Louisiana

Album: Barking (2010)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This piano-laced ballad is from Barking, the eighth studio album by British house group Underworld. Out of the nine tracks on the album, Rick Smith and Karl Hyde wrote eight at their studio in Essex, before sending them on to various guest artists well-known for their contributions to trance, drum and bass and dubstep. This was the only song they finished themselves.
  • Hyde told the story of the song to MTV News: "Every time I hear that song, I think, 'People might not get this when I say it, but it's kind of dark.' I had written the verse and the chorus with a piano and it was in the archive, and I said, 'I think there's something here, something really strong and I think we need to make the rest of the tune,' " the Underworld musician recalled. "So I said [to Rick], 'Let's try something radical. We'll get into the room with you on piano, we'll have a beat box, and I'll have a microphone!'"

    This was unusual for Underworld who typically write their songs via the Internet. Said Hyde: "Eventually, this song appeared and there it was, and we sort of crafted it in a really, really traditional way. When it was finished we just felt, we don't want anyone to work on it; it's done, it's complete."

Comments: 1

  • Valo from Moscow, Russia FederationLots of Radiohead in this one. Late a bit, more of a nineties
    Quite beautiful, although)
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Timothy B. Schmit of the Eagles

Timothy B. Schmit of the EaglesSongwriter Interviews

Did this Eagle come up with the term "Parrothead"? And what is it like playing "Hotel California" for the gazillionth time?

80s Video Director Jay Dubin

80s Video Director Jay DubinSong Writing

Billy Joel and Hall & Oates hated making videos, so they chose a director with similar contempt for the medium. That was Jay Dubin, and he has a lot to say on the subject.

Gilby Clarke

Gilby ClarkeSongwriter Interviews

The Guns N' Roses rhythm guitarist in the early '90s, Gilby talks about the band's implosion and the side projects it spawned.

Little Big Town

Little Big TownSongwriter Interviews

"When seeds that you sow grow by the wicked moon/Be sure your sins will find you out/Your past will hunt you down and turn to tell on you."

Dino Cazares of Fear Factory

Dino Cazares of Fear FactorySongwriter Interviews

The guitarist/songwriter explains how he came up with his signature sound, and deconstructs some classic Fear Factory songs.

Dave Edmunds

Dave EdmundsSongwriter Interviews

A renowned guitarist and rock revivalist, Dave took "I Hear You Knocking" to the top of the UK charts and was the first to record Elvis Costello's "Girls Talk."