Chains
"Chains" is a song by The Raveonettes, originally released on the album, Whip It On in 2002. It was covered by Dave Gahan and Kurt Uenala and released on the album, Rip It Off, on January 24, 2023.
Lyrics
(from original recording)
Delinquent girl
And all her angels on death row
Alcoholic Ann
Violent girl
Another angel on death row
Dangerous Dorothy
Citizen girl
Beatific angel on death row
They thought they could change
But one thing's for sure
That all the angels never die
Dave's Take
"I was just happy to be asked to do it and come up with a twist on the tragic characters in the song. She's a little psychedelic and a little rock'n'roll."1
My Take
This is a very simple punk rock-sounding song, with a driving beat and menacing guitar riff. The droning vocals by both Sune Rose Wagner and Sharin Foo tell the story about 3 women who seem to be on the road to destruction- the first is "delinquent", the second is "violent", and the third has the curiously non-threatening characteristic of "citizen". But they all have one thing in common- all of their angels are on "death row" though they will "never die." Does that mean that these women have the hope of being saved? It sure seems like it. And what is up with the third "citizen girl", anyway? It almost sounds like this one may be leading a good life in the present, but is predicted to go down the wrong path and will eventually need the aid of a guardian angel to save her, too. This will be a very intriguing song to hear Dave sing because each woman has a similar story to Dave's own past life and I have no doubt that he can probably relate to each of them. I will also be very intrigued to hear Kurt Uenala's musical treatment of this song since he likes to use purely electronic sounds. I am also wondering if his version will be slower and moodier to give it a much darker sound overall.
Dave and Kurt's version is slower but not by much. The music also sounds slightly less urgent as the instrumentation (all purely electronic as predicted) is a little more sparse. The machine-like percussion sounds are also somewhat reminiscent of old-school DM. Dave's vocals have a drone-like quality to them, but they are also heavily processed. For me, I must admit that this does nothing more except whet my appetite for more of Dave's soulful singing, whether it be with DM or someone else. Fortunately, the wait should not be too long now!
Music Video
There is no music video for this song.