Peak
5
Weeks
24
Score
3,523
Chart Year
1983
The music video, their first after Honeyman-Scott's death and Farndon's firing in 1982, featured Hynde and Chambers, the only two remaining Pretenders at that time. The video was directed by Don Letts and begins with shots of people jumping in the sky, before dissolving into a shot of people walking across London Bridge; Chambers is among the crowd, as Hynde watches him from the railing of Waterloo Bridge. She follows him around. Chambers arrives at a building and walks into a supposed office; as soon as he walks off-screen; Hynde enters and as she walks further, the "office" dissolves as a backdrop to a chain gang using pickaxes to excavate chalk cliffs. Hynde walks through the quarry; she sees that Chambers is on the chain gang. More shots of people jumping alternate with more shots of people walking across the bridge.
This is a tribute to James Honeyman-Scott, the Pretenders guitarist who died of a drug overdose in 1982 at age 26. Scott's death was followed by bass player Pete Farndon's 10 months later. Farndon had been kicked out of the band because of his drug problems and died of an overdose. The "picture of you" Chrissie Hynde sings about is a picture she found in her wallet of Ray Davies, leader of the band The Kinks. Hynde and Davies were a couple and had a daughter together. This song started off about him, but the meaning changed when Honeyman-Scott died. This is a very emotional song. Chrissie Hynde would sometimes tear up when performing it. A Chain Gang is a group of convicts who are chained together while they do manual labor, usually outside. This was the first Pretenders single featuring Billy Bremner and Tony Butler, who replaced Farndon and Honeyman-Scott. This was released as a single almost two years before the album came out.
I found a picture of you, oh oh oh oh What hijacked my world that night To a place in the past We've been cast out of? Oh oh oh oh Now we're back in the fight We're back on the train Oh, back on the chain gang A circumstance beyond our control, oh oh oh oh The phone, the TV and the news of the world Got in the house like a pigeon from hell, oh oh oh oh Threw sand in our eyes and descended like flies Put us back on the train Oh, back on the chain gang The powers that be That force us to live like we do Bring me to my knees When I see what they've done to you But I'll die as I stand here today Knowing that deep in my heart They'll fall to ruin one day For making us part I found a picture of you, oh oh oh oh Those were the happiest days of my life Like a break in the battle was your part, oh oh oh oh In the wretched life of a lonely heart Now we're back on the train Oh, back on the chain gang
| Week | Chart Date | Position | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dec 11, 1982 | 88 | 38 |
| 2 | Dec 18, 1982 | 76 | 50 |
| 3 | Dec 25, 1982 | 63 | 63 |
| 4 | Jan 1, 1983 | 63 | 63 |
| 5 | Jan 8, 1983 | 56 | 70 |
| 6 | Jan 15, 1983 | 50 | 76 |
| 7 | Jan 22, 1983 | 46 | 80 |
| 8 | Jan 29, 1983 | 32 | 94 |
| 9 | Feb 5, 1983 | 26 | 100 |
| 10 | Feb 12, 1983 | 22 | 104 |
| 11 | Feb 19, 1983 | 19 | 107 |
| 12 | Feb 26, 1983 | 11 | 115 |
| 13 | Mar 5, 1983 | 9 | 117 |
| 14 | Mar 12, 1983 | 6 | 120 |
| 15 | Mar 19, 1983 | 5 | 121 |
| 16 | Mar 26, 1983 | 5 | 121 |
| 17 | Apr 2, 1983 | 5 | 121 |
| 18 | Apr 9, 1983 | 14 | 112 |
| 19 | Apr 16, 1983 | 18 | 108 |
| 20 | Apr 23, 1983 | 21 | 105 |