A proto-version of Inertia Creeps was originally written by Massive Attack and given to Manic Street Preachers to be sung by rhythm guitarist and lyricist, Richey Edwards in early 1994. Since Edwards had a reputation for being volatile and unpredictable, Massive Attack were unsure of how receptive Edwards would be to the song. However, to their surprise, Edwards was enamored with Inertia Creeps, and recorded a version with Manic Street Preachers. This version was shelved until 1998, when it appeared on the single release of Massive Attack's version.

After taking a short break in July from the 1997 tour in Turkey, Massive Attack would return to Bristol with cassettes of Turkish music which would be the inspiration for what would eventually become Inertia Creeps. They used the Manic Street Preachers track from 1994 as the basis to hang…