Songfacts®:

• The liner notes to Blue Lines mention the movie Taxi Driver as an influence, and it's clear that the movie was inspiration for this song's lyrics. The movie stars Robert DeNiro as a paranoid Vietnam vet who drives a taxi at night. He becomes obsessed with saving a child prostitute played by Jodie Foster, and ends up killing some people in his efforts. The spooky atmosphere in this song goes with the theme, as do the lines about protecting a child.
• This song is based on a sample from the 1973 song "Stratus" by the Jazz drummer Billy Cobham. >>>

  Suggestion credit:
  ErickOverveen - Amsterdam, Netherlands, for above 2
• Massive Attack is a production team that uses guest vocalists on their songs. Shara Nelson sang on this and also "Unfinished Sympathy," but stopped working with Massive Attack after the Blue Lines album and started a solo career.