Song of the Day – Sneaker Pimps “Half Life”

Hello,
I have made several music review posts and recently I decided to change the format to individual songs rather than whole artists as feel I would find myself running out of musicians, I would also like to touch more than a few songs by the artists, and  I feel this method will offer more variety and will allow the listener another chance to hear a song by an artist that they might like more than the first. So from now on I will post what I have titled “Song of the day” which I will try to post every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Hope you enjoy.

Today’s song is “Half Life” by the Sneaker Pimps. Most American listeners will only know of the Sneaker Pimps from their album “Becoming X” (which in my opinion was their best). With vocals by Kelli Dayton, “Becoming X” elevated the Sneaker Pimps to new heights and provided them with notarity in the U.S. market. After a falling out the sneaker pimps went with a male vocalist, and have not been able to replicate the success (at least stateside) that they achieved with “X”. If you have looked at my previous reviews you will notice that the majority of my music selections involve female vocalists (minus Elbow, and Tricky), I don’t know why I prefer female singers, I just do. Anyways, I was listening to a song by the Sneaker Pimps when a recommenation for the song “Half Life” off of the album Splinter appeared and I thought I would give it a shot.
After listening to the introduction I was blown away! The melody is haunting and the beats are well created (I would expect nothing less from the Pimps as they have always produced excellent tracks). The overall tone of the song is a little dark but it’s power and beautiful structure warrants a listen. This track lead me to listen to several other “Dayton Free” tracks by the Sneaker Pimps and now I am a fan of both vocalists. Though Kelli brought her smooth and sexy vocals which complimented the soft and sultry work of the “X” album, their sound has evolved to work with their new vocalist and done so quite well. 

So give it a listen. My song of the day, “The Sneaker Pimps – Half Life”

Hit the jump for lyrics and more info on the Sneaker Pimps

Lyrics

Half life wastes before it goes
It’s funny how your bee sting touch never leaves me whole
It’s not enough to stay here almost trying
You keep your last laugh watch this dying
It’s just half time vertigo
And if you want an answer I don’t know

If you had completed me
Don’t think I’d be pleased with you
Don’t think I’d compete with you
With half of me to take

Half life nothing I’d call home
It’s lucky how these phantom limb bee stings never show
It’s not enough to leave this falling kindly
You burn my star down twice as brightly
It’s just your half light undertow
But if you need forgiveness I don’t know

If you had completed me
Don’t think I’d be pleased with you
Don’t think I’d compete with you
With half of me to take

Half light breaks with nothing wrong
Just a corner of my bed where you don’t belong
It’s kind of you to notice no one’s dying
You had your last laugh almost crying
It’s just your half life long to know
And if you need a reason so it goes

If you had completed me
Don’t think I’d be pleased with you
Don’t think I’d compete with you
With half of me to take

Lyrics from lyrics365.com 

Taken from wikipedia
“Sneaker Pimps are a British Trip-hop band formed in Hartlepool, England in 1995, although the official IAMX website quotes the official year of foundation as 1989. They are best known for their first album Becoming X (released in 1996) and particularly the singles “6 Underground,” “Spin Spin Sugar,” and “Tesko Suicide” from the same album. They took their name from an article the Beastie Boys published in their Grand Royal magazine about a man they hired to track down classic sneakers.

The band’s founding members were Chris Corner and Liam Howe (both ex-DJs), who then recruited Kelli Dayton (formerly of Lumieres, now recording under the name Kelli Ali) for vocal duties. After the first album, the band felt that demos for second album (on which Corner provided the guide vocals) better suited his voice, especially in regard to the more raw, personal quality of the lyrics. Combined with the fear of being identified with the fad for trip-hop acts (e.g. Portishead), Dayton was asked to leave the group, and Corner became the singer.” from Wikipedia

Thanks to you YouTube for the bandwidth and Wiki for the info.

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