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.
Suffocated Love
Tricky Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
It's too nice
She makes me finish too quick
Is it love?
No not love
She turns my sexual trick
She says she's mine, I know she lies
First, I scream, then I cry.
You beckon, I'll be
She suffocates me
She suffocates me with suggestion
I asked 'do you feel the same?'
And later on, maybe
I'll tell you my real name
She's so good, she's so bad
You understand, I can't stand
Now I could just kill a Man
She's on her knees, I say please
I caress her silly lies, she's got brown eyes
I think ahead of you, I think instead of you
Will you spend your life with me
And stifle me?
I know why the caged bird sings, I know why
Forgive and you're forgiven
Kingdom come
Can you wait for yours, I need to taste some
Life's pretty funny, I laugh while she spends my money
She's my freak
I guess I'm weak
You ask what is this?
Mind your business
I pass my idle days with my idle ways
'til the twelfth of always
She walks my hallways
I keep her warm, but we never kiss
She cuts my slender wrists
Let's waste some more time
I sign the dotted line
A different level
She-devil
You ask what is this?
Mind your business
I pass my idle days with my idle ways
Til the twelfth of always
She walks my hallways
I keep her warm but we never kiss
She says I'm weak and immature
But it's cool
I know what money's for.
Push comes to shove, her tongue's her favorite weapon on attack
I slap her back, she mostly hates me.
Can I take off your clothes
Before we go out
And when you're helpless, I'll scream and shout
We finish everyday
(well, anyway)
Sixty-nine degrees
My head's between your knees.
Tricky’s “Suffocated Love” is a song that depicts the complicated nature of a sexual relationship. The song opens with Tricky saying that the sexual relationship is too good, too nice, and that she makes him finish too quickly. He is not sure if it is love or not, but she is playing with his sexual desires. Tricky highlights the fact that she suffocates him with her suggestion, and he cannot resist her.
Tricky highlights the fact that the woman he is involved in the sexual relationship with lies to him by telling him that he is the only one, despite her sleeping around with other people. Tricky mentions that he is weak and powerless around her, and that she walks all over him. He also highlights the fact that he knows why the caged bird sings. This reference to Maya Angelou’s famous autobiography highlights the societal pressures that women are culturally subjected to.
Overall, the song is a commentary on the complexities of sex, power, and relationships. It highlights that people in a sexual relationship might be pretending to be someone else, using sex to gain power, or even lying about the nature of the relationship.
Line by Line Meaning
It's too good
The situation he is currently in is a good one
It's too nice
The situation he is currently in is too nice to be true/threatening
She makes me finish too quick
He has sexual relations with her and finishes too quickly
Is it love?
Asks if what he has for her is love
No not love
It isn't really love
She turns my sexual trick
She is very skilled at satisfying him in bed
She says she's mine, I know she lies
She claims that she's his, but he knows she's lying
First, I scream, then I cry.
He expresses his pain and sadness after the situation between them
Take a second of me
Asks for a second to be given
You beckon, I'll be
Asks the other to call him and he will come
She suffocates me
He feels smothered by her actions and words
She suffocates me with suggestion
She smothers him with ideas/influence
I asked 'do you feel the same?'
He inquires if she shares the same feelings as him
And later on, maybe
Inquiring about a possible future
I'll tell you my real name
Referring to the possibility of opening up to her
She's so good, she's so bad
Refers to her ability to be both good and bad for him
You understand, I can't stand
He doesn't like the situation he is in
Now I could just kill a Man
He's frustrated to the point of harming others
She's on her knees, I say please
She's begging for something and he asks for mercy
I caress her silly lies, she's got brown eyes
He comforts her with false truths
I think ahead of you, I think instead of you
He's always planning ahead of her, possibly sees something she doesn't
Will you spend your life with me
He asks her if she's willing to build a future with him
And stifle me?
Asks if she will smother him/ take away his ability to breathe
I know why the caged bird sings, I know why
Refers to the phenomenon of singing when no one is allowed to sing, relates it to his situation
Forgive and you're forgiven
If you forgive someone, they can forgive you as well
Kingdom come
A reference to a biblical phrase that means the end of the world
Can you wait for yours, I need to taste some
Asks the other party to be patient as he satisfies his own needs first
Life's pretty funny, I laugh while she spends my money
He mocks his own situation as she takes advantage of him.
She's my freak
Refers to her as an unusual and unique person
I guess I'm weak
Admits to his own weakness in the situation
You ask what is this?
The other party inquires what their relationship is
Mind your business
He tells them that it's none of their concern
I pass my idle days with my idle ways
Says he wastes his time on useless things without making progress in life
Til the twelfth of always
A reference to forever time that continually passes without end.
She walks my hallways
She is in his life and in his personal space
I keep her warm but we never kiss
He takes care of her in a certain way, but they don't show any intimacy
She cuts my slender wrists
She hurts him emotionally.
Let's waste some more time
He suggests they continue their current behavior
I sign the dotted line
He agrees to something without giving it a second thought
A different level
Their relationship is not like any other. They are on a level of their own.
She-devil
Refers to her as a person who can claim her victims and destroy them if she wants to.
Push comes to shove, her tongue's her favorite weapon on attack
I'm telling you about what she tends to do when things get tough for her.
I slap her back, she mostly hates me.
He fights back against her but is still antagonized.
Can I take off your clothes
Before we go out
And when you're helpless, I'll scream and shout
Asks if he can undress her before they go out and that when she is helpless he will do things to her.
We finish everyday
(well, anyway)
Sixty-nine degrees
My head's between your knees.
Refers to the act of finishing everyday sexually through mutual oral sex.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: ADRIAN NICHOLAS MATTHEW THAWS, RICHARD BARRETT
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind