Song of I

Album: To The Bone (2017)

Songfacts®:

  • On the face of it, this seems to be a love song, but it goes deeper than that. Steven Wilson explained to The Daily Telegraph the lyrics are about sexual and emotional obsession, as well as the "refusal to let go of something that clearly isn't bringing any happiness."
  • Wilson brought in Sophie Hunger to duet on the track. He told The Daily Telegraph he recruited the Swiss jazz-pop singer as there is a "sexy-sinister" quality to her vocals.

    "I think most people can relate to the feeling of love spilling over into obsession," said the ex-Porcupine Tree frontman. "I also wanted a glacial coldness in the vocals and music to hint at the destructive side of love."
  • UK based composer, vocalist and performance artist Maya Petrovna features in the video. "I happened across some amazing images and film of the performance artist Maya Petrovna and asked her if she would be interested in working on it," said Wilson. "I thought it could work well to illustrate the song as some form of highly stylized drama, maybe somewhere between choreography and soap opera."
  • A couple of lines are sung in French:

    T'es sous le sable
    T'es dans l'eau
    I gave it up
    Gave it up
    J'abandonne


    They roughly translate to:

    You're under the sand
    You're in the water
    I gave it up
    Gave it up
    I give up

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