Tricky shares his honest playlist: songs that shaped his life from teenage love to musical inspiration
In an interview, musician Tricky revealed his personal playlist, explaining how certain songs have influenced his life from adolescence to today.
Musician Tricky has shared his 'honest' playlist, featuring songs that hold special meaning at different stages of his life. The first song he fell in love with was Gregory Isaacs' 'Night Nurse', which he listened to with his Jamaican girlfriend when they were both 15. The couple had a daughter at age 17, who now works as a social worker in Bristol. That song has always stayed with him.
The song that makes him cry is Van Morrison's 'Astral Weeks', which reminds him of his mother and growing up in Bristol. Morrison sings about his mother dressing him in a shirt and tie, and Tricky's mother was exactly the same—in every childhood photo, he is formally dressed.
The first single he bought was The Specials' album, whose artwork and sleeve notes fascinated him. On the bus ride home, he read every note and listened to the album for three straight days. He can still rap every word of Eric B. & Rakim's 'Check Out My Melody' from memory, 40 years later.
The best party song, in his opinion, is Blur's 'Song 2' because of its riff. He listened to it just yesterday in his hotel room with headphones and, as he says, some hashish. Tricky admits there is no song he can no longer listen to; he still enjoys Prince's 'Purple Rain' and 'Fight the Power'.
He has never done karaoke, but if he had to, he would choose Cyndi Lauper's 'True Colors'. The song that gets him up in the morning is Method Man's 'Release Yo' Delf'.
Regarding sex and music, Tricky has a unique view: people have told him for years that they have sex to his music, and some have even conceived to it. However, he thinks sex and music don't go together, calling it weird.
The song that changed his life was The Specials' 'Too Much Too Young'. After hearing it and seeing them live, he realized he could also make music. His secretly liked song, which he tells everyone he hates, is Sia's 'Breathe Me'—he calls it 'fucking gorgeous'. Asked about his funeral song, Tricky says he will never die, so there is no need.
