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"Drowning" is a song by British ska/new wave band the Beat, released in April 1981 as the first single from their second album Wha'ppen?. It was released as a double A-sided single with "All Out to Get You" and peaked at number 22 on the UK Singles Chart.[2]

"Drowning"
Single by the Beat
from the album Wha'ppen?
A-side	"All Out to Get You"
Released	10 April 1981 (1981-04-10)[1]
Genre	Ska 2 tone
Length	3:53
Label	Go-Feet
Songwriter(s)	Ranking Roger Andy Cox Everett Morton David Steele Dave Wakeling
Producer(s)	Bob Sargeant
The Beat singles chronology
"Too Nice to Talk To" (1980) "Drowning" / "All Out to Get You" (1981) "Doors of Your Heart" (1981)

Reception

Milo Miles for Rolling Stone described "Drowning" as a "suicide-is-sensuous fable about a harried organization man's death fantasy" and "All Out to Get You" as "[spotlighting] the tensions of adolescence raised to the breaking point by a society in unquiet desperation".[3]

Mark Cooper reviewing for Record Mirror wrote "Drowning has always been a fair enough description of the Beat sensation at its best and their best this is. Sometimes its a pleasure to go under. An utterly original melody, a lazy but taut feel, Saxa's sexy sax, Roger's toasting interlude and a treated riff that surprises and then brings smiles and you realise how preferable 'Drowning' is to sailing". However, he described "All Out to Get You" as "ordinary by comparison, a standard piece of Beat meat, in fact a rewrite of 'Too Nice To Talk To'. You can hear this is the rhythm of the title. But so what, the Beat continue to transform themselves while remaining charming and 'Drowning' will be huge".[4]

Track listing

7": Go Feet / Feet 6

1. "Drowning" – 3:53
2. "All Out to Get You" – 2:45

Charts

Chart (1981)	Peak position
Ireland (IRMA)[5]	18
UK Singles (OCC)[2]	22

References

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