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.
Mmm Skyscraper I Love You
Underworld Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Mmm skyscraper I love you. mmm skyscraper I love you.
Thirty thousand feet above the earth. its a beautiful thing.
And you're a beautiful thing.
Thirty thousand feet above the earth. its a beautiful thing.
Everybody's a beautiful thing.
Mmm skyscraper I love you. Mmm skyscraper I love you.
And I see Elvis! Elvis!
Porn dogs sniffing the wind for something violent they can do.
Porn dogs sniffing the wind. sniffing the wind for something new.
Porn dogs sniffing the wind for something violent for me and you.
Will you be my big plaything. my total big disorientator.
Will you be my big plaything. my ninja power. my number cruncher.
Yes. yes. yes. no. yes. yes.
Yes. yes. yes. yes. no. no.
And I see Elvis! and I hear god on the phone.
Mmm skyscraper I love you.
I see porn dogs sniffing the wind. sniffing the wind for something new.
Porn dogs sniffing the wind for something violent that they could do.
Porn dogs sniffing the wind. sniffing the wind for something new.
Porn dogs sniffing the wind for something violent for me and you.
The city is a whore tonight.
And I see god talking! Elvis! god talking!
Pornfest pork fat Jesus Christ night light.
Elvis fresh meat and a little whipped cream.
Pornfast cornfat Jesus Christ night ride.
Elvis fresh meat and a little whipped cream.
Thirty thousand feet above the earth. thirty thousand feet above the earth.
Beautiful thing. you're a beautiful thing.
Thirty thousand feet above the beautiful earth.
Mmm skyscraper I love you. mmm skyscraper I love you.
Mmm skyscraper I love you. mmm skyscraper I love you.
Like I feel you. like I feel you. like I feel you. like I feel you...
The lyrics to Underworld's "Mmm Skyscraper I Love You" are abstract and surreal. The main recurring line "Mmm skyscraper I love you" seems to reflect a sense of awe and wonder at the sheer size and beauty of skyscrapers, while also hinting at a certain fascination with power and domination. The singer imagines himself (or herself) at "thirty thousand feet above the earth," looking down on the world below and feeling overwhelmed by its complexity and chaos. The line "And I see Elvis!" suggests a kind of hallucinatory experience or feeling of transcendence, where the boundaries between reality and fantasy are blurred.
The lyrics also contain darker elements, such as the reference to "porn dogs" sniffing the wind for something violent they can do. This could be interpreted as a comment on the darker, more destructive aspects of human nature, and the way that power and violence can be fetishized and glorified. The line "The city is a whore tonight" further reinforces this sense of moral decay and corruption, an image that is echoed in the reference to "Pornfest pork fat Jesus Christ night light."
Line by Line Meaning
Mmm skyscraper I love you. mmm skyscraper I love you.
The singer is expressing love for skyscrapers in this repeated refrain.
Thirty thousand feet above the earth. its a beautiful thing.
Being thousands of feet in the air is exhilarating and beautiful.
And you're a beautiful thing.
The singer is using the imagery of flight to express their admiration for something or someone else that is beautiful.
Everybody's a beautiful thing.
The artist is suggesting that everyone has beauty and is to be celebrated.
And I see Elvis! Elvis!
The artist is either seeing an actual Elvis or is experiencing some sort of intense hallucination or fantasy.
I see porn dogs sniffing the wind. sniffing the wind for something new.
The singer is using provocative language to describe a violent or dangerous situation, possibly involving some kind of criminal activity or perversion.
Porn dogs sniffing the wind for something violent they can do.
This line reinforces the earlier suggestion of danger and criminality.
Will you be my big plaything. my total big disorientator.
The artist is addressing someone or something and using playful language to suggest that they want to be disoriented or thrown off balance in some way.
Will you be my big plaything. my ninja power. my number cruncher.
The artist is continuing to use playful language to express their desire for excitement and stimulation.
Yes. yes. yes. no. yes. yes.
This could be interpreted as the artist engaging in some kind of sexual or other intimate activity where consent is sought and granted or withheld.
Yes. yes. yes. yes. no. no.
This line reinforces the earlier suggestion of some kind of intimate activity where consent is important.
And I see Elvis! and I hear god on the phone.
The artist continues to suggest that they are either experiencing hallucinations or engaging in some kind of fevered fantasy.
The city is a whore tonight.
The singer is using crude language to express their sense that the city they are in is indulging in excess and depravity.
Pornfest pork fat Jesus Christ night light.
This line is intentionally provocative and confrontational, using religious and sexual language to paint a vivid and unsettling picture of some kind of disturbing scene.
Elvis fresh meat and a little whipped cream.
The singer is continuing to indulge in fantasies that involve famous people and potentially kinky or taboo sexual practices.
Pornfast cornfat Jesus Christ night ride.
Once again, the artist is using provocative language to paint a vivid and unsettling picture of some kind of disturbing scene.
Thirty thousand feet above the earth. thirty thousand feet above the earth.
The artist is repeating an earlier line that expressed their excitement and awe at being in the air.
Mmm skyscraper I love you. mmm skyscraper I love you.
The singer is repeating their refrain about loving skyscrapers.
Like I feel you. like I feel you. like I feel you. like I feel you...
The singer is expressing the intensity of their emotional connection to the object of their affection, suggesting that the feeling is almost overwhelming.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Mute Song Limited
Written by: Darren Paul Emerson, Karl Hyde, Richard David Smith
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
justadev__ __
One of the greatest techno tracks ever created. The early to mid 90's was a magic time period to be a part of. I wish I could live it all over again. If your reading this and you weren't apart of this time period and love this style of music hmu and i'll be happy to share some gold with ya.
dylan Robertson
Hey, I'm always in the need of new Tunes ❤💛💚 Blinding ✊🤠
dylan Robertson
Dont know what hmu means?
justadev__ __
@dylan Robertson It means hit me up (contact me). What Era did you grow up in? That will give me an idea of what to send. I don't wanna give you recommendations of stuff you already listen to
doberchic
It definitely was the golden age. Beautiful beautiful decade the 90s were. I feel so sad for those who couldn't know it, born too late. It was the last age of any semblance of innocence before technology completely ate everyone up into isolation.
_REDUX
Right on track..
plangley33
7:44 The point of no return. Most addictive hook I ever heard. A thing of utter beauty. This album is amazing.
TheBigLeChowski
It's crazy listening to this song/album years later after it being one of my mainstays way back in the day. It sort of triggers old neurons in a way that kinda makes me dizzy. Timeless masterpiece
Adam J Knight
Indeed... I fucking LIVED on this shit back then... Only decided to revisit it today when reading in the paper that Born slippy was one of the greatest no.2 charting records ever... then I remembered.... Dubnobasswimyheadman.... it did tho...it did bass wi my head man... fucking LOVED it... Damn it... wonder if if still got all the vinyls lying about... maybe find some leftfield while i'm at it...
Adam J Knight
The fact that I loved this entire album so much and barely remembered it until this morning... just goes to show the hungry stupidity of a youth gone bye.... so glad I accidentally reminded myself....