# The Chauffeur

"The Chauffeur" is a song by English pop rock band Duran Duran. It is the ninth and final song on their second album Rio, released on 10 May 1982.

## Background

The lyrics of the song were first written by Simon Le Bon as a poem, which he later used when he was auditioning for the band in 1980. The lyrics were later used in "The Chauffeur".

## Composition and lyrics

"The Chauffeur" has been described as a dark-gothic romantic track with the help of keyboards from Nick Rhodes when recording of the song first started. AllMusic reviewer Donald Guarisco wrote that "Simon Le Bon croons the lyrics in a lascivious fashion against a purely electronic soundscape composed of icy synthesisers and throbbing drum machines" and that the song "avoids conventional pop song structure in favour of staccato phrases that meander high and low in a dreamy fashion". British music magazine Classic Pop described the song as a "sinister synth-infused comedown".
Tom Ewing of Freaky Trigger calls it a dub record: "The bass drops out, the beats drop in, the skinny digital tick-tock start-stop of them is interweaved with found sounds (casino chips dropping, the creak of metal, looped and warped speech) and more beat hiss, the last two minutes bring the flute back, echo it." Ewing also highlights other unusual elements in the track, including "the skronky sound of a guitar pretending to crack" at 0:15, the bass (which "rears, buzzes [and] purrs" throughout) glitching at 1:00 and 1:08, and the synth flute solo at 2:15 that switches the song into an art rock-styled march.

## Critical reception

The song was highly received by critics and gained popularity despite never being released as a single. Some even consider it to be one of the band's best.
In a review of "The Chauffeur", AllMusic reviewer Donald Guarisco praised the song, calling it "one of the finest" and a "hypnotic ballad that has assumed an almost mythic status among the group's fans". He also wrote that the song "provided a stylish finale for the group's successful Rio album". The A.V. Club's Stephen Erlewine described the song as a standout from Rio and ranked it the sixth-best song from Duran Duran's catalogue. Gold Derby called the song "poetry and sex put to music, hypnotic and beautiful". Ewing contended that only ABBA "were making more ominous chart music", saying of Duran Duran's track: "This is experimental exploitative peacock music, absurd but lovely. Right now, with authenticity and camp, art and pop so rigorously patrolled, it's kept that rarest of qualities – the element of surprise."

## Music video

The accompanying music video for "The Chauffeur" was directed by Ian Emes and draws inspiration from the 1974 film The Night Porter. The video features a woman in an erotic costume driven in an Austin Princess limousine by a uniformed chauffeur. Elsewhere, another woman dresses herself carefully in lingerie and walks through the streets of London towards a rendezvous in an abandoned multi-storey car park. The chauffeur (Perri Lister) then removes her chauffeur uniform to reveal a topless blonde in an open-bust corset and performs a sensuous dance to the accompaniment of the instrumental coda of the song.
Due to the content of the music video, it was blocked from appearing on MTV.

## Legacy

The song has been covered by many notable artists. American alternative metal band Deftones covered the song on their 2005 compilation album B-Sides & Rarities and was later featured on their 2011 compilation album Covers. The song was featured on the 2010 soundtrack album Greenberg by James Murphy. American alternative rock band Warpaint covered the song as part of a Duran Duran tribute album in 2014.

## Track listings

7-inch: EMI / EMI 5346 United Kingdom
* "Rio" – 4:40
* "The Chauffeur (Blue Silver)" – 3:48
* Track 1 is the "single version".
* Track 2 is the "early version", and is a shorter acoustic version of the moody album track.
7-inch: EMI / EMI 5346 United Kingdom
* "Rio" – 5:11
* "The Chauffeur (Blue Silver)" – 3:48
* Track 1 is "Rio" (part 1).
Note: Two different versions of this single were available in the UK, both with identical sleeves and labels.
CD: Part of Singles Box Set 1981–1985
* "Rio" (part 1) – 5:11
* "The Chauffeur (Blue Silver)" – 3:48
* "Rio" (part 2) – 5:29
* "My Own Way" (Carnival remix) – 4:34

## Personnel

Duran Duran
* Simon Le Bon – lead vocals, ocarina
* Nick Rhodes – keyboards
* John Taylor – bass guitar
* Roger Taylor – drums, percussion
* Andy Taylor – lead guitar
Technical
* Colin Thurston – producer and engineer