| Breaking Us in Two | |
| Cover: | Breaking_Us_in_Two_-_Joe_Jackson.jpg |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | Joe Jackson |
| Album: | Night and Day |
| B-Side: | Target |
| Released: | 13 August 1982 |
| Recorded: | 1982 |
| Studio: | Blue Rock, New York City |
| Genre: | Sophisti-pop[1] |
| Length: | 4:35 (album version) 3:45 (single version) |
| Label: | A&M |
| Producer: | Joe Jackson, David Kershenbaum |
| Prev Title: | Steppin' Out |
| Prev Year: | 1982 |
| Next Title: | Another World |
| Next Year: | 1982 |
"Breaking Us in Two" is a song by British musician Joe Jackson. It was the third of three charting singles from his 1982 LP, Night and Day.
The single was released in the UK on 13 August 1982, backed with a song called "El Blanco", which was simply Jackson's song "Target" sung in Spanish. In the US, the B-side was the regular English version of "Target".[2] The single began to get radio airplay in late 1982 and early 1983, especially in the US where the music video was in medium rotation on MTV in early February.[3] The single had become a hit in the US, reaching number 18 on the Billboard Hot 100 the week of March 19, 1983.[4] Later, it reached number 40 in Canada. It also charted in the UK and Australia. It was a bigger Adult Contemporary hit, reaching number eight in the U.S. and number 12 in Canada.
The music video was filmed on location in and around the Oakworth railway station in England.
Billboard said it was "jazzy and precise [and] similar in tone to the top 10 'Steppin' Out'."[5]
In Melody Maker, Edwyn Collins said, "This is another song that's just full of cliches. It's almost a pastiche. It's just so mediocre. If you heard it on the radio it would be some totally ambient background noise. Brian Eno would be proud of him."[6]
| Chart (1982-1983) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australia (Kent Music Report) | 90 |
| Canada RPM Top Singles | 40 |
| Canada RPM Adult Contemporary[7] | 12 |
| New Zealand [8] | 35 |
| UK (The Official Charts Company) | 59 |
| US Billboard Hot 100[9] | 18 |
| US Billboard Adult Contemporary[10] | 8 |
| US Cash Box Top 100 | 17 |
Mandy Moore covered the song for her 2003 album, Coverage.
