That's When I Reach for My Revolver
"That's When I Reach for My Revolver" | |
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Song by Mission of Burma | |
from the album Signals, Calls, and Marches | |
Released | July 4, 1981 |
Genre | Post-punk |
Length | 3:53 |
Label | Ace of Hearts |
Songwriter(s) | Clint Conley |
Producer(s) | Richard W. Harte |
"That's When I Reach for My Revolver" is a song by Mission of Burma that was written and sung by band member Clint Conley. It appears on their 1981 EP Signals, Calls and Marches. Moby covered the song in 1996 and released it as a single, reaching number fifty on the UK Singles Chart.
The title is a reference to the often-mistranslated quotation commonly attributed to Hermann Göring -- "When I hear the word 'culture', that's when I reach for my revolver" -- the actual quote is "Wenn ich Kultur höre ... entsichere ich meinen Browning!" This translates as: "Whenever I hear [the word] 'culture'... I remove the safety from my Browning!" The line is uttered by the character Thiemann in Act 1, Scene 1 of the play Schlageter, written by Hanns Johst.
Catherine Wheel version
Catherine Wheel recorded a version of "That's When I Reach for My Revolver" for their 1992 EP 30 Century Man. Notably, the song also features slightly altered lyrics from the original, such as the replacement of "The spirit fights to find its way" with "That feeling passes by this way".
Moby version
"That's When I Reach for My Revolver" | ||||
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Single by Moby | ||||
from the album Animal Rights | ||||
B-side |
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Released | August 26, 1996 | |||
Format | ||||
Recorded | 1996 | |||
Genre | Alternative rock | |||
Length | 3:55 | |||
Label | ||||
Songwriter(s) | Clint Conley | |||
Producer(s) | Moby | |||
Moby singles chronology | ||||
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American musician Moby covered the song in 1996 and released it as the first single from his fourth studio album Animal Rights on August 26, 1996. It reached number 50 on the UK Singles Chart.[1]
The original version of "That's When I Reach for My Revolver" had a substantially different lyric. Among which is "Tonight the sky is empty/But that is nothing new/Its dead eyes look upon us/And they tell me we're nothing but slaves." Moby provided an alternate vocal track to permit airplay on MTV; with subdued lyrics, the video version was retitled as "That's When I Realize It's Over".[2]
Track listing
- CD single (CDMUTE184)
- "That's When I Reach for My Revolver" (single version) – 3:55
- "Lovesick" – 1:05
- "Displaced" – 1:25
- "Sway" – 6:51
- CD single (LCDMUTE184)
- "That's When I Reach for My Revolver" (The Rollo & Sister Bliss Vocal Mix) – 10:20
- "Every One of My Problems" – 3:14
- "God Moving over the Face of the Waters" (Heat Mix) – 5:45
- "Dark" – 4:21
- 12-inch single (12MUTE184)
- "That's When I Reach for My Revolver" (The Rollo & Sister Bliss Vocal Mix) – 10:20
- "That's When I Reach for My Revolver" (The Rollo & Sister Bliss Instrumental Mix) – 10:10
- 12-inch single (0-63953)
- "That's When I Reach for My Revolver" (Moby's Mix) – 6:52
- "That's When I Reach for My Revolver" (Psychotic Ve-Gun Mix Edit – Vocal Dub) – 6:58
- "That's When I Reach for My Revolver" (Moby's Mix 1 Edit) – 3:44
- "That's When I Reach for My Revolver" (The Rollo & Sister Bliss Vocal Mix) – 10:20
Charts
Chart (1996) | Peak position |
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Belgium (Ultratip Flanders)[3] | 14 |
Belgium Dance (Ultratop)[4] | 12 |
Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)[5] | 14 |
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[1] | 50 |
UK Dance (Official Charts Company)[6] | 30 |
Graham Coxon version
Graham Coxon recorded a version of "That's When I Reach for My Revolver" for his second album The Golden D, released in 2000. This song was never released as a single but was a b-side to Oochy Woochy and is sometimes used in Coxon's live sets.
Notes
- 1 2 "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved May 10, 2014.
- ↑ Milner, Greg (2002). "The undeniable truth about Burma". Salon.com. Salon. Retrieved 2 October 2013.
- ↑ "Ultratop.be – Moby – That's When I Reach for My Revolver" (in Dutch). Ultratip. Retrieved March 1, 2018.
- ↑ "Ultratop Dance – 14/09/1996" (in Dutch). Ultratop Dance. Retrieved March 1, 2018.
- ↑ "Moby: That's When I Reach for My Revolver" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved March 1, 2018.
- ↑ "Official Dance Singles Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 1, 2018.