Underworld are a British electronic group formed in 1986 in Romford, Essex,… Read Full Bio ↴Underworld are a British electronic group formed in 1986 in Romford, Essex, England, by Karl Hyde (vocals, guitar, production) and Rick Smith (keyboards, production). DJ Darren Price (keyboards, production) accompanied the two in live performances between 2005-2016. They are best known for their unique mix of techno, trance, dance, ambient and sometimes drum and bass, the vocal parts performed by Hyde as spoken-word streams of consciousness, and for their outstanding live shows. The band gained worldwide fame with Born Slippy .NUXX from the Trainspotting soundtrack.

Before Underworld, Hyde and Smith started out in 1979 on The Screen Gemz band while working together in a diner in the city of Cardiff, where both had been studying. In 1983 they recorded two albums for CBS Records with a new wave synthpop band whose name was a graphic squiggle, later entitled Freur.

In 1986 Hyde and Smith formed Underworld, after disbanding of Freur. They tried a more guitar-oriented funky electropop sound on their two albums released on Sire Records: Underneath the Radar (1987) and Change the Weather (1989). This initial lineup (also called Underworld Mk1) consisted of Karl Hyde, Rick Smith, Alfie Thomas, Bryn Burrows, Baz Allen and Pascal Consoli before sinking back into obscurity and disbanding in 1990.

British DJ Darren Emerson hooked up with Hyde and Smith in 1992 and helped them refine their sound into something more sleek and beat-oriented, yet still shot through with tinges of blues, rock and spoken-word streams of consciousness. After several releases on Junior Boy's Own as Lemon Interupt, the trio re-adopted the Underworld name in 1992. Two songs from this era are Rez and Spikee.

In addition to their music, Hyde and Smith are members of Tomato, a graphic design company which has done high-profile work for clients around the world as well as art for all of Underworld's releases. Hyde, along with former Freur keyboardist John Warwicker, has also published two typographic journals, Mmm... Skyscraper, I Love You (1994) and In The Belly Of Saint Paul (2003).

Their first full-length, dubnobasswithmyheadman, was released in 1994 to rave reviews and is still considered a landmark. It spawned several hit singles (Dark & Long, Cowgirl, Dirty Epic) and was followed a couple years later by the Born Slippy single.

The sophomore album Second Toughest in the Infants was released in 1996. This album showed Underworld maturing as a trio, mixing elements of techno, house, drum and bass and pop music to spectacular effect. The first track Juanita/Kiteless/To Dream of Love (three parts) is one of the longest songs recorded by Underworld, with a length of over 16 minutes.

In the same year they issued an EP Pearl's Girl, containing various mixes of the song Pearl's Girl and five new tracks (one of them is Cherry Pie, an early version of Rowla). Underworld's much-praised remixography also grew, including Björk, Saint Etienne, Simply Red, Massive Attack and Leftfield.

After licensing out a remix of Born Slippy (entitled Born Slippy .NUXX) for the 1996 cult classic film Trainspotting, Underworld gained instant worldwide fame and found themselves touring the world. Their fame continued to run high into the release of Beaucoup Fish in 1999. Five singles were released: Moaner, Push Upstairs, Jumbo, King of Snake, and Bruce Lee.

Underworld issued a live set and a DVD named Everything, Everything in 2000, after which Emerson left the group to concentrate more on his DJ career. The mellower album A Hundred Days Off followed in 2002. It was promoted by two singles: Two Months Off and Dinosaur Adventure 3D.

In 2003 Underworld released a 2 CD compilation entitled 1992-2002, comprising some of their best songs. Also since 2003 the group has been trickling out new music on their official website www.underworldlive.com via a series of downloadable mp3s dubbed "The Riverrun Project". Each mp3 bundle features 25-or-so-minute of mixed new material, hundreds of photographs and traditional album art.

In 2005 the band issued another live album, Live in Tokyo 25th November 2005, a recording of Underworld's live performance at the Electraglide festival in Tokyo on 25 November 2005. There were apparently only 7000 copies of the album made.

Oblivion with Bells, their fifth studio album was released in October 2007, the first with additional collaboration with Darren Price who joined the band's live setup in 2005. It spawned four singles: Crocodile, Boy, Boy, Boy, Beautiful Burnout, and Ring Road.

On 13 May 2010, Underworld released a new single Scribble (Radio Edit), available for free download on their official site. This single was followed by a new album later that year, called Barking, which is still in the process of releasing singles, beginning with the aforementioned Scribble, Always Loved a Film and finally Diamond Jigsaw. Also released on a beatport remix contest was Bird 1 where amateur producers were able to put their take on Underworld's collaboration with Dubfire. As of 2011, the duo can also attach to their resumes soundtracking a live stage play. Frankenstein, produced and directed by Danny Boyle, starring both Johnny Lee Miller & Benedict Cumberbatch who are, on alternating nights, both Frankenstein, or the Creature. The Soundtrack is available through Underworld's Website.

January 2016 saw the release of I Exhale, in advance of Barbara Barbara, we face a shining future, released in March 2016.

In April 2018, Underworld released a standalone single, Brilliant Yes That Would Be, an ambient piece with its accompanying video inspired by the Icelandic landscape and their first performance in Reykjavík since 1994.

In May 2018, Underworld unveiled the World of Underworld project, which focuses on reflecting and re-imagining their nearly 30 year body of work. It also serves as an outlet for experimentation, new releases and spontaneous creativity. Brilliant Yes That Would Be was the first track to be released through the World of Underworld, which was recorded and mixed just days before it was released.

Later in that same month, Underworld debuted a new collaboration with Iggy Pop titled Bells & Circles, live at the BBC Biggest Weekend 2018. Shortly after, a four-track collaborative EP with the two artists was released, Teatime Dub Encounters.

On November 1st, 2018, Underworld announced the Drift project, an ongoing music-and-video experiment that publishes new Underworld material on their official website every week. The first instalment began with Another Silent Way, also released on the same day.

On November 1st, 2019, Underworld released Drift Series 1, their tenth studio album. It is the conclusion of the first year of the band's year-long music-and-video experiment Drift. Underworld announced the Drift project will continue on for another year. The now-renamed Drift Series 1, was released exactly one year after the launch of the series, as a box set featuring 7 CDs, a Blu-ray, and an 80-page book documenting the creative process around Drift. A single-disc Drift Series 1 Sampler Edition was also released simultaneously.

BOY
Underworld Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Boy boy boy boy
Wraps his arm around a skinny thing
Naked around, naked around, naked around
Naked around the middle
She's a sleepwalker with an expensive bag
Cruising cubicles
Cash thrills
Cruising and thinking, a cap and hood

Straps hanging down your black legs

(pig pig pig pig
Stick that word out at your best mark
Remember, remember, remember, remembering)
All your sundays come back to haunt me
I like to hurt myself like this sometimes
What you want from me this time
Do you want a spoon
Carrying another wound
Like an addiction
When you caught your affliction

I'm in a rage, I'm in a rage, I'm in a rage
I knew I refused to hand it over
Burn me, burn me, burn me, burn me
I know what's going to happen next
(stood at the next table touching the lips with love)
Okay now it's clear you can look
Clean clean
There's something (chromium)
Tattooed dad is getting dirty
And a (tired thing, boooze)

off with your head off with your head
Your razor wire beauty
You're going straight, you're going straight, you're going straight
But sometimes you gotta show them
I like to hurt myself like this sometimes
What you want from me this time
Do you want a spoon
Carrying another wound

Like an addiction
When you caught your affliction

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of the song Boy Boy Boy by Underworld are complex and have different interpretations. The song is written in the form of a dialogue between two people, possibly lovers or acquaintances in a club. The first verse introduces a boy who wraps his arm around a skinny girl who is naked around the middle, implying that they may be engaging in sexual activities. The girl is described as a sleepwalker with an expensive bag, cruising cubicles for cash thrills.

In the chorus, the singer reminisces about their past relationship, which was full of pain and hurt, but they still find themselves drawn towards it. The second verse describes the girl's addiction, likening it to wounds that she continues to carry despite the pain. The chorus repeats, emphasizing the singer's attraction towards the pain and affliction of their past relationship. The final verse describes the tattooed dad getting dirty, implying perhaps that the two people are in a club or bar.

Overall, the song is open to interpretation, but it could be seen as a commentary on the danger and allure of toxic relationships, and the desire to be ensnared by the pain rather than escape it.

Line by Line Meaning

Boy boy boy boy
The song starts with repeating the word 'boy', which may denote the persona being addressed or may be interpreted as a tribute to boys.

Wraps his arm around a skinny thing
The persona wraps his arm around a slender person, most likely a woman considered desirable by the persona.

Naked around, naked around, naked around
This line may signify that the persona and his partner are bare-skinned and comfortable in each other's company.

Naked around the middle
This line refers to the nakedness of their waist area, suggesting they’re not wearing any clothes.

She's a sleepwalker with an expensive bag
The woman being addressed seems to be either absent-minded or carefree, but also has an expensive lifestyle.

Cruising cubicles
The persona could be wandering around aimlessly or in a car, passing rows of tall office cubicles.

Cash thrills
This line communicates the excitement felt by the persona at the prospect of accumulating wealth.

Cruising and thinking, a cap and hood
The persona is shown to be lost in thought while he's out and about, probably wearing a hat and hood for incognito purposes.

Straps hanging down your black legs
This line could be interpreted as an allusion to the BDSM scene or a kink of the persona's.

(pig pig pig pig Stick that word out at your best mark Remember, remember, remember, remembering)
The characters in the song momentarily switch to uttering irrelevant sounds that make no sense.

All your Sundays come back to haunt me
The persona is acknowledging that his past mistakes, sins, or deeds are catching up to him and affecting him negatively.

I like to hurt myself like this sometimes What you want from me this time Do you want a spoon Carrying another wound Like an addiction When you caught your affliction
This verse deals with addiction and the tendency of the persona to harm himself willingly, despite knowing the consequences.

I'm in a rage, I'm in a rage, I'm in a rage I knew I refused to hand it over Burn me, burn me, burn me, burn me I know what's going to happen next
The persona is in a rage, refusing to surrender something of great importance. He knows he's about to be punished severely.

(stood at the next table touching the lips with love) Okay now it's clear you can look Clean clean There's something (chromium) Tattooed dad is getting dirty And a (tired thing, boooze)
The characters once again start speaking gibberish, including an allusion to kissing, polished and sharp materials, a tattooed father getting dirty, and a tired person drinking alcohol.

off with your head off with your head Your razor wire beauty You're going straight, you're going straight, you're going straight But sometimes you gotta show them
The persona orders someone's head to be removed and admires the person's sharp beauty. He acknowledges that sometimes one has to prove oneself even when on the right path.

I like to hurt myself like this sometimes What you want from me this time Do you want a spoon Carrying another wound Like an addiction When you caught your affliction
This verse repeats itself, as if the persona is caught in a loop, reliving his past mistakes while trying to shake off the addiction that causes them.

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Mute Song Limited
Written by: KARL HYDE, RICHARD DAVID SMITH

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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