Songs
Q 1. What's the video for Teardrop about? Is it some statement about abortion?
No, it was not the intention of either Massive Attack nor the video's director Walter Stern to offer any message for or against abortion in the promo video for Teardrop featuring the singing fetus in its mother's womb. While not directly speaking about Teardrop, Massive Attack have stated previously before in many interviews that when writing their music they do not write with a partiuclar image or video in mind, so from a song-writing perspective this discredits the notion that abortion is behind any of the lyrics sung by Elizabeth Fraser during the song. The concept for the video in fact, is merely intended as a general celebration of life, portrayed during the process of childbirth.
It was the director's, Walter Stern's idea to use a singing fetus to communicate this message. Quote - Walter Stern on how his idea for the video for Teardrop - "It very much sounded like it had a heartbeat running through it. Originally it was going to be like a fetus that was controlling it's mother by using it's umbilical cord but then that was going down to much of a horror route and then I thought that less would be more and just the idea of the fetus singing the track"
Question 2:
Q 2. What would be Massive Attack's earliest song?
Any Love released during the Summer of 1988 has the distinction of being the first ever physical release to bear the moniker "Massive Attack". It was printed in a limited quantity of roughly only 100 copies and was distributed mainly in and around the Bristol area. Daddy G is the only member of Massive Attack to actually have worked on the band's first ever song, so sought help with the song's production from another Bristol band with close connections to The wild Bunch, Smith and Mighty. The final component of the song was the singer who came if the form of falsetto voiced local singer Carlton McCarthy, or just simply Carlton. The Any Love single would end up being the only ever record released on the 'Massive Attack Records' label which was just a small label Daddy G setup with the intention of releasing Any Love and any future Massive Attack songs in the future. When Massive Attack recieved their major record label contract with Circa Records in 1990, Massive Attack Records became unnecessary and was made defunct. Quote - Former Wild Bunch memeber DJ Milo on Dassive Attack/Daddy G's Any Love - "When Gee [Daddy G] went and did that record, I thought it was wicked and I was really proud of him for that." [The Wild Bunch: Story Of A Soundsystem (Album Booklet) - October 2002]
Question 3:
Q 3. Will unreleased songs like Wire, Aftersun etc... ever get a proper release?
Unfortunately, for the time being, it looks unlikely many of these songs such as Wire, Aftersun and Just A Matter Of Time, will ever get a proper release. The main reason for this is simply that Massive Attack don't care for these songs (which was the reason they never saw a proper release in the first place). Couple this with the anachronistic idea of pludering the archives while been seen as a continually evolving band and the reason becomes clear. In the MASSIVEATTACK.IE interview with Neil Davidge in 2008, Neil expressed this notion also, that we are unlikely to get, if ever, these songs; which admittely only the hardcore fans would have heard or care about. The fans best chance to have these songs released properly would have already come and gone in the form of Collected, which did offer some rarities from the vaults, but obviously not enough. Unless, in some indeterminable future, there is another rarities collection assembled, the prospect of getting any of these long lost songs is remote.
Question 4:
Q 4. What's the writing process for most of Massive Attack's songs?
[Quote] - 3D describing how he goes about writing the music in hsi head - "I think you can write a song on paper, describe the sounds and plan the fucking track out and the arrangement without actually writing music. I do it as a fucking set of images, drawings, arrows and lists—that's how I write. And then I'll get into the studio and I'll have a loop or I can operate a sequencer and write beats, bass lines and music electronically easily, d'ya-know-what-I-mean? In terms of fucking describing it to someone else, it's a completely difficult matter. If I want Angelo to play a part, I have to sing it to him, and he'll do something completely different. Then I'll go "No, it's like this" and sing it again. I might play a bit of music which will give him an idea of where I'm trying to go. We get there eventually." [Innerviews.org - September 1998]
Owing to the unconventional nature of Massive Attack's formation and roots, coming from a sampling based soundsystem culture, they are not like many other more typical bands, especially when it comes to the actual song writing process behind most of their songs. Most of their songs don't begin with any definite plan or structure to them. As the band members have described several times in the past (like in the above quote), it is mainly about "imagaination" rather than musical ability, as 3D and Daddy G are very limited with what instruments they can play (and can't even read music by their own admission), they must rely more on their session musicians like Angelo Bruschni (guitar), Damon Reece (drums) and co-producer, Neil Davidge to be their studio hands for them, while they dicate to them how things should be.
Not only that, but not much in the way of actual collaboration between 3D and Daddy G (and Mushroom, when he was still with the band) has never really happened, with Neil Davidge acting somewhat as mediator between them. After the near fallout situation that developed during the making of Mezzanine, nowadays (post-100th Window) both parties perfer to produce there own pieces of music on their own, 3D at 100 Suns Studios and Daddy G at a small hired studio near College Green, Bristol with a production group known as The Robot Club. When it comes time to mix the album, both will present there ideas to each other and allow the other one to modify it. This allows them to work mostly independet from each other, which is the way they like it, as any other way would lead the band into turmoil, as they discovered during the making of Mezzanine.
[Quote] - 3D on his working relationship with Daddy G and his role within the band - "His way of working is more of a producer way. He'll leave you with things or suggest things, then let you get on with it. Then he'll come back and tell you what he thinks of it, whereas myself and Neil are kind of heads down in the studio. Grant has more of a DJ mentality." [Venue Magazine - March 2006]
Question 5:
Q 5. What's the meaning behind certain Massive Attack song names?
Here is a few of the less obvious song names explained:
Group Four - Named after a weel known UK private scurity firm called "Group Four" (or G4S). There website is located here. The song Group Four is about someone being the master of their own doamin at night, much like a security night watchman, which is where the connection between the two becomes clear.
Eurochild - The Eurochild figure itself is meant to represent Europe (or the E.U.) and its different disparate elements attempting to come together to form a unified whole amid all the choas and confusion. The song (whose lyrics were written between 3D and Tricky, while collectively 'stoned' together) might also have this meaning attached to it.
Unfinished Sympathy - A simple play on words of the famous classical composer Schubert's Symphony No.8, which is often regarded as his 'Unfinished Symphony', for its unfinished nature as he died before he could finish it. Because of the classical sounding string section in Massive Attack's Unfinished Sympathy (which was recorded at Abbey Studios in London, UK), they decided it subtly invoke Schubert's piece by name association.
Wire - Almost certainly named after the seminal 1970's post-punk Wire, whose song "Former Airline", Massive Attack sampled for their own Wire. This band along with others from the same post-punk era are stated influences on Mezzanine's sound.
Mezzanine - this song is about a somewhat 'twilight zone' or that perfect space envisioned by 3D, of the time between night and dawn, which he once described as two distinct places coming together. One of which was alot more exotic (nighttime) and the other where you have to get to grips with your mundane reality (daytime). As Mezzanine, perfectly encapsulated 3D's ideas of what the album sounded like i.e the friction of these two worlds of light and dark colliding, he named the album after the song.
Antistar - Probably the main inspiration behind the lyrical content of Antistar, came from 3D's favorite book at the time, "Geek Love" by Katherine Dunn, which is a damning portrayal of the cult of celebrity in modern times. Massive Attack have never regarded themselves as celebrities and have purposely shunned it over the years, so it is implied by the song's title that this song is 3D's condemnation of celebrity culture.
Question 6:
Q 6. What movies/TV have Massive Attack's music featured in?
Massive Attack have developed a reputation over their career for creating soundscapes which lend themselves to visual media. It was probably this reputation that encouraged them to try their hand at composing feature length soundtracks in the first place, starting with Danny The Dog. Their music is well known for being featured in many different forms of media, such as film and TV. To get an idea of this just check out the Videography section where you can watch excerpts from many different film and TV shows that have used Massive Attack's music to bolster their scenes with.
The following are some select examples of media in which Massive Attack have featured on the soundtrack (the song links below will take you to the respective Videography page for it):
Angel - Firewall, Stay, Flight Of The Phoenix, Antitrust, Snatch, Go, Best Laid Plans, Pi, The West Wing (Episode: Commencement), Le Femme Nikita (Episode: Off Profile), Smallville (Episode: Rogue), Prison Break (Episode: On the Run)
Be Thankful For What You've Got - Bounce
Dissolved Girl - The Matrix, The Jackal
Everywhen - CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (Episode: Simple Man)
Future Proof - Smallville (Episode: Asylum), Queer As Folk (USA) (Episode 12 of Season 3)
Home Of The Whale - Eye Of The Beholder
Hymn Of The Big Wheel - The Fan
I Against I - Blade 2
Inertia Creeps - Taking Lives, Stigmata, Numb3rs (Episode: Pilot)
Inflight Data - The Uranus Experiment
Karmacoma - 187 , Sleeper Cell (Episode: Intramural)
Name Taken - CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (Episode: Butterflied)
One Love - Under The Skin
Protection - Hackers, Sabrina
Risingson - Abre Los Ojos
Safe From Harm - The Insider, Definitely, Maybe
Small Time Shot Away - CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (Episode: Eleven Angry Men)
Spying Glass - 187
Superpredators - The Jackal
Teardrop - House (TV series) (US Version's Main Theme'), Prison Break (Episode: Tonight), Cold Case (Episode: Sanctuary), Charmed (Episode: Which Prue Is It, Anyway?)
Three - City Of Industry
Unfinished Sympathy - Sliver
Wire - Welcome To Sarajevo
