"You grow up in this s--t town and you yearn to get out. A lot of artists, we just can't survive in a place like that. So, the essence of that song is that living in a small town is like dying. For us it was a huge release to get out and to explore the world."

"To see what everything else is about. We all wanted that. You know, the northern industrial s--thole. And that's really what that song's about."

The small town where Corner grew up is Middlesbrough, England, whose famous sons include Chris Rea and Paul Rodgers.

The song was written by Sneaker Pimps founders Chris Corner and Liam Howe along with their friend Ian Pickering, who helped out with lyrics.

At first, Corner was their lead vocalist, and when they wrote the song, he sang on the demo.

Before releasing their debut album Becoming X, they added a female vocalist: Kelli Dayton, who was with a band called The Lumieres.

She became their lead singer and the focal point of the group - pretty much every article written about the band around this time comments on her diminutive stature and brio, using terms like "pixie firebrand."

As the album took off, the venues got bigger for the band, which played gigs opening for Neneh Cherry and Blur, and also collaborated with Marylin Manson on the song "Long Hard Road Out of Hell" for the soundtrack of the 1997 movie Spawn.

The pace was brutal, and a rift formed between Dayton (who often uses the name "Kelli Ali") and the guys.

They fired her in 1998, with Corner taking over on vocals. Their next album, Splinter, was released in 1999 and sold poorly.

Bloodsport followed in 2002, and the band split up a few years later.

There is a sense of detachment in this song, especially in the line, "I'm open to falling from grace."

This reflects the pushback Chris Corner got from his family and friends when he left to pursue music, and how he felt about return visits to his hometown.

"When you go back to your family, or you go back to your friends and you visit those places, which I try to do very infrequently, it instantly suffocates you," he said. "People do feel like you've made a mistake. You left them."

The main musical theme was sampled from "Golden Girl," an instrumental composed by John Barry for the 1964 James Bond movie Goldfinger.

The "A one, two, a one, two" vocal that plays throughout the song is a sample from "Breakadawn," a 1993 track by De La Soul.

Comments:

holybagpipes

If anyone reads this, you have great taste.

Whitebolls92

It's those mid-late 90's chicks that will always drive me nuts

M T

Met Kelli by accident in San Francisco, she had been vagabonding across the planet with guitar and doting, blonde hippy boy in tow. At a Mission District cafe open mic, she humbly sang a few of her self-penned creations to an unknowing, and completely oblivious audience.

stop08it

one of those songs that pops into your head every few years and flies away before you can really recall it. I finally found it though!

Bad Harmonics

I'll put this up against any cardi b or nicki Minaj jam, this shits composed damn near flawlessly.

TheWinterShadow

This is Generation X....and this is how they did it.

LaVeysDahlia

I so miss the 80's and 90's the music was true emotion, true feeling music. I love this song!

Ed Weisenauer

Sneaker Pimps are nothing without Kelli!

SHAWN WHITAKER

i'm a death metal musician and this song plays in my head pretty much every other day

Rohan James

I can't say how good it was to grow up in the 90's listening to this music.

Bree Stone

4 years ago

I'd use this song when i make an entrance in a room, thumbs up to those who get it

sebastian akatsuki

This sounds like a combination between massive attack and hip hop

hoon4tw

YT must be tweaking their algorithms because this is a song that has been sitting on the corner of my brain for about 10 years and I forgot that I wanted to hear it again.  Well done creepy algorithm.

Darren Wigmore

2020 still kicking

LoveLikeFire

Love n miss this album..." Spin spin sugar"

Mark Porter

A haunting song which sneaks (sic) into the back of your brain ........