“You have cultural icons who are celebrities to the people. That kind of scares people in a political climate who want control. They can't control them, so all they can do is make the press take control, debase these people and try to take their credibility.” »read more
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Writer Karl Hyde was inspired to write the "lager, lager" lyrics after finding himself paralytic at chucking out time at a Soho pub and struggling to catch the last train home to Romford.
The song was named after a greyhound named "Born Slippy." The band saw the dog running at Romford race track.
In the Guardian newspaper February 24, 2006, Karl Hyde said: "We used to go out drinking in Soho and I ended up in the Ship on Wardour Street. All the lyrics were written on that night. A drunk sees the world in fragments and I wanted to recreate that. I was inspired by Lou Reed's New York album and Sam Shepard's Motel Chronicles. I was into flash photography as well, so I was walking around Soho with a notebook and camera, just observing things. In those days I'd open the book whenever a musical idea inspired me. Rick [Smith] came up with a rhythm and I started singing over it. The vocals were done in one take. When I lost my place, I'd repeat the same line; that's why it goes, 'lager, lager, lager, lager.' The first time we played it live, people raised their lager cans and I was horrified because I was still deep into alcoholism. It was never meant to be a drinking anthem; it was a cry for help. Now I don't mind. Why Born Slippy? It was a greyhound we won money on." (thanks, Edward Pearce - Ashford, Kent, England, for all above)
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Comments:
Actually the original "Born slippy" was an instrumental. The famous version, a B-side to the original, is "born Slipp .NUXX". The lyrics were just meant as a joke. For more info, go to wikipedia.
- James, Manchester, England
Is there a racial slur in the song? Someone said there was but I've never heard it.
- Joel, Columbia, SC
The first 2 notes of the song really make you feel the song. love it. the movie, the song. unreal. undescribley great.
- Paul, Galway, Ireland
It's use in the hit film "Trainspotting" made "Born Slippy" a Top 10 success in the UK early 1996, when it crossed over to hit No.2 having failed to chart on original release a year earlier, although prior to this, around the club scene Underworld (who originally formed in 1989, and whose original members included Karl Hyde, Darren Emerson and Rick Smith) were better known as a more experimental techno/House act, who had garnered a devoted cult following with 1991's 10-minute techno opus "Rez", early club hits "Spikee/Dogman Go Woof", "Confusion The Waitress", "Dark and Long", and their critically acclaimed early albums "Dub No Bass On My Head, Man!" (1993) and the terrific "Second Toughest In The Infants" (1995). In the autumn of 1996, they reactivated another previously failed single, "Pearl's Girl", which also hit the UK Top 20. Since 1997, however, they have failed to repeat the commercial success of these two singles, despite another acclaimed album in 1999, though the band have continued to record to this day (with Karl Hyde having now conquered his problems with alcoholism), albeit minus Darren Emerson, who is now a world-renowned DJ in his own right since leaving Underworld in 1997.
- Dave, Cardiff, Wales
Underworld lyrics tend to be streams of consciousness or things Hyde has overhead in public.
- Jessica, Saint Louis, MO
from the movie 'trainspotting'
- marlow, perth, Australia