Adam In Chains (song)

"Shock To The System"
"****Adam In Chains****"
"Venus"

"**Adam In Chains**" is a song performed by Billy Idol. It serves as the sixth track on Billy's fifth album, Cyberpunk. It was released on September, 1993, as the third official single of the album.

## Background

Aside from the song's music video, Idol also performed the song live on The Arsenio Hall Show in July 23, 1993, along with the *Cyberpunk* track "Wasteland". The track failed to chart in the UK, however it did chart in France at No. 5 and Poland at No. 35.

A music video for "Adam In Chains" was directed by Julien Temple. It depicted Billy Idol bound in a chair with a chip inserted into his neck as he is monitored by scientists. He struggles before being hypnotized, and is then inserted into a virtual reality simulator. There he is treated to an ethereal water fantasy. Idol eventually rejects the fantasy, which is consumed in flames as, in the real world, his body violently convulses. The scientists end the experiment and Idol is brought back into reality, only to fall unconscious. There was also a shorter version of the video featuring an edited intro and female backing vocals, using different shots than the full-length video.

## Music and composition

Within the biography section of the custom floppy disk included with the press pack edition of the *Cyberpunk* album, the song was described by Mark Frauenfelder:

> "Here's a prayer for the tomorrow people and power junkies. Can we find the door to our inner self and challenge our spiritual demons? Can new technologies, such as VR and brainwave entertainment devices become new channels for self-realization?"
>
>

In a 1993 interview, Mark Younger-Smith, who played keyboards and guitar on the *Cyberpunk* album, commented on the song's origins: "The more techno-y and intense songs like "Heroin," "Adam In Chains," and "Venus," started out as a sequenced track laden with keyboards. First we'd set a mood, then Billy would create a lyric."

## Critical reception

*Musician*, in a 1993 issue, described the song as "New Age lull". Robert Christgau, in his review of *Cyberpunk*, commented: "So "Adam in Chains," which after a long spoken intro devolves into what a vulgarian might take for his latest love-gone-bad rant, is in fact "a prayer for the tomorrow people and power junkies."" AXS.com later featured the song as one of Idol's "five most underrated songs" in a retrospective look back over Idol's recording career. Writer Kareem Gantt felt the song was a "gem" from a "subpar" album and commented: "It's a weird song, for sure, but it's a single that you won't be able to pull from once you hear it."

## Lyrics

[Intro]

Do you want to be hypnotized?

All you have to do is move your body

In what ever way feels comfortable for you

Just let yourself sink into the groove

And move

Fix your eyes on a spot

It doesn't matter where

Just fix your eyes on one spot

Begin to relax

Feel your mind and body

Beginning to wind down

Wind down, wind down and relax

If you have any thoughts

Just let them drift through your mind

Like beautiful clouds

Across a clear blue sky

Just through your mind and away from you

Through your mind and away

As you relax

Deeper, deeper and deeper relax

Just let go of stress and tension

Let go of worry and doubt and relax

Imagine a staircase standing in front of you

With ten wide, safe stairs

Down, down to a perfect relaxation

Down to peace and contentment

Down towards the happiness that you deserve

And as I count down from ten

Take one step with each number

One step down

10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1

Deeper, deeper, deeper... relax

That's it... just let go, and relax

[Verse 1]

You've stolen my heart it's true

You see the shape of things to come

Why give up our lives

To the brutes and fools

Tear it all apart

You see the shape of things to come

Why this, now girl?

Will we kill each other?

[Chorus]

Like Adam in chains

I want revenge

Like Adam in chains

I want revenge

Adam in chains

[Verse 2]

They've broken your heart

Ah yeah, they're gonna tear your world apart

Why make up a lie

And believe it's true

Ah, tear it all apart

I know the shape of things to come

Why this, now girl?

Will we murder each other?

[Chorus]

Adam in chains

I want revenge

Like Adam in chains

I want revenge

Like Adam in chains

I want revenge

Want revenge

[Outro]

In the mind of a madman

There are colour explosions

An eclipse of emotion

Why tear our world apart?

Why tear it all apart?

Why tear our world apart, girl?

## Official versions

* Album version — 06:24
* Adam In Chains (Radio Edit) — 03:46
* Adam In Chains (Music Video II) — 03:45

## Music video

 **Location** | Los Angeles, United States

## Audio

### YouTube

Billy Idol - Wasteland + Adam In Chains (Live at The Arsenio Hall Show)
## Credits

**Personnel**

* Billy Idol — songwriting, vocals, keyboards, programming, arranger
* Mark Younger-Smith — guitars, keyboards, programming, arranger
* Robin Hancock — producer, arrangement, mixing, engineer, programming, keyboards
* Doug Wimbish — bass
* Tal Bergman — drums
* Robert Farago — spoken vocals
* Jo Henwood — backing vocals
* Ross Donaldson — additional engineering
* Ed Korengo, Mike Baumgartner — assistant mixers
* Stephen Marcussen — mastering engineering

**Technical**

* Billy's Home Studio, Los Angeles, CA, United States

## References

1. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdR6F8nlPow
2. ↑ http://www.tv.com/shows/the-arsenio-hall-show/july-23-1993-1880837/
3. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQHM4KmDstM
4. ↑ https://books.google.com/books?id=kJ4JAQAAMAAJ
5. ↑ https://books.google.com/books?id=d90aAQAAMAAJ
6. ↑ https://www.robertchristgau.com/get\_artist.php?name=Billy+Idol
7. ↑ https://www.axs.com/uk/billy-idol-s-five-most-underrated-songs-67911

## Navigation

"**Wasteland**"
"Pre-Shock"
"**Shock To The System**"
"Tomorrow People"
"****Adam In Chains****"
"**Neuromancer**"

"That Which Beareth Thorns"
"Love Labours On"
"**Heroin**"
"Injection"
"Shangrila"
"Concrete Kingdom"

"**Venus**"
"Then The Night Comes"
"Before Dawn"
"Mother Dawn"
"Recap"