My Name Is Ruin

Album: Savage (Songs From A Broken World) (2017)
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Songfacts®:

  • This was released as the lead single from Gary Numan's 21st studio album, Savage (Songs From A Broken World). The song is about a man living in a post-apocalyptic world, whose daughter gets taken away from him. His whole life from then on becomes the need to get her back.

    According to publicity materials, "It's a menacing industrial march in which the unrelenting mechanized intensity is countered by the humanity of its sweet, swirling backing vocals which exude a palpable Egyptian influence."
  • Numan's 11-year-old daughter Persia contributes vocals to the track.
  • Savage (Songs from a Broken World) is a concept album centered around the blending of Western and Eastern cultures. The record is set in the not-too-distant future in an apocalyptic, post-global warming Earth where both food and drink are scarce.

    "The songs are about the things that people do in such a harsh and terrifying environment," explained Numan. "It's about a desperate need to survive and they do awful things in order to do so, and some are haunted by what they've done. That desire to be forgiven, along with some discovered remnants of an old religious book, ultimately encourages religion to resurface, and it really goes downhill from there."
  • The album was produced by Numan's longtime collaborator, producer and DJ Ade Fenton. Since the pair first collaborated on 2006's Jagged, Fenton has become Numan's musical right hand man.
  • The accompanying video for the track was directed by visual artist and musician Chris Corner of IAMX. Filmed in the hot, desolate deserts of southern California around 29 Palms and Joshua Tree, the clip features Numan's daughter Persia. Although all three of Numan's girls had a tiny walk on part in his "Love Hurt Bleed clip this was Persia's first proper session at filming and lip syncing. Numan admitted on his website:

    "I was nervous that nerves would get the better of her (she's only 11 after all) and she would just giggle and not be able to do what was needed. But, she overcame her nerves, shyness and the ridiculous heat and just got on with it. I was very proud of her, and she looked amazing."
  • Temperatures reached as high as 118 F (48 C). "Desolate, dry, forbidding and incredibly hot," commented Numan. "Absolutely perfect for an album devoted mostly to a future world devastated by Global Warming."
  • Savage (Songs from a Broken World) reached #2 on the UK albums chart. Gary Numan told The Mail On Sunday's You Magazine: "Considering that my career was pretty much dead by the early '90s, I cried like a baby when I heard the news."

Comments: 1

  • Steve from Brisbane, Australia I have just discovered Gary again after almost 30 years. Ruin is a brilliant track. Maybe ahead of it’s time.
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