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.
Moon in Water
Underworld Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The water is the subject, and the moon the object.
When there is no water, there is no moon-in-the-water.
And likewise there is no moon.
But when the moon rises,
The water does not wait to receive it's image,
And even when the tiniest drop of water is poured out,
The moon does not wait to cast it's reflection.
Does not wait to cast it's reflection
Does not wait to cast it's reflection
Does not wait to cast it's reflection
Does not wait to cast it's reflection
Does not wait to cast it's reflection
Does not wait to cast it's reflection
Past is already past.
The future's not yet here.
Things are constantly changing
Manifests, manifests
Manifests, manifests
Manifests, manifests
Does not wait to cast it's reflection
Does not wait to cast it's reflection
Does not wait to cast it's reflection
Does not wait to cast it's reflection
And the past is already past
The future not yet here
Things are constantly changing
Things are constantly changing
The event is caused as much by the water as by the moon,
And as the water manifests the brightness of the moon,
The moon manifests the clarity of the water.
The lyrics to Underworld's song "Moon in Water" explore the concept of impermanence and how human experience can be likened to the phenomenon of moon-in-the-water. The first few lines of the song set the stage for this exploration: "The water is the subject, and the moon the object. When there is no water, there is no moon-in-the-water. And likewise, there is no moon." The water and moon are two separate entities, but one cannot exist without the other.
As the moon rises, the water does not wait to receive its image, and even the tiniest drop of water is enough for the moon to cast its reflection. This is a metaphor for the constant change in our lives, how we must be present and engaged in the world around us in order to fully experience the beauty and fleetingness of life.
The chorus repeats the line "Does not wait to cast its reflection," emphasizing the urgency and importance of being present in the moment. The song then concludes with the lines "The event is caused as much by the water as by the moon, and as the water manifests the brightness of the moon, the moon manifests the clarity of the water," suggesting that our experiences are shaped by both internal and external factors.
Overall, "Moon in Water" is a meditation on the impermanence of life and the need to be present and engaged in the present moment.
Line by Line Meaning
The phenomenon of moon-in-the-water is likened to human experience.
Human experience can be compared to the phenomenon of moon-in-the-water.
The water is the subject, and the moon the object.
In the phenomenon of moon-in-the-water, water is the subject, and the moon is the object.
When there is no water, there is no moon-in-the-water.
The phenomenon of moon-in-the-water needs water to exist.
And likewise there is no moon.
Without water, there is no reflection of the moon.
But when the moon rises,
However, when the moon appears in the sky,
The water does not wait to receive it's image,
the water doesn't wait to reflect the moon's image,
And even when the tiniest drop of water is poured out,
even if only a small amount of water is present,
The moon does not wait to cast it's reflection.
the moon doesn't hesitate to cast its reflection.
Past is already past.
The past has already happened and cannot be changed.
The future's not yet here.
The future has not yet arrived.
Things are constantly changing
The world is always evolving and changing.
Manifests, manifests
The process of manifestation happens.
Does not wait to cast it's reflection
The moon doesn't wait to reflect its image in the water.
And the past is already past
The past is over and can't be changed.
Things are constantly changing
The world is always in a state of flux.
The event is caused as much by the water as by the moon,
The phenomenon of moon-in-the-water is caused equally by the water and the moon.
And as the water manifests the brightness of the moon,
As the water reflects the moon's brightness,
The moon manifests the clarity of the water.
the moon reflects the water's clarity.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Mute Song Limited
Written by: KARL HYDE, LINCOLN JORDAN BARRETT, RICHARD DAVID SMITH
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Brain Clerk
THE MOON AS THE DOOR TO THE ETERNAL WORLD
The idea of the Moon as a door, gate or mirror, opening onto 'the next' or a further world, is widespread, and then the Moon becomes a dividing line between the temporal world of becoming and the eternal world of being, serving as a place of transition between the two. The passage from the Kaushitaki Upanishad quoted above continues:
Verily, the moon is the door of the Svarga world (the heavenly world). Now if a man objects to the moon (if one is mot satisfied with life there) the moon sets him free. But if a man does not object, then the moon sends him down as rain upon the earth.
The Roman Lydus describes Praetextus, the hierophant as saying that Janus 'sends the diviner souls to the lunar throng', Janus or Ianus, the God with two faces, was the guardian of the door, who gave his name to January, the month that faces both ways. His name comes from ianua, a door or entrance gate that has two sides, and is also the masculine form of the Roman moon goddess, Diana, she who was the gateway to life and death. Some Buddhist temples, as some English gardens, have 'Moon doors' or 'Moon gates' as thresholds of initiation from one reality to another.... This places the Moon as as a meditor between Earth and Sun, not just receiving but regenerating the souls of the dead so that they can continue their journey to the Sun. Plutarch, in his dialogue, 'Concerning the face Which Appears in the Orb of the Moon', concludes with a story after the model in the Timaeus, by a stranger from a place no one knows. This stranger gave the tale to Sulla, the last of the speakers,who passes on the idea that the Moon should be especially honored because it is the home of the souls of the just, who go there to be purified before going to the Sun. The Moon is also the home of souls that have not yet been born.
Those who know the Supreme Brahman attain that Supreme by passing away from the world during the influence of the fiery god, in the light, at an auspicious moment of the day, during the fortnight of the waxing moon, or during the six months when the sun travels in the north.
When fire, light, day and the fortnight of the moon are mentioned, it is to be understood that over all of them there are various presiding deities who make arrangements for the passage of the soul. At the time of death, the mind carries one on the path to a new life. If one leaves the body at the time designated above, either accidentally or by arrangement, it is possible for him to attain the impersonal brahmajyoti. Mystics who are advanced in yoga practice can arrange the time and place to leave the body. Others have no control—if by accident they leave at an auspicious moment, then they will not return to the cycle of birth and death, but otherwise there is every possibility that they will have to return. However, for the pure devotee in Krishna consciousness, there is no fear of returning, whether he leaves the body at an auspicious or inauspicious moment, by accident or arrangement.
So as you can see, ancient peoples believed the soul went to the moon and/or sun at death.
Scientifically speaking, the moon is very suspicious. It is in perfect gravitational lock with the Earth so that its one side always faces us. This was probably the inspiration for the Pink Floyd album Dark Side of the Moon. The other most curious aspect of the moon is that it appears in the sky as the exactly the same size as the Sun. This can be seen during a total eclipse where the moon occults the sun. The reason scientists give us for this phenomenon is that the Sun is approximately four hundred times larger than the moon yet is four hundred times further away. Think about that fact for a minute. What are the odds of that? Isn't it more likely that the moon is the same size as the sun which is much closer to the moon than is reported?
In Egyptian mythology, the sky God was called Nut. That's the world in a nutshell. In fact, the world's most respected scientist, Stephen Hawking has a book named The Universe in a Nutshell where he actually makes the argument that the universe is, indeed, inside a shell. This would explain why space is dark and why everything is dark when the sun is not out or is eclipsed since the enclosure would block out any light. This would also explain terms such as stardom (star dome) and knighthood (night hood). Also the Latin term for Lord or Master is dominus (domin' us) and spawns the words domination and dominant. Given what we know from mythology about the moon god, it seems likely that the creator layed the world and gave rise to the "cosmic egg" which is often depicted as a snake entwined around the world. Using his long beak, he most likely pipped a hole in the egg resulting in what we see as the sun and the moon. The sun is now a hole in the egg and the moon is the half-shell that was pipped from the egg.
When the Moon is on its back, your going to find your way back, and it'll take away your soul.
lyrics by "Creedence Clearwater Revival" I See A Bad Moon Rising ! https://youtu.be/zUQiUFZ5RDw
Everyone's gone to the moon song.... https://youtu.be/73ks2TPPyho
Peter Woolstenholmes
Just when I think I've heard their best something else comes along. I'm an OAP but age is just a number and I love these guys.
Wolfy Mills
Never met any1 who doe like'em
John Morgan
Age isn't a number in terms of human experience.
Chris P
I'm right with you Peter 💙
WhatFour
the lyrics in this song are just sublime - so much to think about. I love the beats and the hypnotic beauty that is the rhythm of life contained within this joyful expression of life.
Tristan
Underworld - never disappoints
Wolfy Mills
2 rite
Kostas Gamer
Fax
unoMas
never .-
Robert Rozier
PURE POETRY ENERGY LIFEGASM! - Underworld! You have changed the way I view and feel about the world and life itself! Thank you for this glorious gift!!!!!