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Rating: The night falls; I'm in the car, the road is dark and my vision is uncertain, I still have 50 km to go, and unfortunately, I feel myself falling into a deep, tormented, elusive sleep.
Moby from the CD player I have in the car doesn't help, he sings a song of unprecedented beauty and sadness, the seventeenth track of "Play"; "The Sky Is Broken", the slow, melancholic, purely emotional flow of the song, takes me back to secret places of my memories, my mind travels, my heart stops beating for a moment. Moby seems to be praying to someone, tired and impatient, he seems to want only one thing; "speak to me/ speak to me", the song slowly dies and the last intense track of "Play", "My Weakness" begins, offering me a journey of distortion, strings, repetitive and undefinable choirs, breaths, soft and tired pants; my driving slows more and more, I stagger, the car in front of me turns on its headlights, I wake up for a moment, decide not to go off the road and change the song, I switch from 18 to 7, "Body Rock" wakes me up completely, I turn up the volume to the maximum and like a madman, I start yelling, dazed and joyful, sleep is just a memory, the night seems to have just begun, the guitars, the absolutely '90s funky sound make "Body Rock" the perfect song to listen to in the car; track 8 arrives, "Natural Blues" and I immediately feel like crying, but how? I go from total happiness to tears, sad and melancholic, I decide to continue down the masochistic path and put on "Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad" a long title that also sums up the lyrics of the song itself, this phrase is repeated to exhaustion; there's no hope, it just hurts, there's no fixable route, there's only pain in this song, which holds a very personal intensity. Now, however, the tears really flow... "South Side" starts, which begins dark and elusive, but is actually a very funky song, with a remarkable melodic opening in the chorus, Moby's voice, slender as always, barely sketches the song, I sing and dance even though I'm hindered by driving; there are no more traces of tears, but that hallucinogenic trip called "Rushing" starts, the song flows like a river, just as the title suggests, slow and enchanted it brings you to a delicate and fragile atmosphere, similar to that jewel "Porcelain" that I decide not to listen to because I don't feel like crying anymore, I decide to change and opt for that "digital masturbation" track which is "Machete" among the most intense electronics there is, and Moby's vocal fragility, between silence and the totality of noise; pure orgasm, I'm shaken and energetic ready to drive another 60 hours.
I am having fun, laughing, and humming along with "Run On", a serene smile opens on my face, ah... it was needed, however from "Run On" onwards, "Play" will face its slowest moment, between distortion, psychedelia, and pure chill out, as if the sound is dying and needs to be accompanied by increasingly quieter tracks, from "Down Slow" to the beautiful bass riff of "If Things Were Perfect", which melts you into the liquidity of the song, to the sad and autumnal guitars of "Everloving" which exhaust in me any desire to drive; I want to sleep, I want to rest, I want to dream.
"Inside" starts, and the slow and denatured beat, becomes softened and rendered elegant by the collection of atmospheric sounds, I increasingly want to sleep, on the moon, surrounded by an immensity of clouds, uff, I'm getting sleepier by the moment, I change and things do not get better with "Guitar Flute And String" which the title explains it all, perhaps the slowest track; offers an enchanted dream atmosphere, inside a castle with colorful drapes, fields of flowers in spring and perfect skies, well I'm dreaming, and it is here that "Play" achieves its goal, which is to open a world in the mind of any person.
It must have been the dreamy atmosphere, the colors and the beauty of the sounds chosen by Moby for his unique masterpiece "Play", but without realizing it, I have arrived home, parked the car in the garage, overcome the difficult obstacle of the stairs, opened the thousand locks of the house door, changed clothes, and reached my warm bed, ready to dream.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Honey (03:30)
When my honey come back, sometimes
I wanna rap that jack, sometimes
I get a hump in my back, sometimes
I'm goin' over here, sometimes
Way down yonder, sometimes
Gonna get my pal, sometimes
03 Porcelain (04:01)
In my dreams, I'm dying all the time
Then I wake it's kaleidoscopic mind
I never meant to hurt you
I never meant to lie
So this is goodbye
This is goodbye
Tell the truth you never wanted me
Tell me
In my dreams, I'm jealous all the time
Then I wake I'm going out of my mind
Going out of my mind
04 Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad? (04:25)
Why does my heart feel so bad?
Why does my soul feel so bad?
Why does my heart feel so bad?
Why does my soul feel so bad?
Feel all alone
05 South Side (03:50)
I see myself in the pouring home
I see the light come over now
I see myself in the pouring rain
I watch hope come over me
Here we are now, going to the east side
I pick up my friends and we start to ride
Ride all night, yeah, we ride all day
Some may come, love, and some may stay
Here we are in the pouring home
I watch the light man fall the comb
I watch a light move across the screen
I watch the light come over me
Here we are now going to the west side
Weapons in hand as we go for a ride
Some may come, love, and some may stay
Watching out for a sunny day.... where there's
Love and darkness and my sidearm
Hey, elan, elan....
Here we are now going to the north side
I look at my friends as they start to ride
Ride at night we, yah, we ride all day
Looking out for a sunny day
Here we are now going to the south side (to the south side)
I pick up my friends and we hope we won't die (hope we won't die)
Ride at night, ride through heaven and hell (heaven and hell)
Come back, love, and feel so well (feel so well)
07 Bodyrock (03:36)
so lets rock y'all
non-stop y'all
to the beat y'all
the bodyrock y'all
we rock the body, rock the body, c'mon
get down wi'me gonna make you freak, uh-huh
we rock the body, rock the body, c'mon
get down wi'me gonna set ya free, yeah
08 Natural Blues (04:14)
Oh, lordy, troubles so hard
Oh, lordy, troubles so hard
Don't nobody know my troubles but God
Don't nobody know my troubles but God
(repeat three times)
Went down the hill, the other day
My soul got happy and stayed all day
Went down the hill, the other day
My soul got happy and stayed all day
Oh, lordy, troubles so hard
Oh, lordy, troubles so hard
Don't nobody know my troubles but God
Don't nobody know my troubles but God
(repeat twice)
Went in the room, didn't stay long
Looked on the bed and brother was dead
Went in the room, didn't stay long
Looked on the bed and brother was dead
09 Machete (03:38)
Yesterday, I felt so cold, I felt like I could die
Took the needles from my arms and put them to the sky
Watched the cold come take me, pull me down like I did know
I saw it gone, I saw it gone, I saw it gone, I saw it gone
Hold myself up 'til tomorrow holds me down again
Feel the darkness coming over, see how it begins
Come with me into the willow garden out tonight
Feel the darkness come, my moon will touch you with its light
Help me, life was over, love, I want to have you in my sights
See and I was overlooked, I had you in my hands
Like a lid of no survivors, nothing I don't mind
Help me break you, baby, help me break you with my mind
With my mind
With my mind
With my mind
With my mind
11 Run On (03:45)
Lord God Almighty let me tell the news
My head got wet in midnight dew
Great God i been down on my bended knees
Talking to a man from Galilee
Michael spoke and he sounded so sweet
I thought i heard the shuffle of angels' feet
He put one hand upon my head
Great God Almighty let me tell you what He said
[bridge:]
Go tell that lonesome liar
Go tell that midnight rider [???]
Tell the gamblin', ramblin' backslider
Tell them God Almighty gonna cut 'em down
[chorus:]
You might run on for a long time
Run on, ducking and dodging
Run on, children [?], for a long time
Let me tell you God Almighty gonna cut you down
You might throw your rock [?], hide your head
Work in the dark with your fellow men
Sure as God made you rich and poor
You're gonna reap just what you sow
[chorus] x3
Some people go to church just to signify
Trying to make a date with a neighbor's wife
Brother let me tell you just as sure as you're born
You better leave that woman alone
[bridge]
[chorus] x8
13 If Things Were Perfect (04:19)
(Give me summer)
(Give me summer)
(Give me summer)
(Give me summer)
Broken darkness my cold end
I look for places I've never seen
Nothing moves but the quiet on the street
Now I open my eyes to this
Isolated, walking long hard hours
When a cold springs me with its shower
It's so brutal with the cold sky
Wrapped in cold, late at night
(Give me summer)
(Give me summer)
Come clean, there's no sun yet
The only lights here are naked
I can't speak, I can't hear, but I know I'm real
There's no warm here anyway
The darkest light's before the dawn
You remember the sun, but it sank
In the water that eats the light
Wrapped in cold, late at night
(Give me summer)
(Give me summer)
I open my eyes, it's cold
The errant souls go by
Lift the bridge out of the water
The stone black, light
Living is easy when it's night
The cold has covered the rain
I can see forever, to the deep
Wrapped in cold, late at night
(Give me summer)
(Give me summer)
(Give me summer)
(Give me summer)
17 The Sky Is Broken (04:18)
see the storm is broken
in the middle of the night
nothing left here for me
it's washed away
the rain pushes
the buildings aside
the sky turns black
the sky
wash it far
push it out to sea
there's nothing left here
for me
I watch it lift up to the sky
I watch it crush me
and then I die
speak to me baby
in the middle of the night
pull your mouth
close to mine
I can see the wind coming down
like black night
so speak to me
like the winds outside
it's broken up, pushing us
hear the rain fall
see the wind come to my eyes
see the storm broken
now nothing
speak to me baby
in the middle of the night
speak to me
hold your mouth to mine
'cause the sky is breaking
it's deeper than love
i know the way you feel
like the rains outside
speak to me
18 My Weakness (03:38)
weakly mind, weakly,
ooh I go home...
weakly...
weakly mind, weakly,
ooh I go home...
weakly...
weakly mind, weakly,
ooh I go home...
weakly...
weakly mind, weakly,
ooh I go home...
weakly...
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Other reviews
By luciano
Play by Moby (1999) has the great merit of giving artistic dignity to electronic music made of samples and various manipulations that until its release seemed like an expedient for those who didn’t know how to play.
After the unexpected success of the previous singles... Richard earned the weight in his record company to be able to decide to release as a single a track he liked.
By LaPortaGiusta
Moby on stage is versatile and professional. He doesn’t stop for a moment, moving from guitar, to bongos, to keyboards with incredible speed.
An excellent live show made with great lights and music lasting nearly two hours, varied and engaging, which forgoes the soundtrack-like sounds of recent albums to deliver to the audience an excellent sum of his greatest hits.
