Silent Running (On Dangerous Ground) by Mike + the Mechanics

Album: Mike & The Mechanics (1985)

Charted: 21 6

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Songfacts®:

Mike Rutherford, the "Mike" of Mike + The Mechanics, wrote this song with the Scottish musician B.A. Robertson, his frequent collaborator. "It was really about time travel," Rutherford said in a Songfacts interview. "The story is about the idea that this father of the family is ahead in time, so he can look back and see what's going to happen in England, and it's not good. He's trying to get a message back to his family to warn them that the impending disaster is coming. Hence the line, 'Can you hear me, can you hear me calling you?'"
The phrase "Silent Running" doesn't show up in the lyric; it's a reference to the storyline where the father keeps asking if the son can hear him running. The subtitle, "On Dangerous Ground," has nothing to do with the song - that was added to promote the film of that name which used it. That promotion was mostly wasted, as in America the film was released under the title Choke Canyon (On Dangerous Ground was the UK title). The film fared poorly but the song became a hit. American listeners were left to wonder why the song was subtitled.
Paul Carrack, known for his work in Roxy Music, Squeeze and Ace, sang lead on this track. He and Paul Young (from Sad Café, not the guy from "Everytime You Go Away") were the vocalists in the group, as Mike Rutherford learned on his previous solo album, Acting Very Strange, that he couldn't sing very well. Carrack recorded this track during his first Mike + the Mechanics session.
This was the first Mike + The Mechanics single. Rutherford formed the group when Genesis took a break in 1984. He had released two solo albums that were well received in the UK, but decided he was better off as part of a band with someone else singing lead. When "Silent Running" took off, it proved the viability of the project, especially in America. The next single, "All I Need Is A Miracle," was also a hit, putting Mike + The Mechanics in the same league with Rutherford's bandmate Phil Collins, who had already made his mark as a solo artist.

The group reached even greater heights with their next album, Living Years, in 1988. The title track was a #1 hit in America.
The album version runs 6:10; the single was cut down to 4:10.
The video was directed by Jim Yukich, who did most of the Genesis videos. It incorporates footage from the movie in which it was used (Choke Canyon) but has its own storyline, complete with dialog. Early on, a ghostly figure arrives and hands a key to a young boy, telling him, "You don't know me, but I knew your father. He wanted me to give you this."

The rest of the video is filled with flashbacks (and more dialog) to the father before he left for the future, along with footage of the band members performing the song and incongruent scenes from Choke Canyon. The boy eventually finds a magic cube that takes him to another dimension where he can be with his father. In end, we see Mike + The Mechanics performing the song in a club.

The video is rather disjointed, but it has strong production value and eye-catching special effects, which was good enough for MTV. The network put the video in rotation, which helped break the song in America.

As for how it came together, Rutherford told Songfacts: "The song came first and it kind of married up to the movie to get a good video quickly."
B.A. Robertson came up with the song's hook, "Can you hear me, can you hear me running," but he figured it was just a temporary line until they could come up with something better. When Rutherford heard it, he thought it worked very well and insisted they use it as the basis for the story.
There is a 1972 sci-fi movie called Silent Running starring Bruce Dern, but it has nothing to do with this song. Rutherford told Songfacts that he hadn't heard of the film when he wrote the song.

Comments: 10

Lk from PennsylvaniaIt always made me think it was a Red Dawn scenario. We were taken over by another country and didn't fight. But someday our children will and win back our country.
Arejay from FlYou're not alone. Nothing stops what's coming. Nothing.
Dw from PaGreat song and good info, except Carrack is not really known for his work with Roxy Music. He did a bit of session work from '78 to '81, but most people are not aware of that. He is better known for his work with Ace, Squeeze, and Mike and the Mechanics, plus his solo work (in that order).
Pac Mac from FloridaThis song was written by vietnam vets, I was told regarding the fall of Siagon in 1972, there abouts. Very controversial and offensive for those who fought, and those who died to free the Vietnamese people. However, those vets, many had girlfriends they left there. My memory about this song seems right. But, if memory is faulty, tell me the back story, I would love to know if I'm right or wrong. Think I'm right though. Thanks! Any one.
Jen from TexasGreat song. I heard it today for the first time in so many decades. This and Land Of Confusion are just two songs from the past that point to today's headlines and the people who read them. So many are still confused. One commenter here seems to fit the bill, sorry if that's upsetting. We need to step back from our preconceived notions and really try to discern the truth in these last days, because all MSM sources give more propaganda than most countries that are known for it. Our own resident brought up the NWO just the other day. Wake up before it's too late and the whole world is just like these songs. Take care and stay free.
Artimus from CaliforniaYou know why you are here, patriot. You have seen what the tyrants have done. Rutherford said the song is about time travel. Indeed, the song contains instructions written in the 80's for the unfolding dystopia. Be prepared.
Danny from CaliforniaKay said Newsmax plays Silent Running. Very odd. Newsmax is one of the reasons I'm worried about our country. I left Texas for California to be in a saner state, but ended up retiring in an almost as looney as Texas small town.

Silent Running is science fiction. Using it in the U.S. Culture Wars is typical right wing misdirection. The lyrics mistrust church and state and dismiss patriotism. Yet the political right demands Evangelical votes but moral Evangelical values get betrayed. The right mixes the flag and the cross in an idolatrous slogan as if they are equal.

I'll admit the right hates the state as a traditional pillar of society alongside business and the church. When the state resists oligarchy and supports democracy, it's attacked as the deep state.

I recommend reading "American Nations".

https://wapo.st/3y1eIed

America has almost fallen to Trinidad plantation slaver values, but there is hope yet if people from the Left Coast, Yankeedom and the Midlands can resist the conspiracy theories, the anti-vaccinators, the deception foisted by oligarchs and the hatred of any narrative but that of Fifield and his anti New Deal ilk (he didn't even truly believe in Jesus).

An excerpt from
"One Nation Under God: How Corporate America Created Christian America".

https://bit.ly/2W3szUu

As a political moderate, born Midlander and follower of Jesus since 2008, I can only pray for this country torn apart by the political extremes.
Rob from GeorgiaThis song from 1985 is prophetic. Trust has been lost in govt and churches and media. People are honoring flags that only serve to divide us. Pray to God is the only way.
Kell from California Kay, I was thinking the exact same thing. Very scary.
Kay from California This is happening before our very eyes. Newsmax plays it, my heart is heavy and sad with what is happening to our Country, in the USA.

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