Siouxsie Sioux & Iggy Pop Recorded New Version Of “The Passenger” For Ice Cream Commercial
“The Passenger” is one of those songs. To be able to sing “The Passenger” properly, you have to summon levels of intensity that few vocalists could even approach. Iggy Pop co-wrote and recorded the icy, anthemic original for his classic 1977 solo album Lust For Life. A decade later, Siouxsie And the Banshees recorded a version of the song, releasing it as a single from their 1987 covers album Through The Looking Glass. Now, Iggy Pop and Siouxsie Sioux, two of the most intense singers of all time, have recorded a new duet version of “The Passenger,” and it’s Siouxsie’s first new music in nine years. The twist: they did it for an ice cream ad.
Siouxsie Sioux is a mysterious figure who doesn’t record new music often. In 2015, she released the one-off track “Love Crime,” which she recorded for the Hannibal series finale. It was her first solo music in eight years, and then she went quiet for another nine. Last year, she returned to the stage, playing in both Europe and America for the first time in a decade. At the Cruel World fest in California, she debuted “Israel,” a new song that still hasn’t come out. But now she’s singing “The Passenger” in an ad for Magnum ice cream bars.
In the ad, some lady eats an ice cream bar while riding on a train. In the background, we hear the historically heavy croaks of both Iggy Pop and Siouxsie Sioux singing a dramatic version of “The Passenger” that sounds like one of those movie-trailer remixes. But no — it’s new. It’s a minute long, and you can’t even hear it without the crunch sound effects.
Apparently, this ad has been out for a few weeks, but I guess nobody noticed. As Brooklyn Vegan points out, both Iggy Pop and Siouxsie Sioux have issued press-release statements about their participation. Siouxsie says, “I love this song, and I’ve always loved Iggy’s voice. I adore how instinctive and spontaneous it all feels, and to hear my voice with Iggy’s is such a dream.” Meanwhile, Iggy Pop says, ““Siouxsie can sing like a bird. I’ve always thought she was a great lady. Her version of the song was already special, but what happened here, singing together, is really unique. Like ‘Volare,’ the orchestral treatment and marriage of voices flies free, in a spirit of joy.”
Below, watch the ad in question, as well as Iggy Pop and Siouxsie And The Banshees’ videos for their respective versions of “The Passenger.”