Marillion “Going Under” released as B-side

Going Under Marillion

Writer(s): Fish (lyrics), Mark Kelly, Ian Mosley, Steve Rothery, Pete Trewavas (music) (see lyrics here) Released: May 11, 1987 First Charted: -- Peak: 1 DF (Click for codes to singles charts.) Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 0.23 video, -- streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: At the time of the release of Marillion’s fourth album, Clutching at Straws, it wasn’t uncommon to add a bonus track to the compact disc release to entice more CD buyers. In this case, the song “Going Under” was added to the album after the third cut, “That Time of the Night.” The song was also released as the B-side of “Incommunicado,” the album’s first single. I was still a cassette guy at the time. Of course I bought the tape as soon as possible, but it didn’t make much sense to get the CD when I didn’t own a CD player. However, the prospect of yet another Marillion song was too inviting. I was at college in the time and living in the dorm. My friend Steve, who lived across the hall, did have a CD player. I broke down and bought the CD more than six months after the album had been released and, whenever Steve would put up with it, invited myself into his room to put on the song. In the context of the album’s themes of a narrator struggling to deal with alcoholism and unemployment and being away from his family, the song finds Torch, the narrator, “languishing in the depths of his depression, close to giving up and taking the final way out.” JC The lyric was “written on the spur of the moment over a [Steve] Rothery guitar motif.” JC Keyboardist Mark Kelly said, it was “very much a snapshot of what was going on at the time.” JC Resources: DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Marillion DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Fish DMDB page for “Incommunicado” JC Jon Collins (2003). Separated Out. Helter Skelter Publishing: London, England. Page 73. WK Wikipedia Related Links: First posted 7/3/2022.