God's Great Banana Skin (song)

Technopedia Center

Faculty of Engineering and Computer Science
S1 Informatics S1 Information Systems S1 Information Technology S1 Computer Engineering S1 Electrical Engineering S1 Civil Engineering

faculty of Economics and Business
S1 Management S1 Accountancy

Faculty of Letters and Educational Sciences
S1 English literature S1 English language education S1 Mathematics education S1 Sports Education

God's Great Banana Skin (song) - Wikipedia

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"God's Great Banana Skin"

Single by Chris Rea

from the album God's Great Banana Skin

B-side

"I Saw You Coming"

Released

16 November 1992^[1]

Length

5:15 (album version)
4:16 (remix)

Chris Rea

Chris Rea

Chris Rea singles chronology

"Nothing to Fear"
(1992)

"God's Great Banana Skin"
(1992)

"Soft Top Hard Shoulder"
(1993)

"God's Great Banana Skin" is a song by British singer-songwriter Chris Rea, released in November 1992 by East West Records as the second single from his 12th studio album, God's Great Banana Skin (1992). The song was written and produced by Rea,^[2] and reached No. 31 on the UK Singles Chart, remaining on the chart for three weeks.

Background

Rea was inspired to write the song after he noticed his daughter was tempted to laugh at "somebody who'd been giving her a hard time". Rea told John Pidgeon in 1992: "I told her 'don't laugh when people go down even if they've been awful to you because you're tempting God to throw you a banana skin'. It's half moral and half superstition. Anybody who's done me a disservice in life, and I see them go down, you get tempted to laugh. I don't know whether it's superstition or not, or I daren't laugh just in case God throws me a banana skin as well."^[3]

Critical reception

Upon release, Robert Tilli of Music & Media wrote: "The tag line of the title track, sung in a dark threatening voice, is easy to sing along with, making it the ideal second single. The wailing harmonica in the background matches perfectly with the November rain and storms."^[4]

In a review of the album, Vlado Forgac of The Morning Star commented: "On the title track, Rea offers a humorous look at his own perception of faith."^[5] Lynn Saxberg of the Ottawa Citizen noted the "cryptic message" of the song and how it "addresses the superstitious idea that bad luck will come not only to those who think they're better than others, but also people who think they're inferior".^[6]

Track listings

7-inch and cassette single

"God's Great Banana Skin" (remix) – 4:16
"I Saw You Coming" – 4:30

CD single

"God's Great Banana Skin" (remix) – 4:16
"Just Passing Through" (live) – 6:09
"Footprints in the Snow" (live) – 4:32
"Winter Song" – 4:32

CD single (UK limited edition release)

"God's Great Banana Skin" (remix) – 4:16
"I Saw You Coming" – 4:30
"She's Gonna Change Everything" – 4:46
"You Must Be Evil" (live) – 4:47

Personnel

Production

Chris Rea – production ("God's Great Banana Skin", "I Saw You Coming", "She's Gonna Change Everything")
Neil Amor – engineering ("God's Great Banana Skin", "I Saw You Coming", "She's Gonna Change Everything")
Targa Flurio – remixing ("God's Great Banana Skin")
Jon Kelly – production ("Winter Song")

Other

Chris Welch – banana illustration
Stylorouge – artwork

Charts

Chart (1992)	Peak position
Europe (European Hit Radio)^[7]	33
Germany (GfK)^[8]	59
UK Singles (OCC)^[9]	31

References

^ "New Releases: Singles". Music Week. 14 November 1992. p. 25.
^ "God's Great Banana Skin - Chris Rea | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
^ "Chris Rea Interview". chrisrea.biz. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
^ Tilli, Robert (21 November 1992). "Rea manages to get 9-minute single aired". Music & Media.
^ Forgac, Vlado (10 February 1993). "Street Sounds...". The Morning Star.
^ Saxberg, Lynn (28 November 1992). "Rea's 13th carries pessimistic message". The Ottawa Citizen.
^ "EHR Top 40" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 10, no. 4. 23 January 1993. p. 26. Retrieved 6 April 2024.
^ "Chris Rea – God's Great Banana Skin" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2 October 2022.

v t e Chris Rea
Studio releases	Whatever Happened to Benny Santini? Deltics Tennis Chris Rea Water Sign Wired to the Moon Shamrock Diaries On the Beach Dancing with Strangers The Road to Hell Auberge God's Great Banana Skin Espresso Logic The Blue Cafe The Road to Hell: Part 2 King of the Beach Dancing Down the Stony Road / Stony Road Hofner Blue Notes The Blue Jukebox Blue Guitars The Return of the Fabulous Hofner Bluenotes Santo Spirito Blues Road Songs for Lovers One Fine Day
Compilation releases	New Light Through Old Windows The Best of Chris Rea The Very Best of Chris Rea Heartbeats The Ultimate Collection Still So Far to Go: The Best of Chris Rea The Journey 1978–2009
Singles	"Fool (If You Think It's Over)" "Loving You" "Every Beat of My Heart" "Let It Loose" "I Can Hear Your Heartbeat" "I Don't Know What It Is But I Love It" "Bombollini" "Ace of Hearts" "Stainsby Girls" "Josephine" "It's All Gone" "On the Beach" "Hello Friend" "Let's Dance" "Loving You Again" "Joys of Christmas" "Driving Home for Christmas" "Working on It" "The Road to Hell" "That's What They Always Say" "Tell Me There's a Heaven" "Texas" "Auberge" "Heaven" "Looking for the Summer" "Winter Song" "Nothing to Fear" "God's Great Banana Skin" "Soft Top, Hard Shoulder" "Julia" "'Disco' La Passione"
Related articles	Discography La Passione

Categories:

Hidden categories: