Info → Wire
Front cover of the Welcome To Sarajevo soundtrack which featured Wire as an instrumental version titled “End Titles”.
UK Release: 28th November 1997 (Welcome To Sarajevo OST)
Track Duration: 03:37/05:54 (Vocal Edit/End Titles)
Formats: CD. View Discography Entry.
Written By: Robert Del Naja, Grant Marshall,Andrew Vowles and Sara Jay
Produced By: Robert Del Naja, Grant Marshall and Andrew Vowles
Engineering and programming:Doc Savage
Strings By: Craig Armstrong
The director of film Welcome To Sarajevo, Michael Winterbottom specially commissioned Massive Attack to contribute to the soundtrack to the film while he was lensing the picture back in 1996.
Wire and Dissolved Girl were composed roughly at the same time together in 1997 with Sara Jay. Either one or both of these songs were originally written with Tracey Thorn in mind to sing them, before deciding on a new singer Sara instead.
Sara Jay performing Wire live on the 1997 tour.
Wire is an elusive and much sought after track to many Massive Attack fans. No one definite version of the song exists, however the live version is probably the closest to the final version desired by many fans.
One of three songs recorded with vocalist Sara Jay, the other two being Dissolved Girl and an unknown, unreleased song.
This is also one of only five songs to have a Craig Armstrong involvement, the others being Weather Storm,Sly, Heat Miser and Nature Boy.
Wire along with a sampling of a few Mezzanine-bound tracks were first played during the 1997 tour partly to gauge crowd reactions to these newly demoed songs. It was usually the penultimate or even final track played on many shows. Sara Jay herself provided vocals for the track on this tour along with an early demo version of Dissolved Girl. Debbie Miller usually accompanied her on stage doing backing vocals for the song. Sara Jay along with Wire have never appeared on a subsequent tour since 1997.
Vocal Edit – This is the only studio produced version available (until November 12017) featuring Sara Jay’s vocals. Only appears during the end credits sequence of the film Welcome to Sarajevo. It frustratingly, fades out roughly around the midpoint of the song as the end credits also fade to black.
End Titles – An instrumental version of the track without Sara Jays vocals. Apart from this fact, the track is also mixed and arranged differently to the vocal edit version. Appears only on the soundtrack album to the film “Welcome To Sarajevo”.
Full Length Vocal Version – Until November 2017, the only studio produced version of Wire was the Vocal Edit that unfortunately cut off the 2nd half of the track. In November 2017 however, the original singer of Wire, Sara Jay, uploaded to YouTube the full length studio produced demo of Wire, which she had found on a old CD of demos she had from her time working with Massive Attack back in in 1997.
Seminal post-punk rockers Wire’s song “Former Airline” was sampled for Wire. It would be speculative to say that the Massive Attack song Wire, gets its namesake from the very band they sampled from. It appears primarily on Wire’s reissue’s of their 1978 release Chairs Missing. It is not credited officially by Massive Attack.
Wire, the post-punk 1970’s band were sampled by Massive Attack on Wire, also lending their name to the Massive Attack track.
Is it close? Maybe close enough to touch? It’s what you wanted for so long. And soon we’ll all be here. It is still. And it’s enough that you don’t know. When all you needed was to care. And late is never again. Are you thoughtful? Are you simple? Are you beautiful? What will you do when it all falls down What will you do when it all falls down. Let it all fall down (all fall down) Let it all fall down (all fall down) So love if love. Is all that you believe. It’s all about. To love if love. Is all that you believe. To love it learn. Is all about. Is all that you believe. It comes around. To where it all began. And it’s all down to the victor. Is all you believe. And it comes around. To where it all began. And it’s all down to the victor. Is all that you believe.