"(Reach Up for The) Sunrise" is a song by the English pop rock band Duran Duran. It was released as the lead single from their eleventh studio album, Astronaut (2004) and their 31st single overall. It was the first single since "A View to a Kill" in 1985 to feature all five of the original members of the band. The song was sent to US radio on 30 August 2004 and was issued physically over the following few months. Upon its release, "Sunrise" debuted and peaked at number five on the UK Singles Chart, giving the band their 14th top-10 hit in their native country. It was highly successful in Italy, where it reached number two, as well as in Denmark and Spain, peaking at number six in both countries. In the United States, the single topped the Billboard Dance Club Songs chart, Duran Duran's third and last song to do so.

Composition

Upon its release, Simon Le Bon described it as a "dancefloor song that says everything about the band, about saying goodbye to the darkness and hello to the light." One reviewer found the song related to Duran Duran's 1981 hit "Planet Earth"; "sharing the same minor key and armed with a similar, Velcro-coated chorus."

Chart performance

"Sunrise" peaked at number five on the UK Singles Chart in October 2004 and reached number one on the US Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart on 4 December 2004. The Jason Nevins newly produced version is the main version of the song. It marked the band's first top ten in the UK since "Ordinary World" and their highest-charting single since "A View to a Kill, even though its chart stay was only four weeks. Elsewhere, the song reached number six in Denmark and Spain and number two in Italy, where it became the soundtrack of a telephone advertising campaign.

Music video

The video was directed by Michael and Mark Polish (aka the Polish Brothers), and featured each band member on their own journey across various landscapes, only to be joined together on a stage before an intense sunrise for the chorus. Each band member's storyline was filmed in a different film or digital format, creating a very different look for each set of scenes. Several versions of the video were made available on the Internet, with each version focusing on the storyline of one band member. The band plays the Jason Nevins version live in concert. Nevins has co-production credit, to which he is credited in the liner notes on the album.

Track listings

UK CD1 and European CD single UK CD2 German mini-CD single US CD single Australian CD single

Personnel

Duran Duran Additional musicians Production Notes

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Release history

Covers, samples, and media references

At the end of an episode of Las Vegas, the band appeared, performing the song in the Montecito as was normal during the second season. , the Jason Nevins-produced version of the song is used in the beginning sequence of the television programme Sunrise on Seven Network in Australia. It was also used in Telecom Italia Mobile commercials with Adriana Lima, and also appeared on an episode of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy as well as the television soundtrack, released on Capitol Records. The Jason Nevins club mix was featured in the 2007 arcade game Dance Dance Revolution SuperNova 2.