They met at a Sheffield party, when Murphy had no prior professional singing experience. Meanwhile, Brydon had a thirteen-year musical résumé, first with Chakk / Hula pioneering EBM (then, aka big beat). Subsequently, within dance music, he formed and produced various pop and house acts, e.g. producing Krush's hit "House Arrest" (1987, FON) and his 1993 Cloud Nine project. Murphy approached Brydon with the chat-up line "Do you like my tight sweater? See how it fits my body!", hence their debut album's title. Respectively, 'Moloko' originates from the Nadsat slang word for "milk" (from the Russian, молоко), in Anthony Burgess' novel "A Clockwork Orange".
Recorded while the pair were dating, Do You Like My Tight Sweater? gained notice on underground dance and trip-hop scenes, then more so with I Am Not a Doctor (Jul 1998, Echo). The latter yielded "Sing It Back", which broke Moloko into the mainstream. Remixed by house producer Boris Dlugosch, "Sing It Back (Boris Musical Mix)", was a massive Ibiza hit and entered the top-five of 1999 weekly UK singles charts, helped by a psychedelic video featuring Murphy in a very short metallic flapper dress and cap. "Sing It Back" was eventually featured on more than 110 music compilations. Dlugosch's remix also appears on faux radio station Rise FM in the action-adventure game "GTA: Liberty City Stories" (2005, Rockstar Games).
In 2000 Moloko started touring as a full band along with percussionist Paul Slowly, keyboardist Eddie Stevens, and guitarist Dave Cook.
The band also had chart success with "The Time Is Now", the first single from their third album, Things to Make and Do. This album had relied less on the leftfield beats of the previous albums, and featured more organic instrumentation.
Murphy and Brydon ended their relationship in 2001. After their breakup they recorded and released their fourth and final studio album, Statues, in 2003. Statues continued a segue into more traditional instrumentation, along with electronica elements from their earlier releases. The album majorly incorporated the theme of the couple's split: all of the songs deal with a troubled and/or ending romance.
In 2004 Moloko released a live DVD, 11,000 Clicks, recorded on stage at the Brixton Academy. It contained many of their well known songs including "Indigo", "Sing It Back", and "The Time Is Now".
After concluding the tour supporting Statues, Moloko mutually parted ways, with Róisín Murphy launching a solo career.
A "best of" album, Catalogue, was released in 2006. Murphy and Brydon, along with long-time Moloko guitarist Dave Cook, played a select number of acoustic radio performances to promote the album.
Since 2006 they have been on an indefinite hiatus.
Blink
Moloko Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Do you even have the capability left to think?
There seems to be a missing link
Everybody's had a chance to see how far I can sink
As I try to call you back
As I try to call you back from the brink
If you hear me, baby, blink!
You're just so uptight
I don't suppose you have the energy to put up a fight
You just might implode before I get a chance at cracking the code
Take a good look around
Milk and honey's getting thin on the ground
If you hear me then make a sound
If you hear me, baby, blink!
As I try to call you back
As I try to call you back from the brink
If you hear me, baby, blink!
As I try to call you back
As I try to call you back from the brink
There will be no recompense when I'm screaming in the face of your silence
Still I draw a blank
Can't go down any further than I've already sank
If you're not there at all
Someone tell me why I'm talking to the wall
Do you hear me call?
If you continue to ignore these reasonable demands
I'll be drawing up a new plan
The future is in your hands
Isn't it a crying shame your little game of hide and seek
Became so tiresome to me sometime last week?
The future is bleak
If you hear me, baby, blink!
As I try to call you back
As I try to call you back from the brink
If you hear me, baby, blink!
As I try to call you back
The lights are off
I know you're home
I burn your letters begging me to leave you alone
Keep your privacy
Your inner thoughts mean nothing to me
If you are waiting for me to take on my fair share of the blame
Honey your efforts are in vain
If you hear me call my name
If you hear me, baby, blink!
(If you hear me call your name)
As I try to call you back
As I try to call you back from the brink [repeat]
If you hear me, baby, blink!
As I try to call you back
As I try to call you back from the brink
Anybody, is there anybody in there?
Is there anybody, anybody in there?
Anybody, is there anybody in there?
Is there anybody?
In Moloko's song Blink, the lyrics seem to be portraying a sense of desperation and frustration in a relationship gone wrong. The song addresses a partner who is distant, unresponsive, and seemingly disconnected from the relationship. The lyrics are an appeal for the partner to "blink," to show some sign of life, to respond, to engage with the relationship, to try and mend things before it's too late. The singer of the song seems to be making a last-ditch attempt to reach out to the partner before they give up entirely. The repetition of the line "as I try to call you back from the brink" emphasizes the urgency and gravity of the situation.
The song's chorus is an appeal to the partner to respond, to show some sign of life, to engage with the relationship. The line "if you hear me, baby, blink" is a plea for the partner to show some sign of life, some indication that they're still there, still invested in the relationship. The repeated references to sinking and the brink suggest that the relationship is teetering on the edge of collapse, and that the singer is desperately trying to pull it back from the edge.
Overall, the song is a poignant and powerful narrative of a relationship in crisis, with lyrics that are both evocative and emotionally charged.
Line by Line Meaning
If you hear me, baby, blink!
Please give me a sign that you're still there and listening
Do you even have the capability left to think?
Do you still have the mental capacity for rational thought?
There seems to be a missing link
Something essential is missing here
Everybody's had a chance to see how far I can sink
I've already hit rock bottom and everyone knows it
As I try to call you back from the brink
I'm desperately trying to save you from falling over the edge
You're just so uptight
You're wound up and tense, making it hard to communicate with you
I don't suppose you have the energy to put up a fight
You seem exhausted and unwilling to argue
You just might implode before I get a chance at cracking the code
You could collapse under the pressure before I figure out what's really bothering you
Take a good look around, Milk and honey's getting thin on the ground
Things are getting worse and resources are running low
If you hear me then make a sound
Please respond to me in some way, even if it's just a noise
There will be no recompense when I'm screaming in the face of your silence
You won't be able to make up for ignoring me when I'm yelling at you later
Still I draw a blank, Can't go down any further than I've already sank
I'm stuck and don't know what to do next
If you're not there at all, Someone tell me why I'm talking to the wall
If you're completely absent, then why am I bothering to try to communicate with you?
Do you hear me call?
Can you hear me trying to get your attention?
If you continue to ignore these reasonable demands, I'll be drawing up a new plan
If you won't listen to me, I'll have to come up with a different strategy
The future is in your hands
You have the power to decide how this situation plays out
Isn't it a crying shame your little game of hide and seek, Became so tiresome to me sometime last week?
It's sad that you're still playing games when I've grown tired of them
The future is bleak
The prospects for our relationship aren't very bright
The lights are off, I know you're home
You're there, but you're hiding in the dark
I burn your letters begging me to leave you alone
I'm destroying the letters you sent me asking me to stay away
Keep your privacy, Your inner thoughts mean nothing to me
You can have your secrets, but they don't matter to me in the grand scheme of things
If you are waiting for me to take on my fair share of the blame, Honey your efforts are in vain
If you expect me to take responsibility for everything, you're wasting your time
(If you hear me call your name)
If I'm trying to get your attention by calling your name
Anybody, is there anybody in there?
Is anyone really listening or paying attention?
Is there anybody, anybody in there?
Is there anyone who's really present and engaged?
Anybody, is there anybody in there?
Is anyone out there who can hear me?
Is there anybody?
Does anyone exist who can actually respond to me?
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: Mark Brydon, Roisin Murphy
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind