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{{Infobox song
| name = Unplayed Piano
| cover =
| alt =
| type = single
| artist = [[Damien Rice]] and [[Lisa Hannigan]]
| album =
| released = June 2005
| recorded =
| studio =
| venue =
| genre = [[Indie rock]]
| length =
| label = DRM
| writer = [[Damien Rice]], [[Lisa Hannigan]]
| producer =
| prev_title =
| prev_year =
| next_title =
| next_year =
}}
{{Quote box | width=30% | align=right | quote=“To be honest with you, there was no real thought process about it. They just showed me a picture of [Suu Kyi's] face and I said, Yes, I'll do it. Why? I felt a strong connection with the woman, but it's not like I fancy her, or anything..." ''(frowning)'' "Okay, that's a stupid thing to say. What I mean is... well, there is something that drew me to her and gave me, you know, hope that something could be done, but...” |source= Rice struggles to cope with his feelings for [[Aung San Suu Kyi]].<ref name="Damien Rice: The world's most reluctant pop star"/> }}

"'''Unplayed Piano'''" is a 2005 single by the Irish singer-songwriter duo [[Damien Rice]] and [[Lisa Hannigan]]. It was released in June 2005 and appeared in a total of six charts, spending a total of twenty-five weeks there.<ref name="Unplayed Piano Top40-Charts.com">{{cite web|url=http://my-charts.com/song.php?sid=14478|title=Unplayed Piano|access-date=2009-02-05|publisher=Top40-Charts.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090225131612/http://my-charts.com/song.php?sid=14478|archive-date=2009-02-25|url-status=dead}}</ref> It spent twelve weeks in the [[Irish Singles Chart]] after entering on 23 June 2005, breaking into the Top 10 and achieving a peak of fourth position.<ref>[http://www.irishcharts.ie/search/placement Irish Charts placement] (Insert ARTIST or SONG TITLE in capitals)</ref> It remained in fourth position for two weeks before falling to seventh position where it spent a further three weeks. The song peaked at number 24 in the [[UK Singles Chart]] and number 36 in the [[Eurochart Hot 100 Singles]]. "Unplayed Piano" was released on the DRM label and featured Rice's usual backing band of [[Vyvienne Long]], [[Tom Osander]] and [[Shane Fitzsimons]].<ref>[http://irish-charts.com/showinterpret.asp?interpret=Lisa+Hannigan "Discography Singles"]. Irish Charts.com Accessed 5 February 2009.</ref>

== Background ==
"Unplayed Piano" was released as a single by Hannigan and Rice to support the Free Aung San Suu Kyi 60th Birthday campaign which was running at the time.<ref name="Damien Rice: The world's most reluctant pop star"/><ref name="Eskimo Friends Side Projects">{{cite web|url=http://eskimofriends.com/lisa.asp#recordings|title=Side Projects|access-date=2009-02-09|publisher=Eskimo Friends|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090204070843/http://eskimofriends.com/lisa.asp#recordings|archive-date=February 4, 2009|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}}</ref> [[Aung San Suu Kyi]] is a [[Nobel Peace Prize]] winner who had been under [[house arrest]] in [[Burma]] for various periods from 2002 to 2010. She was previously placed under house arrest by the country's ruling [[military junta]] in the former capital, [[Yangon]] on 19 July 1989 under [[martial law]] that allows for detention without charge or [[Trial (law)|trial]] for three years.<ref>''Aung San Suu Kyi'' http://www.burmacampaign.org.uk/aboutburma/aung_san_suu_kyi.htm {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090219142400/http://www.burmacampaign.org.uk/aboutburma/aung_san_suu_kyi.htm |date=2009-02-19 }} accessed 27/02/08</ref> She was released on 10 July 1995 but re-arrested on 23 September 2000. On 6 May 2002 she was freed after nineteen months but on 30 May 2003, following the Depayin [[Wiktionary:massacre|massacre]] she was held in secret detention for over three months before being returned to house arrest. Despite global protests in solidarity her detention was extended by the [[State Peace and Development Council|Myanmar military junta]] for one year periods in 2007 and 2008.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.burmacampaign.org.uk/pm/weblog.php?id=P315 |title=Burma Campaign UK |access-date=2008-02-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080311121321/http://www.burmacampaign.org.uk/pm/weblog.php?id=P315 |archive-date=2008-03-11 |url-status=dead }}</ref> She was finally released in 2010.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.irrawaddy.org/highlight.php?art_id=20068 |title=Suu Kyi Freed at Last |author=Ba Kaung |date=13 November 2010 |work=The Irrawaddy |access-date=2010-11-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101119175541/http://www.irrawaddy.org/highlight.php?art_id=20068 |archive-date=19 November 2010 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}</ref>

Rice was approached by the [[United States|United States Campaign for Burma]], which asked him to donate an existing song for their Free Aung San Suu Kyi 60th Birthday Campaign. Instead Rice constructed, "Unplayed Piano", and also scheduled a live show at the [[London Palladium]] to assist in increasing the public profile of the campaign.<ref name="Damien Rice: The world's most reluctant pop star"/> He also gave a rare interview to ''[[The Independent]]'' to highlight the issues which inspired the song, discussing his visit to Myanmar and confessing his prior ignorance of the situation there. He wishes not to be viewed as a political activist and is "no [[Bob Geldof]]... just a regular guy who has seen something that is wrong and is trying, in some small way, to help".<ref name="Damien Rice: The world's most reluctant pop star">{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/damien-rice-the-worlds-most-reluctant-pop-star-494677.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090225125129/http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/damien-rice-the-worlds-most-reluctant-pop-star-494677.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=February 25, 2009|title=Damien Rice: The world's most reluctant pop star|date=2005-06-19|access-date=2009-02-05|newspaper=[[The Independent]]}}</ref>

''[[The Independent]]'' described "Unplayed Piano" as "a twinkly and beautiful thing".<ref name="Damien Rice: The world's most reluctant pop star"/> Rice is known for refusing to openly discuss the song after becoming incensed when a friend commented that it "didn't quite measure up to the clout of his earlier work". He insists that his other songs are more powerful because they originate deeper inside him.<ref name="Damien Rice: The world's most reluctant pop star"/>

== Chart performance ==
"Unplayed Piano" first appeared in the Irish Singles Chart on 25 June 2005 in fourth position where it remained for a second consecutive week.<ref name="Unplayed Piano Top40-Charts.com"/> The day after it first charted in Ireland the song charted in the [[United Kingdom]] at number 16.<ref name="Unplayed Piano Top40-Charts.com"/> The song peaked at number 24 in the [[UK Singles Chart]] dropping out of the Top 40 at number 39.<ref name="Unplayed Piano Top40-Charts.com"/> It remained in the Irish Singles Chart charting at number 7 for three consecutive weeks before dropping to number 8 on 27 July 2005. In August it charted consecutively at number 12, number 14, number 15 and number 20.<ref name="Unplayed Piano Top40-Charts.com"/> The song entered the [[Eurochart Hot 100 Singles]] on 9 July 2005 at number 36 before dropping to number 52 and number 81 in the following two weeks.<ref name="Unplayed Piano Top40-Charts.com"/>

{| class="wikitable"
! Chart (2005)
! Peak<br />position
|-
| [[Irish Singles Chart]]
|align=center|4
|-
| [[UK Singles Chart]]
|align=center|24
|-
| [[Eurochart Hot 100 Singles]]
|align=center|36
|-
|}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{Damien Rice}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:2005 singles]]
[[Category:Damien Rice songs]]
[[Category:Lisa Hannigan songs]]
[[Category:2005 songs]]
[[Category:Songs written by Damien Rice]]

Unplayed Piano - Revision history

imported>GreenC bot: Rescued 1 archive link. Wayback Medic 2.5