
Reviews =
Last single = "Lady Nina" (U.S. only) (1986)
This single = "Incommunicado" (1988)
Next single = "Sugar Mice" (1988)

Incommunicado is the lead single of Marillion's fourth studio album, "Clutching at Straws". Released 11 May 1987, it reached no. 6 in the UK Singles Chart, becoming the band's third top-ten hit, the last until 2004. The A-side is a fast, anthemic rock song with a repetitive chorus and a dominant keyboard sound, somewhat reminiscent of "Market Square Heroes". The extended version on the twelve inch and CD singles is slightly longer than the album version and features some additional sound effects. The b-side, the short, slow and introspective "Going Under", would also appear as a bonus track on the CD version of "Clutching at Straws", in a slightly different version. Both tracks were written and arranged by Marillion and produced by Chris Kimsey.

Listen|filename=Marillion_incommunicado.ogg|title="Incommunicado"
description=Sample of "Incommunicado" from "Clutching at Straws" (1987)|format=Oggsample box endThe cover was again designed by Mark Wilkinson; however, instead of the usual airbrush style, it was a collage based on a colourised photograph of fans waiting outside the Marquee Club, then still in Wardour Street. Only the eccentrically dressed, pivotal "angel" character standing at the door apart from the crowd, was painted in Wilkinson's traditional style. The scene alludes to the song's main topic, success alienating artists from their fans and reality in general. On the back cover there is a quotation supposedly from Seneca the Younger's "Moral Epistles" ("This mime of mortal life, in which we are apportioned roles we misinterpret.")

Track listing

7" single

ide A

#"Incommunicado" (single edit) – 4:00

ide B

#"Going Under" – 2:44

12" single

ide A

#"Incommunicado" (alternative mix) – 5:57

ide B

#"Going Under" – 2:44
#"Incommunicado" (album version) – 5:17