Adrian Thaws (born 27 January 1968), better known as Tricky, is a rapper an… Read Full Bio ↴Adrian Thaws (born 27 January 1968), better known as Tricky, is a rapper and musician from Knowle West, Bristol, England who is important in the trip-hop scene (despite loathing the tag) and remains influential on the British scene more generally.

He is noted for an asthmatic whispering lyrical style that is half-rapped, half-sung. As a producer and a musician he is known for having an aversion to perfection preferring to build up a dark, rich and layered sound. Culturally, Tricky bridges white and black Britain particularly in his fusion of rock and hip-hop, high art and pop culture. He drew his influences from rap (Public Enemy) to post-punk (he covered a Siouxsie and the Banshees's song Tattoo).

Throughout his work, Tricky blurs the normally clear sexual definitions found within hip hop. Despite the heavy influence he drew from American hip hop in his debut album, Maxinquaye, he fights against typical sexual representations by, for example, dressing as a woman on the side sleeve of his album cover. Within many of his tracks he blends elements of varying types of music, and use his lyrics to create a much more ambiguous and blurry reality of sexuality.

Maxinquaye remains his most commercially and critically successful album to date. About it, Tricky originally said in an interview with Raygun in October 1996 that he wanted to make an 'out-an-out punk record' and that "I thought it was going be heavier. I thought it was just going to be an out-an-out punk record. But you end up straying. What I wanted to do was a total fast album. Some of the tracks are fast and hard, but they didn't come out like that." He also said that he hated being stuck with the trip-hop tag so "That's why I did Nearly God, and that's why I did Pre-Millennium Tension. You can't see them as trip-hop albums. So I just keep running away from it. But the farther you run, it's still there. They'll find you." Ever since, Tricky' style has evolved away from obscure, sample-based textures to a more contemporary, electronic sound.

Tricky was in Massive Attack and appeared in the movie The Fifth Element as well as the music video for Parabola by Tool. He has collaborated extensively with other artists on tracks on his various releases, including Bjork, Alanis Morissette, Cyndi Lauper, Anthony Kiedis , John Frusciante and Flea (of the Red Hot Chili Peppers), Martina Topley-Bird, and Alison Goldfrapp of Goldfrapp also many others.

After his initial success in the latter 1990's, he started his own label called Durban Poison. Currently he is heading a new imprint called Brown Punk.

Far Away
Tricky Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Sanctuary, mandatory
Global crisis, crisis global

Jump the bottle,
Float far away
Float far away
Float far away

Go to cinema, feel like a criminal
?
?
Sanctuary, mandatory
Global crisis, crisis global

Jump the bottle
Floats far away

Floats far away
Floats far away

In the cinema, life is minimal
She don't love me like that
She don't love me like that
I try to chose, my shadow moves
But don't last, in my hovercraft
Life is minimal, life is minimal

[Repeat: x3]
Jump the bottle, floats far away

We're gonna last
We're gonna last
We're gonna last
We float far away
We float far away
We're gonna last
We float far away
Far way
Far away
Float far away
Crisis global, global crisis
Float
We're gonna last
We're gonna last
We're gonna last
We're gonna last
We float far away
We float
We float far away
Float far away
Far away
We float far away
We're gonna last
We're gonna last
We float
We float
We float far away

Float
I float

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to Tricky's song "Far Away" are haunting and abstract. The phrases "Sanctuary, mandatory" and "Global crisis, crisis global" create a sense of urgency and confusion. The repeated phrase "Jump the bottle, float far away" conjures up images of escapism and self-medication. The following lines, "In the cinema, life is minimal / She don't love me like that," suggest a feeling of dissociation and disconnection from reality. The singer is trying to escape from their problems and feelings of loneliness, but even in the cinema, they feel like a criminal. The final lines of the song offer a glimpse of hope. The repeated phrase "We're gonna last" suggests that the singer has found some kind of comradery or support. Despite the global crisis and their personal struggles, they are going to survive and "float far away."

Overall, the lyrics to "Far Away" capture a sense of unease and isolation. The repeated phrases and cryptic imagery create a feeling of disorientation, like the singer is trying to piece together fragments of their experience. The contrast between the urgency of the opening lines and the dreamlike quality of the rest of the song suggests that the singer is caught between two worlds, trying to escape from the reality of their life but unable to fully detach from it.

Line by Line Meaning

Sanctuary, mandatory
The need for refuge is imperative during difficult times

Global crisis, crisis global
The crisis is felt worldwide and affects everybody

Jump the bottle, Float far away
Escaping reality through alcohol or drugs

Go to cinema, feel like a criminal
The mundanity of everyday life can make one feel like they're committing a crime

Sanctuary, mandatory
Reiterating the importance of finding refuge

Global crisis, crisis global
Reiterating the global scope of the crisis

In the cinema, life is minimal
Movies offer an escape from reality and make life seem small

She don't love me like that
The artist is lacking love in their life

I try to chose, my shadow moves
The artist struggles with making choices and finding direction

But don't last, in my hovercraft
Even when the artist feels in control, it's fleeting

Life is minimal, life is minimal
Reiterating that life feels small and insignificant