"Karmacoma" is a single by British trip-hop collective Massive Attack, released as a single from their second album Protection in March 20 1995. It is a rap featuring vocals from band member 3D and guest artist Tricky. Tricky also recorded his own version of "Karmacoma," renamed "Overcome" for his debut studio album, Maxinquaye.
"Karmacoma"
[Tricky]
You sure you want to be with me
I've nothing to give
Won’t lie and say this lovin's best
Well leave us in emotional pace
Take a walk, taste the rest
No, take a rest
[3D]
I see you digging a hole in your neighborhood
You’re crazy but you’re lazy
I need to live and I need to
Your troubles must be seen to see through
Money like it's paper with faces i remember
I drink on a daily basis
Though it subtle cools my temper
It never cools my temper
[Tricky]
Walking through the suburbs though not exactly lovers
You’re a couple, 'specially when your body’s doubled
Duplicate, then you wait for the next kuwait
[Tricky & 3D]
Karmacoma, jamaica' aroma [x4]
[3D]
You sure you want to be with me i’ve nothing to give
Take a walk take a rest taste the rest
Take a walk take a rest taste the rest
Take a walk take a rest a taste of rest
[Tricky]
Don't want to be on top of your list
Monopoly and properly kissed
We overcome in sixty seconds
With the strength we have to together
But for now, emotional ties they stay severed
When there’s trust there’ll be treats
And when we funk we'll hear beats
[Tricky & 3D]
Karmacoma, jamaica' aroma [x4]
[3D]
Deflowering my baby, aiyee my baby me
I must be crazy, see i'm swazy
Digging a hole in your neighborhood
You're crazy but you're lazy, must be lazy
[Tricky]
Don't wanna on top of your list
Monopoly and properly kissed
[3D]
Deflowering my baby, aiyee my baby me
My baby
Deflowering my baby, aiyee my baby me
I must be crazy, you must be lazy
[Tricky & 3D]
Karmacoma, what?, jamaica aroma [x4]
music video
The music video for the song premiered in January 1995 and was directed by Jonathan Glazer.
The video shows a hotel corridor and the occupants of the rooms along the corridor. The band are in one of the rooms accompanied by Tricky and an actress. 3D, Daddy G, and Tricky are all dressed in uniforms that say "Texmex" on the front. Mushroom is sitting on the couch with a hand on his stomach, where he apparently has been shot and his shirt is bloody.
The rest of the occupants are shown intermittently throughout the video, and are all engaging in eccentric activities. Some of the scenes cross over from being weird to being supernatural and magical.
- A man is in the corridor, holding a gun in one hand and a plastic bag with something in it on the other. He's walking backwards and pointing the gun at everything he sees, in a clear state of paranoia and distress. He's sweating and mumbling under his breath, desperately attempting to memorise the room numbers for reasons unknown. At several points he is menaced by two mysterious, identical twin girls (in homage to the 1980 film The Shining), who, at one point, hold up the missing letter 'k' from another tenant's typewriter. And at one point he glimpses a double of himself, pointing a gun at him.
- A man with long, unkempt hair and beard is sitting in his room (actor Olegar Fedoro resembling Charles Manson), staring directly into the camera and speaking in a dazed manner. "I am a... dangerous person," he announces at one point. Later: "All those guys I killed... nothing personal." (He bears a strong resemblance to the man with the gun from the corridor, although it is unclear if they are actually intended to be the same person.) At the video's end he tells the camera, "I want to be free... and I am free." (These three lines are all Charles Manson quotes.)
- A man in one of the rooms is covered with oil among cameras and mirrors, apparently performing some sort of bizarre artwork. The oil comes from his navel, apparently, and his finger goes impossibly deep into it to extract the oil.
- A middle-aged man with a moustache is in a room with two women dressed in red satin robes. He asks "Who's gonna be a bad girl, then?". One of the women answers apathetically, "I am".
- A man (who resembles the protagonist of Eraserhead) is seen with a typewriter, writing "Karmacoma" over and over again on a sheet of paper, though the letter 'k' does not appear. When the man in the corridor realises the two girls have the 'k', it immediately cuts back to the man with the typewriter, who does not look at another man who appears in his room, burning sheets of paper.
- A boy watches TV news in which the journalist covers his half face with his hand. The boy repeats what he sees. As this is happening, a woman dressed in campy, old-fashioned clothing is talking on the phone about the boy.
- A man plays golf in the corridor.
- A man attempts to drown a miniature copy of himself in a bathtub.
behind the song
3D claims that himself and Tricky both wrote the majority of the lyrics to Karmacoma and Eurochildwhile both high on drugs backstage at a music festival somewhere in England.
To help provide the music to hand the lyrics upon, Massive Attack enlisted the help of fellow Bristolians The Insects, whom Massive Attack had befriended while working on Blue Lines at the Coach House Studio in Bristol, UK.
Additional Info
Tricky has made the accusation in the past that Karmacoma is mostly his own work, with Massive Attack themselves own contribution being minimal. This explains Tricky’s eagerness to cover the song in his own image as Overcome on his debut album. It is also undoubtedly one of the issues that would result in Tricky severing all ties with Massive Attack and going it alone on his solo music career.
The middle eastern vibe heard in Karmacoma would be the first but not only time Massive Attack would incorporate such music into their songs. Other songs which could also be deemed to have such a vibe would be Inertia Creeps, Special Cases, Butterfly Caught and Antistar.
covered by Tricky
The one and only cover of Karmacoma is by none another than Tricky, who not long after he went solo from Massive Attack re-recorded Karmacoma under a brand new name of “Overcome” and got his new muse Martina Topley-Bird to do the vocals on it. Overcome appears on Tricky’s 1995 release “Maxinquaye”. Martina Topley-Bird would later collaborate directly with Massive Attack on Heligoland.
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