Archive was formed by Londoners Darius Keeler and Danny Griffiths in 1994 and began as an electronica project. At the beginning, they mixed Bristol-style, Massive Attack, Portishead with Rap. The first album of the band, Londinium released in 1996 (with Roya Arab and Rosko John as guest vocalists). The second album, Take my Head, (which the band hates) was released in 1999 (with a new guest vocalist Suzanne Wooder), it is much more melodic than Londinium. The first song of the album, You Make Me Feel, illustrates this change in the Archive's music. After being dropped by their label and more changes in the lineup, the band seemed to hit its stride on the third album You All Look The Same To Me (2002), featuring singer Craig Walker (formerly of Power of Dreams), which took a decided turn toward more progressive music (with some Progressive Rock influences, notably Pink Floyd whose indelible influence is audible on tracks such as 'Finding it so Hard' and 'Again'), while still maintaining electronic elements. The band saw growing popularity and critical acclaim, especially in France, Greece, Germany and Poland. After recording two more artistically—but not too commercially—successful albums, Michel Vaillant (2003) and Noise (2004), Walker left the band for reasons the band and he will not talk about. The project continued on as a Collective, with new vocalists, Pollard Berrier and Dave Pen. In May 2006 they released the album Lights with Pollard Berrier on lead vocals, who is also a member/guest member of the innovative group, "Bauchklang" - a completely vocal beat-box (Vocal Groove) group based in Vienna, Austria. Archive released a live album, entitled,Live at Paris Zenith, in May, 2007 - which was recorded on January 20th, 2007 at the sold out Zentih Arena in Paris. Rolling Stone called it, "The best live album ever made." Archive continues to tour and is working on a number of forthcoming releases in the near future.
Archive are a Collective, not a band.
Headspace
Archive Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You fill my headspace
With evil thoughts unkind
I can do without do without
You move with hate
Your darkness my light cannot take
You deceive without a second thought
I receive my heart an open world
You say you hurt yourself
When you fuss around
But I feel your soul penetrate
When you gaze your touch
With desire
On another domain
I say to myself walt tall
Head held high don't look behind
Not good things to find
Go ahead
Taste with your eyes
Feel with your head
And think with your heart
Look up to celebrate with nails
Blood red
See a moon halfway clear in the sky
I wonder if you do from underground
Weakened flesh!
The lyrics of "Headspace" by Archive convey the idea of someone trying to find inner peace by distancing themselves from a toxic person or situation that poisons their mind. The repetitive phrase "Go away go away" implies a sense of urgency, as if the singer wishes to get rid of the negative influence as soon as possible. The lyrics suggest that the person in question is filled with "evil thoughts unkind" and "moves with hate", which implies a malicious intent that the singer doesn't want to be associated with. The contrast between "Your darkness my light cannot take" and "I receive my heart an open world" suggests that the singer values positivity and openness, and that they don't want to be dragged down by negativity.
The second half of the song seems to be directed at the toxic person themselves, as they are described as being obsessed with someone else ("On another domain") and using others to fulfill their desires. The singer decides to take control of their own life by telling themselves to "head held high don't look behind", embracing a sense of curiosity and wonder ("Go ahead/Taste with your eyes/Feel with your head/And think with your heart"). The final lines ("See a moon halfway clear in the sky/I wonder if you do from underground/Weakened flesh!") suggest that the toxic person's influence is fading and that the singer has moved on to a brighter future.
Line by Line Meaning
Go away go away
I want you to leave me alone
You fill my headspace
You occupy my thoughts
With evil thoughts unkind
You bring negative and harmful thoughts
I can do without do without
I don't need you in my life
You move with hate
Your actions are driven by malice
Your darkness my light cannot take
Your negativity affects me in a damaging way
You deceive without a second thought
You lie without any remorse
I receive my heart an open world
I am willing to love and accept others without judgment
You say you hurt yourself
You claim that your actions harm you
When you fuss around
When you act impulsively
But I feel your soul penetrate
I sense the true intentions behind your actions
When you gaze your touch
When you look and touch
With desire
With longing or craving
On another domain
On someone or something else
I say to myself walt tall
I tell myself to stand strong and be confident
Head held high don't look behind
I should be proud and not dwell on the past
Not good things to find
The past holds negative experiences
Go ahead
Move forward
Taste with your eyes
Observe and appreciate the beauty around you
Feel with your head
Use logic and reasoning to make decisions
And think with your heart
Listen to your emotions and intuition
Look up to celebrate with nails
Look to the sky and find joy
Blood red
The color of passion or anger
See a moon halfway clear in the sky
See beauty even in the midst of darkness or struggle
I wonder if you do from underground
I question if you appreciate the beauty of life
Weakened flesh!
The impermanence of the body
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: ANDRE LEWIS, ARAB ROYA
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Dopamine Overload
It is such a shame the guys in Archive never topped this. Take My Head can't even come close to this. I would have loved just ONE more album with this lineup. Just one, in 25 years.
Gábor Holtzer
Incredible mixing, the stereo field is so intense
End Olives
Yeah that must be what is so incredible in these songs, specially if you got a headphone with a good bass
Jason Cameron Marone
Pure trip hop goodness.
JC FACE B
Best trip-hop album ever ? (!)
Sharqui Metal
Indeeeeeeeeeeed
Robert R. Santos
That's vibe it's so cool
Mindlab84
Absolutely! Sad, that their other albums doesn't come near that level...
dark mater
Mais c est clair et net c est l essence même du trip hop la genèse morte née du trip hop avant cela n existait pas et plus rien de semblable après.....
Radu
@Mindlab84 Its not really trip hop, but Lights its a frickin amazing album ))