Prodigal Daughter

"Prodigal Daughter" is a single by alternative-rock duo Dresden & Bareilles, and the second lifted from their sophomore album "150 dB". The song was produced by DJ Double Garage, who executive-produced the album. The single became another top 5 hit for the band, getting off to a relatively slow start before catching on with casual fans later in its run to eventually be certified gold. The single was not nearly as successful as "Aphrodite Under Fire" internationally, being viewed as too extreme a departure for the band.

Background
"Prodigal Daughter" was written by Jean-Luc Bareilles in 2010 about a woman he knew back home in Australia; this woman had been a figurehead in her local community and self-appointed leader, however she was not as nice a person as she pretended to be and was looking to serve her own agenda above her contribution to the community. The song was a major departure in sound for Dresden & Bareilles, who worked with DJ Double Garage after their collaboration on previous single "Maiden, Mother & Crone". While the band's previous sound was heavy rock, working with DJ on their collaborative single shifted the band's sound to incorporate elements of electronica. "Prodigal Daughter" was produced as a heavily electronic song with rock sounds in contrast to the band's new sound. It had been selected to be the second single before "Aphrodite Under Fire" and "150 dB" were even released. A radio-length slightly-remixed edit was released to radio as the song's length was too long for regular play.

Reception
The single received a good reaction in the UK considering the departure in the band's sound featured in the song. Critics approved of the band taking a calculated risk on the direction they took with the song. After the major #1 hit of "Aphrodite Under Fire" in the US, "Prodigal Daughter" was too extreme a change though, and failed commercially. The band's fanbase helped the song achieve a top 5 debut, but it took the wider public time to warm up to the song, helping it reach gold certification. The song was also a major airplay and digital hit for the band.

Promo CD

 * 1) Prodigal Daughter (Radio Mix)
 * 2) Prodigal Daughter (Radio Mix - Edit)

CD1

 * 1) Prodigal Daughter (Radio Mix - Edit)
 * 2) Black Market News

CD2

 * 1) Prodigal Daughter (Radio Mix)
 * 2) Shipwrecked
 * 3) Prodigal Daughter (TWISTED DISCO! Extended Re-Interpretation)
 * 4) Prodigal Daughter (Radio Mix Instrumental)

Digital EP

 * 1) Prodigal Daughter
 * 2) Death Of A Suicide
 * 3) Pax Libertine
 * 4) Prodigal Daughter (tyDi Remix)
 * 5) Prodigal Daughter (Sultan & Ned Shephard Remix)
 * 6) Prodigal Daughter (Digital Stories Remix)

Music Video
The video opens with a shot of a telephone. It rings, and we see a hand pick it up. We then hear Gabriel’s voice speaking.

GABRIEL: Underworld, Inc. Hades speaking.

There are a few moments of silence while Gabriel listens to the voice on the other end of the phone. Meanwhile, the camera pulls back to show him sitting at his desk in the top floor office of a company skyscraper.

GABRIEL: The Furies? I’ll be right there.

Gabriel gets up from his chair and leaves the office; we follow him through the building, down several floors in the elevator to the basement floor, where he enters a darkened room with the sign ‘Oracle’ written on a gold-plated plaque on the door. We do not see the Oracle themselves, as they keep their face shrouded in darkness; instead, our attention is drawn to a crystal ball hovering in the Oracle’s hands giving off a blue glow. Gabriel peers into the ball as the image of a city in destruction forms in his vision.

GABRIEL: This is what the Furies are up to? They’re trying to destroy the world?

ORACLE: That is what I foresee, if something is not done.

Gabriel continues to watch the possible future in the orb; we travel ‘inside’ the ball to get a first-hand look at what Gabriel is seeing as the music for the song begins – a plane is flying over the city in ruins, dropping bombs onto the ground below. Cut to inside the plane, and we see three Furies. One of these is being played by Venus Vegas. She looks down in satisfaction at the damage being caused below. Having seen enough, Gabriel storms back to his office, fuming. He sits down at his desk and picks up his phone. He dials a number. From here on, we don’t hear any of the dialogue, but we get subtitles of what they’re saying.

GABRIEL: Ares, we’ve got a situation here. The Furies are preparing to tear down the city. What’s worse – Persephone has joined them.

We find out that Jean-Luc is the person at the other end of this phone call.

JEAN-LUC: I know; I think they’ve already started. I just came from a gang-war turned six-car-pile-up and I didn’t do it – but I saw Persephone leaving. You know she hates you, right? If the Furies were causing trouble for you, she would be there in a heartbeat.

GABRIEL: Well, I intend to get to the bottom of this.

We then see Gabriel, that night, taking to the city streets. The Furies haven’t yet begun causing any damage, as we can see from the city being intact. We cut to the Furies, who are meeting to discuss their plans. They are already geared up for battle with guns at the ready, clearly with the intention of beginning their assault tonight. Venus doesn’t seem to be there yet, but the other Furies continue making preparations anyway. Meanwhile, Gabriel is also making preparations – to take down the Furies. He too is armed, and is traipsing through the streets towards where he knows the Furies are located. Elsewhere again, we see Jean-Luc entering an unknown location. Jean-Luc is accompanied by Venus, we find out, and he has met with her in order to interrogate her regarding her business with the Furies. She clearly does not want to be there with him, but when he pulls out a gun at her she begins to talk. As she describes what’s going on through her monologue, we see a montage of the city, and all the little injustices that go on.

VENUS: I’m doing this because it’s necessary. The Furies – they are out there every day putting right whatever goes wrong. They’re out there delivering justice. And every day – it seems there is more wrong going on in the world and whatever they do? It’s never enough! And you – Mr. God of War, you and Hades make up most of the work! You – with your warmongering; and him with his death. There is too much wrong for us to fix – so the only way to fix it is to destroy it all and start from scratch. And we are GOING to make this happen so don’t bother trying to get in our way.

Venus then leaves; Jean-Luc follows her but she was too fast for him and has disappeared. Elsewhere, Gabriel has arrived at the Furies’ base of operations, and with his gun drawn he is ready to fight. The camera shifts from his position to give us a sweeping view of the construction site where they are all situated. Gabriel calls for Jean-Luc to come to him, and Jean-Luc appears at his side. Both are ready to take down the Furies, who are further within the construction site, unaware of their presence. Gabriel and Jean-Luc advance through the site, stopping when the Furies’ fort comes into view. They stop and look down at how the Furies have fortified their camp. The Furies are all distracted however, so Gabriel and Jean-Luc take the opportunity to circle around them. One of the Furies notices them however, and the group goes into battle stances.

VENUS: I told you not to try and stop us! This is the ONLY way!

GABRIEL: This isn’t how it works Persephone. War and death are what we deal in. There’s no use hitting the reset button, we’re just going to keep doing what we do all over again.

VENUS: Well then, we’ll just have to take you out too won’t we?

JEAN-LUC: How in hell do you expect to deal with a god?! We’re immortal – you can’t kill us any more than you can hurt us. I don’t know what you were hoping to accomplish here, but this ends now.

This is when the battle begins; there is heavy fire from both sides as the Furies and the Gods both use their guns on each other. There is destruction of property with bullets flying everywhere. No matter how hard they fight however, the two sides are somewhat easily matched. There are a lot of special effects shots and stunts showing everyone performing dramatic flips and aerial attack moves, but eventually the Furies begin to wear down while the Gods do not. Gabriel and Venus manage to knock the guns from each other’s hands and proceed to fist-fight.

GABRIEL: Give it up Persephone, this is my JOB we’re talking about. You don’t get to decide what goes on here. This is MY world, and you’re just living in it.

VENUS: No wonder this world is hell. *Venus spits in Gabriel’s face*

GABRIEL: And that is EXACTLY why it’s mine.

Venus is finally worn down and Gabriel overpowers her. Jean-Luc has meanwhile defeated the other Furies, and his holding them at gunpoint. Venus is thrown to the floor by Gabriel who glares down at her in contempt. All she can do is return the glare with the same venom.

VENUS: Gods. You’re all the same, think you can do whatever the hell you want without consequences.

GABRIEL: That’s why they call us gods.

The video fades to black with a close-up of Venus’ beaten-up face.

Chart Performance
Off the back of their best-performing single, expectations were high for "Prodigal Daughter", however the release was overshadowed by the hype of newcomers Vixen and Aurora Reed, both of which released their debut singles against the band. The band's fanbase was able to help the single achieve a top 5 peak, but the single quickly fell down the chart after that, until it caught on with the general public and stabilised. The song eventually reached gold certification, and at the time would be the worst-performing of the era, until final single "Me, Myself, I" in 2012. The song exceeded 110k in digital sales, a major success for the band, and was a major airplay hit for the band, accumulating a high spin total. In Australia, the song made it all the way up to #2 and was a top 10 airplay hit, but in America the song was not met favourably, failing to connect to audiences because its sound was too extreme in comparison to the band's previous material. It did not receive any notable airplay, and did not make the Hot 100 during its time as a single. The song did chart on the Hot 100 though, but only because of sales from when the album was first released. The song peaked at #97 on the Hot 100.

Chart Run
TOTAL: 221,438
 * Week 1: #4 - 74,972
 * Week 2: #6 - 55,028
 * Week 3: #18 - 23,839
 * Week 4: #18 - 21,837
 * Week 5: #19 - 22,692
 * Week 6: #29 - 17,102
 * Week 7: #35 - 5,968