SONG TITLE: VIBRATOR

PERFORMER: TERENCE TRENT D'ARBY

SONGWRITER: TERENCE TRENT D'ARBY

YEAR OF RELEASE: 1995

COMMENTS: "Batteries included" promised the cover of TTD's Vibrator. Naturally the title song has nothing to do with sex. Instead it offers a profound statement of spirituality and faith. Take your cue from the beautiful contemplative cover photo of Terence as an angel.

He begins with the challenge facing us. "Can you transform the pain you feel?... It is no shallow depth from which we must arise. ..At times you feel like your life don't mean, ha, a damn thing."

The answer already resides within each of us. "Beautiful child of god and man, there's a messiah inside of you." The "vibrator"is the life force, the spirit of god that is already there coming forward to lift us up and sustain us. "Sooner or later you'll feel the spirit move you. It'll come down to this, vibrator." Christians talk about God living inside of us, but they always seem to be looking outside somewhere when they want to find Him. You can take this, then, as an actual invocation of Christ, or more of a symbolic new age type higher power metaphor. It works either way.

He makes this call for spiritual renewal through a beautifully layered and detailed recording. The basic fast funk trot of the drum beat gets overlayed by some hard rock guitar riffing. Just when you think there is not even one more unique super three chord guitar riff left to be mined, this one comes up with another unforgettable classic. This record comes out at least as much hard guitar rock as any kind of funk or r&b.

The basic tune is a superb soul song that will run with your very best Al Green, a rising exhortation to the congregation. Oh yes, TTD easily has the vocal chops to preach head to head with Rev. Green. Moreover, it's a better piece of songcraft than Brother Green ever came up with, catchier and harder hitting. Then also there are the extras, like the little quiet, moody hazy part that acts like a secondary chorus. It opens the record, and gets repeated just before the climax, then he brings it back and expands on it to end the song. Um, good. This is no insult to the outstanding work of Rev. Green. TTD is just that good.

For a bonus, he manages to work in a perfectly natural and appropriate tribute to Sam Cooke. As he gets to the point in the song where the spirit awakens from within, you can "feel it shaking like a bowl of soup."

This record is as good as it gets. Everything you could ask for is right here. It has the catchy melody, the funky dancebeat, the kick ass guitar, the rich orchestral palette, the high tech sweet and sour vocals. Most of all it offers a great spiritual uplift.

Here's a live performance video of the song from 1995, contemporary to it's original release.

Lyrics

Terence Trent D'Arby-Sananda Maitreya Images  2  3  4  5  6