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"Unfinished Sympathy" is a song written and performed by Massive Attack. The singer on the track is Shara Nelson. It appears on their debut album Blue Lines. The song and the whole band were part of a wider musical movement dubbed the 'Bristol Sound' by the music press. The music was also part of the wider Bristol Urban Culture scene.
The song
The lyrics add to the emotional mood of the song, complementing the string section:
- I know that I've imagined love before
- And how it could be with you
- Really hurt me baby, really cut me baby
- How can you have a day without a night
- You're the book that I have opened
- And now I've got to know much more
The song projects a dark mood. This was likely to have been influenced by the tensions within Massive Attack. Robert Del Naja has described the dark atmosphere within the group: "There was always this tension between control and collaboration. Always ... We were just trying to get the job finished ...Everything became thinner and smaller. All that warmth being spun into a tiny little thread, then that thread just being cut."
Critical acclaim
It has frequently been placed at the top or near the top of lists of the best song of all time compiled by various different magazines, reviewers and TV channels:
- The TV Channel MTV2 in the UK ranked it #1 in a poll of the best songs of all time
- Face Magazine (UK) - Singles of the Year, ranking #1
- Melody Maker (UK) - Singles of the Year, ranking #1
- New Musical Express (UK) - Singles of the Year, ranking #8
- Iguana (Spain) - Singles of the Year, ranking #2
- A BBC Radio 2 poll ranked it #44 in the best songs of all time
- Reviewer Julie Burchill has described as her favourite song of all time.
- Mixmag (UK) - The 100 Best Dance Singles of All Time (1996) 10
- New Musical Express (UK) - The Top 100 Singles of All Time (2002) 10
- Q (UK) - The 1001 Best Songs Ever (2003), ranking #37
- Q (UK) - Top 20 Singles from 1980-2004 (2004), ranking #8
- RDL (Spain) - The 100 Best Songs from 1990 to 1998 (1999), ranking #1
- Rock de Lux (Spain) - The Top 100 Songs from 1984-1993 (1993), ranking #4
- BBC Radio 1 (1998), ranking #1
- Q Magazine (1998) - ranking #15
- EveryHit.com poll of poll - ranking #21
Song meaning
The meaning of the song has generated much debate among fans. Some claim it is about the fear of getting hurt by someone you are falling in love with - the fear of getting too close. Other fans have argued it is about "the uncertainty that there is at the beginning of a relationship after being in a painful one. You are unsure whether it is going to hurt you like the previous one and asking the questions about what will go wrong even though it seems so perfect."
Trivia
- The song has been covered by Tina Turner
- The song has also been remixed by Paul Oakenfold
- The voice at the beginning of the song is a sample of John McLaughlin, whose voice was sampled without clearance
The video
The video for Unfinished Sympathy was recorded in January 1991 on West Pico Boulevard between S. New Hampshire Avenue and Dewey Avenue in Los Angeles, CA. It features Nelson walking down the sidewalk unaware of her surroundings, which include drunks, gangs, and bikers. It was one of the earliest music videos to use a continuous shot. A mocking tribute was made in the video for the song "Bitter Sweet Symphony" by The Verve, which was in turn parodied by the video for the single "Vindaloo" by Fat Les.
Samples
See also
External links
Notes
"Unfinished Sympathy"